Instructor Insight is a resource that all faculty can access in Canvas that we are piloting in Spring Quarter 2020.
This is a great tool for you to: 1) access real-time data to understand how engagement in your course in this new online learning context; 2) make small, high-impact adjustments in teaching practices based on data, and 3) support you in documentation of your teaching. See below for faculty comments on how they use this tool.
We realize these data may be overwhelming given all the other work you are already doing to teach online. Please view this as a resource for faculty, but not a requirement. We know you are already working hard to creatively meet the needs of your students. We trust you.
If you are interested in trying Instructor Insight, here is a short video on how to access it:
We hope Instructor Insight is supportive of your teaching this quarter. Please let Kate Willink, Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs know any feedback you have.
OTL can work with individual faculty to think about data-driven pedagogical shifts. They will continue to offer programming that promotes engagement particularly as it relates to online teaching and learning. Look for a new blog post soon about how faculty can use data to improve teaching practice.
The Provost Office piloted Instructor Insight data to quickly assess how engaged we were as an institution when moving online during the crisis. We needed a quick, unbiased, quantitative method at the aggregate level to communicate to the Board of Trustees, Alumni and other stakeholders how well we made this transition. The objective was to celebrate faculty by providing a quick snapshot of engagement in teaching and learning across the entire university for leadership.
Neither the Provost, Deans nor anyone in the Provost Office will use this pilot data for faculty performance, merit, or promotion evaluation. Additionally, none of the spring quarter course evaluations are required to be used in performance and promotion, unless the faculty decide to do this. Faculty and units will be asked to evaluate Instructor Insight using parameters this summer.
Looking forward: These data could be available to faculty who wish to include it as part of alternative methods for assessing teaching and provide faculty unbiased data to feature in their discussions of their teaching for annual review and promotion.
Thanks for all you are doing as faculty, day in and day out, to continue to practice teaching excellence and to be integral to the student experience.
Faculty at University College have been using Instructor Insight for years and have generously shared their experiences — read them here.