2023-24
Impact Report
University Center for Teaching and Learning
Propelling scholarship, creativity, innovation, and cultivating student success at the University of Pittsburgh
Special Message from the Executive Director
Dear colleagues, faculty, staff, and friends,
I am excited to share with you some of our most significant accomplishments and advancements as we evolved our work to design, deliver, and engineer exceptional learning experiences at Pitt.
We advanced educational excellence through evidence based approaches to teaching and learning as a way of propelling scholarship, creativity, and innovation. As we mobilized our resources to support the Plan for Pitt 2028, we engaged faculty through new initiatives and close collaborations on pedagogy, mentoring, scholarly activities, and so much more. I am so proud of the work we’ve accomplished together.
Evolution is always a major theme in our center. While we made several adjustments to the ways in which we work, we still delivered our core services effectively and efficiently, as evidenced by administering 10,000 exams in our testing center, amassing over 386,000 visitors to our website, connecting with more than 3,000 visitors to the Open Lab at Hillman, and welcoming over 160 first-year instructors to our new faculty orientation events. Our Generative AI programming was the most popular of our new offerings, but it was only one of several new educational assets that we supported. In partnership with the School of Computing and Information, we celebrated the official launch of the new online Master of Data Science degree on Coursera. We introduced a pre-course survey option to faculty for the first time, and debuted the Accessibility Training Partners Program. Working closely with the Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence (ACIE), we developed a set of recommendations for the Teaching Excellence and Advancement through Certification in Higher Education (TEACH@ Pitt) initiative. You will read about these accomplishments and more in the pages ahead.
None of these triumphs are possible without the talented staff of the Teaching Center, who work as true partners with our faculty, staff and students. I am grateful for the expertise, professionalism, and dedication that they bring to the University of Pittsburgh.
We look forward to a fantastic year ahead! Hail to Pitt!
Michael Bridges, Executive Director University Center for Teaching and Learning
Thank you
The University Center for Teaching and Learning would like to acknowledge the constant and unwavering support of Chancellor Joan Gabel and Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Joseph McCarthy. Their vision and support have empowered our teams to positively impact the teaching and learning experience at the University of Pittsburgh. They recognize that to achieve dynamic and effective teaching and learning environments, we must provide instructors with the resources they need to be successful. We are grateful for their leadership, their confidence in us, and the support they have provided.
“Cultivating student success and propelling scholarship, creativity and innovation are essential to the Plan for Pitt 2028, the University’s strategic plan. The University Center for Teaching and Learning plays a key role in advancing those important pillars.”
—Joan Gabel, Chancellor
“The University Center for Teaching and Learning offers exceptional resources for our faculty members and our graduate student instructors at every point in their career trajectories. Their workshops, programs, and resources are comprehensive and can be tailored to address individual goals and needs.”
—Joseph McCarthy, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
Leading
the conversation on
artificial intelligence
Section 1
Propelling Scholarship
The immersion of generative artificial intelligence [GenAI] into the educational community created a mixture of interest, skepticism, and curiosity–and the Teaching Center led the conversation about its implications for teaching and learning. GenAI is and will continue to be a fixture in the higher education community for years to come, so we mobilized an effort to provide clear direction and useful resources to all members of the University community. We’ve also taken steps to grow our teams’ digital citizenship with educational products, and experiment with new GenAI integrations with educational technologies that we already use.
Ad Hoc Committee on Generative AI in Research and Education. We co-chaired the committee of 33 University administrators, faculty, staff, and students, and delivered a final report in March that outlined recommendations, uses, risks, benefits, etc. The report is available on our website and has been viewed more than 5,000 times in just three months.
Learning Sciences and Artificial Intelligence Hub (LSAI): To keep the University informed about GenAI, we teamed with the School of Computing and Information (SCI) and the Learning Research Development Center (LRDC) to form an affinity group called the LSAI Hub.
In May, the hub hosted GenAI and Dialogue: An Idea Lab for Revolutionizing Teaching and Learning, an event funded through the Year of Discourse and Dialogue. More than 100 faculty and staff registrants representing nearly 30 different schools on two of Pitt’s campuses attended, including several school deans.
“It was inspiring to learn about the various applications of generative artificial intelligence in classes at Pitt,” said Bruce Childers, dean and professor at the School of Computing
and Information. “The Idea Lab catalyzed the first step toward creating a community around best practices and new approaches.”
Informing the Pitt Teaching Community Our teaching consultants dedicated nearly 30% of their consultation and workshop time to topics related to GenAI, hosting nearly 50 GenAI-focused workshops throughout the year. They played a critical role in evaluating AI tools like ChatGPT, Turnitin, and Co-Pilot, and created an online resource hub that was viewed more than 5,000 times through the course of the school year.
