Center for Instructional Innovation - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center
Services
The Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) is a resource for faculty at Western Washington University who wish to consider new ways of teaching, modifying their existing courses to better serve their student learning objectives, or to link them to colleagues in other disciplines who share their values about teaching and learning in today’s complex world of higher education.
Online Information and Resources
Those who have visited the CII are often surprised by how friendly and comfortable an environment it is. In addition to consulting with CII staff members and exploring the small teaching and learning library, faculty can simply go to the CII's web site for an impressive array of information and resources. Created originally by Dr. Gordon Chalmers from the Department of Physical Education, Health, & Recreation, with input from faculty and staff over the years, the Teaching & Learning Resources section of the CII's web site is a bank of information for teaching development and the assessment of student learning.
Faculty Professional Development Opportunities
More than 100 faculty and staff members attend the Professional Development Workshop Series each year, exploring issues such as diversity, writing proficiency, active learning, assessment, intellectual development, and instructional strategies. Current and archived events (along with associated handouts) may be viewed on the CII's Workshops & Events web page.
Innovative Teaching Showcase
The Innovative Teaching Showcase is an online publication created by the CII to highlight exceptional teaching practices by WWU faculty. Each year, several instructors are nominated to participate, and then work with the CII to create this in-depth resource. The Showcase is published on the CII's website at the end of each academic year.
Each Showcase includes three parts:
- A portfolio (like a recipe or a road map) which is written by the instructor;
- A multimedia showcase, which includes video interviews with the instructor and provides more detail, depth, and perspective on the innovative approach; and
- An institutional goals section that links the approach to specific student learning outcomes, or alternatively, a profiles page.
The "showcased" instructors meet with the CII staff to discuss the approach for which they were nominated. Staff members describe what is involved in the process, and work with the instructor's schedule to set a date for the Portfolio, as written by the instructor, to be drafted. CII staff then draw out key questions from the Portfolio that the instructor will answer during a videotaped interview. The interview is edited into short movies that are accessible on the Showcase website. The last part of the process involves working with the instructor to align his or her innovative approach to one or more rubrics for student learning outcomes as identified by Washington State.
Instructors who have been showcased often find that taking the time to reflect on their teaching in this way is a rewarding and enlightening process. They especially enjoy having the online record of their innovation.
Undergraduate Program Support
The CII works closely with programs associated with the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, including the First-year Interest Groups Program (FIGs). In this capacity, the CII offers academic consultation and multimedia design and development services to all instructors involved in FIGs. The projects that the CII creates arise from the professional personalized consultations. Project complexity ranges from creating course websites to developing interactive web applications, video projects, and other tools that meet the instructor's objectives. Examples are as follows:
- An anthropology professor thought that playing songs from various indigenous cultures at the beginning of class might help her students become more engaged in class. The project expanded to include video-based screens to accompany the music that are rich with information about each culture, including demographics, maps, photographs, and interesting facts, such as the role of music in the culture.
- An astronomy professor wanted her students to be able to analyze some characteristics and computations in order to identify a black hole. The interactive web application that resulted from this consultation allows students to enter various data for computations and choose various objects to see how they behave in "The Orbiter."
- An art history professor returned from a trip to Europe wishing that she could transport her students--not only to the ancient remains of medieval villages--but back in time as well. Using 3D gaming technologies, "The Medieval Village" project allows students to enter the village through the gates, walk the cobbled paths, enter the centralized Cathedral, and wander the grounds that are peppered with artifacts of the era.
Student employees at the CII often carry out research that complements or contributes to each project, in addition to developing them. With significant communication and feedback from the instructor, the project is completed in time for use in the instructor's course. Once a project is complete, subsequent support for new versions are offered.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As Undergraduate Program support grows and changes, so will the focus of the CII. The vision is to continue supporting faculty instructional efforts in lower division programs and large lecture courses in the general education program, and begin to develop national connections to other institutions that support faculty efforts in undergraduate learning.
Further questions about the CII or the CII's representatives, please contact the office at 360-650-7210, cii@wwu.edu, or by stopping by our office (currently Miller Hall 238).
