The Teaching, Learning and Assessment Office

1. Support events that enhance teaching, assessment, and student learning across all colleges and disciplines. These events may include:

• Seminars conducted by external experts in areas of teaching, learning, and assessment;

• Workshops conducted by DePaul faculty and staff;

• Internal conferences featuring DePaul's innovative and effective teachers;

• Faculty roundtables and seminars on teaching and learning topics;

• Brown-bag lunches where faculty share effective teaching and learning practices.

2. Provide a clearinghouse of information, expertise, and research on ways to improve teaching, student learning,and assessment.

3. Facilitate the sharing of information about teaching, learning, and assessment efforts among DePaul's Centers,Colleges and Departments. Such facilitation may include:

• Web-based clearinghouse of invited guest speakers and consultants, dates of visits, sponsoring groups, and summary of the topics;

• Web-based discussion groups or hyper-news groups centered on teaching, learning, and assessment issues and concerns.

4. Provide information and expertise on methods and techniques of assessing learning outcomes at the department and college level. For example:

• Sponsor workshops and/or provide materials on program assessment models;

• Sponsor workshops on the use and development of effective tools and techniques for program assessment;

• Gather research on , and/or internal department and college experiences with,the benefits and uses of assessment.

5. Identify and implement scholarly research on institution-wide student learning issues and common instructional concerns. Research projects will be conducted by the office director, board members, research staff, and/or faculty members at large. Possible research topics may include:

• Student group work;

• Student writing across the curriculum;

• Teaching to a diverse population;

• Experiential learning.

6. Oversee the Annual University Assessment Process. For example, the office and faculty advisory board will:

• Collect and synthesize department and college reports;

• Report assessment results to the University;

• Provide mechanisms for feedback about and revision to the process; and

• Facilitate sharing of assessment 'best practices' and improvements in student learning.

7. Examine institutional policies and structures for their impact on teaching and learning. For example, the office will:

• Publicize research findings about teaching and learning at DePaul, and more generally, and discuss the possible implications of that research for university/college policies;

• Create forums at which faculty can discuss the institutional implications of best practices in teaching and learning developed at DePaul and other universities;

• Advocate for selected changes in policy to support the enhancement of teaching and learning.

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Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment Staff

Jodi Cressman

Director, Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

jcressma@depaul.edu

(312) 362-8043

Kathrine Cermak
Associate Director, Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

kcermak@depaul.edu

(312) 362-7177

Elizabeth C. Rossman

Assistant Director, Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Program Director, Supplemental Instruction

erossman@depaul.edu

(312) 362-7534

Please email tla@depaul.edu or call (312) 362-8043 for more information about our programs.

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