“GenAI and Dialogue created an opportunity to discuss AI approaches being used by the Pitt community. Sharing these experiences can accelerate our effective and ethical use of GenAI.”
—Jennifer Iriti, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Inclusion and Outreach Strategy, Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Research
Glance
“Teaching
—Matthew Cotter, Senior Research Coordinator
and Therapist at the School of Social Work, on teaching online for the first time
equitable and inclusive teaching
The diversity of our students, faculty, and staff at Pitt strengthens our institution and the teaching and learning process. Throughout the year, we immersed ourselves in campus happenings that support the University’s efforts to create an educational atmosphere that is welcoming to all. For example, we provide ongoing support for Anti-Black Racism: History, Ideology, and Resistance, which enrolled 4,700 students this past fall term and was enhanced through the addition of one module that featured instructional expertise from Rosta Farzan, associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and Angela Stewart, assistant professor and research scientist, both of whom teach at the School of Computing and Information. The module examines how racism permeates social media technology by closely examining the way algorithms influence apps and streaming services. Additionally, every year, our Center for Diversity in the Curriculum delivers events, activities, and recognitions that showcase the good work happening in the DEI teaching space, the gains we’ve made in recent years, and the drivers for continued growth.
Provost’s Diversity Institute for Faculty Development
Established in 2014, the Diversity Institute gives Pitt faculty a chance to enhance their understanding of equity and inclusion and cultivate the necessary skills for promoting equitable teaching practices. This year’s theme, advancing anti-ableist pedagogies and practices, explored approaches to anti-ableism in our classrooms and campuses as a step toward recognizing and challenging ableism within our institutional structures and practices. Through a series of seven workshops that brought in expertise from across around the country, more than 100 faculty discussed topics like disability justice, anti-ableist pedagogies for neurodivergence, and imagining disability futures in higher education. Expert panelists included:
• Joy Banks, Associate Professor, George Mason University
• Lydia Brown Founding Executive Director, The Autistic People of Color Fund
• Mary Crossley, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
• Jay Dolmage, Professor, Chair of English, University of Waterloo
• Amy Houtrow, Professor and Pediatric Medicine Division Chief, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Max Hurwitz, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• Jessie Male, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
• Ashley Shew, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Department of Science, Technology, and Society
• Phillandra Smith, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Education
• Daniel Wilkenfeld Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing
• Rua Mae Williams, Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Provost’s Award for Diversity in the Curriculum. Six faculty received this year’s award for diversity in the curriculum, one of Pitt’s hallmarks in teaching achievement. Now in its 10th year, recipients of this award are celebrated for their efforts to integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion concepts into their courses and curricula.
• James Egan and Abimbola Fapohunda from the School of Public Health created a course within the Bachelor of Science program that involves students in identifying and critically examining health disparities
through lectures, guest speakers, readings, and multimedia resources, and promotes an environment where students are encouraged to pose questions to one another.
• Linda DeAngelo in the School of Education modified a course to shift focus away from managing change within higher education to one with a central focus on equity and inclusion. These adjustments recognize students as active agents of change who prioritize and understand the importance of equity and inclusion.
• Jill Demirci developed curriculum at the School of Nursing on frontloading lactation with an equity focus to offer undergraduate nursing students a practical and low-pressure learning setting. The course introduces fundamental lactation knowledge, fostering critical thinking and enhancing nursing management skills. The goal is to heighten awareness, comfort, and familiarity among students regarding lactation support for diverse patient groups.
• Orquidia Torres created Antiracism Curriculum (ARC) in the School of Medicine that increased awareness of racism in child and adolescent health, increased proficiency in trauma-sensitive skills during clinical encounters, and promoted anti-
racist practices in the workplace. Ongoing adjustments since 2020 have aimed to expand the program’s reach, improve accessibility, and ensure sustainability. Grant funding has been secured for Pediatrics and Internal Medicine to acquire relevant books and remunerate guest speakers. The program has been showcased at national and local conferences through poster abstracts and platform presentations. A manuscript on the program has also been published in the Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development.
• Kurt Beschorner implemented changes to a statistics course at the Swanson School of Engineering by integrating technical content with socially relevant discussions to cultivate a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. The objective is to enhance students’ proficiency in implementing inclusive research design practices. The lectures feature examples illustrating how health inequities can arise from the absence of inclusive research and best practices for conducting inclusive research. This approach aims to foster an environment where engineering students are encouraged to learn and engage more comfortably in discussions related to race and gender.
Race@Work Retreat
. We served as a key partner in the delivery of the Race@Work Retreat, an effort designed to address challenges experienced by early career faculty from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Our support contributed to the launch of the Black Instructors Affinity Group, an extension of the collaboration that provides professional development opportunities and a community of practice to full-time appointment stream and tenure stream faculty with research responsibilities.
