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Inclusive Excellence in Teaching

NAU Practices for Teaching Effectiveness

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to capture a shared understanding of what constitutes effective teaching at NAU. While good teaching looks different across the disciplines, general principles of effective practice are universal. Broad implementation of these Practices is essential to achieving our goals of Academic Excellence and Student Success[1].

These Practices for Teaching Effectiveness at NAU provide a unified framework that can be used at all levels of the University to align practices and policies with the goal of advancing a culture of excellent teaching and shared responsibility for student momentum, persistence, achievement, and career readiness in the following ways:

  • Promote practices that keep students on a pathway to success through course completion and credit accrual while ensuring that they succeed even if they get behind.
  • Position our students for post-graduation success by offering a broad portfolio of high-impact learning experiences and perspectives that are responsive to industry standards and societal needs.
  • Inform community stakeholders of our commitment to high-quality teaching through active and timely communications.
  • Attract and retain faculty who are committed to academic excellence and student success.
  • Align current and future teaching-focused initiatives and support programs.
  • Encourage faculty to adopt evidence-based teaching practices.
  • Provide guidelines for developing consistent evaluation of teaching criteria across units.
  • Promote equitable teaching policies and
  • Inform decisions related to teaching support resource allocation.

 

The three overlapping categories of Course DESIGN, Learning ENVIRONMENT, and Curriculum STRUCTURE encompass a practice of Inclusive Excellence to help all students learn and feel supported and welcome.

Developed as a joint project of the NAU Teaching Academy and the NAU Faculty Senate Council on Learning.

Endorsed by the NAU Teaching Academy 3/1/2024

Endorsed by the NAU Faculty Senate 3/18/2024

The NAU Teaching Academy, with a mission to be a catalyst in advancing a learner-centered culture that values and supports excellence in teaching and educational scholarship, is uniquely positioned to lead the effort to capture this shared understanding and promote its application across the institution.


Updated 3/20/2024

[1] https://nau.edu/president/strategic-plan