Accessibility
Creating course content and digital materials with accessibility in mind is a key tenant of Universal Design for Learning. We continue to educate the Pitt community on ways to improve educational equity and accessibility by providing technological mediums to convert course documents into more accessible materials, an expansive online resource hub with dozens of self-help articles to guide faculty through the use of tools like accessibility checkers and closed captioning, and by incorporating principles into our regular design and delivery practices.
Improved web accessibility. We expanded efforts to promote accessibility onto our website, www.teaching.pitt.edu, by actively monitoring and remediating discovered accessibility issues. As a result, our website has a quality assurance score of 97.6 according to SiteImprove, Pitt’s web accessibility monitoring service, positioning us well above the higher education industry benchmark of 72.8
A dedicated learning community. Our Accessibility Training Partners Program, an affinity group open to all Pitt faculty and staff interested in learning about accessibility and inclusion best practices, debuted in the spring. The community opened with nearly 40 participants and will continue to provide timely updates, helpful resources, expertise from the higher education industry, and opportunities to connect with other accessibility professionals.
In-house
expertise. Laura Trybus, educational software support specialist, earned distinction as a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies through the International Association of Accessibility Professionals this year. Her expertise supported faculty in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute [CTSI] as she worked with faculty to ensure that documents being submitted for a National Institute of Health grant complied with accessibility requirements as established by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. “Working with Laura has been a wonderful experience,” said Kathryn Hartman, program manager at CTSI. “The benefit of having someone at Pitt so well-versed in accessibility and compliance has simplified many of our processes significantly.”
1,200 Hours of Teaching Consultations
One of our greatest assets at the University of Pittsburgh is our faculty corps, and we strive to help each and every instructor raise the bar of their teaching acumen. More than 1,300 full- and part-time faculty attended one of our workshops this past year, covering topics like pedagogy, assessment, technology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. In many instances, we connected with faculty on a private and personal level to celebrate their triumphs and talk candidly about the challenges they encounter.
Our teaching consultants, educational software specialists, and instructional designers work with faculty on an individual level to discuss goals, strengths, weaknesses, and dive deep into skills evaluations and curriculum mapping. Eleanor “Nora” Mattern, teaching assistant professor at the School of Computing and Information, delved into the world of online course design on the Coursera platform for the first time with support from Lindsay Onufer, senior teaching and learning consultant and program manager, Robin Albright, senior instructional designer, Natalia Echeverry, instructional designer, and Daryl Putman, educational software support specialist. “I am so appreciative of the time that the Teaching Center spent with me and my course,” Mattern said. “This was a semester of learning with the Teaching Center. You sparked new ways of thinking about design and delivery, and I am better for it!”
Assessment of Teaching Initiative
Research indicates that triangulating data by assessing teaching through multiple methods, such as reviews of course materials, peer observations, teaching surveys, and instructor self-reflections, provides a more complete picture of overall teaching effectiveness. To best support instructors in exploring various methods of assessment and to establish a culture of teaching excellence, we provide two levels of support for the assessment of teaching initiative: (i) help for academic units in planning, selecting or developing tools, and (ii) help for individual instructors and academic units in planning, conducting, interpreting, and using the results of formative assessments for the purpose of improving teaching. In support of this initiative, we provided 195 hours of consultations focused on the collection and use of data to improve teaching effectiveness and offered three workshops attended by 104 faculty members.
Teaching Surveys
One of the most valuable assessment tools we manage is the pre-, mid-, and end-of-term teaching surveys administered through Explorance, the University’s enterprise teaching survey system. These surveys provide valuable student feedback directly to their instructors. Faculty adoption increased in all three survey categories this year, generating a cumulative total of nearly 375,000 individual student surveys administered in nearly 16,000 classes.
What faculty are saying:
Instructor comments received via anonymous survey.
“As a new faculty member at Pitt, I appreciate the pre-course survey option to ask questions that guide me as I interact with students and teach this semester. The responses were very useful for me to get to know the students a bit and learn about their interests.”
“Course surveys are a great tool to make sure you have a good connection with your class and can hit the ground running with your materials, while making sure you aren’t leaving anyone behind.”
“Midterm surveys helped me get a sense of what works and what doesn’t.”
“The pre-course survey allowed me to hear from students about their interests before the first day of class. I was then able to tailor course elements and focus my class more on their interests. It translated into an overall better experience for my students.”
“Students appreciate knowing that you are listening to them.”
“I read and take student comments seriously to make appropriate improvements to the course for subsequent semesters.”
Learning environments
Section 2
Propelling Creativity
The nature of how our faculty teach and how students learn transforms quickly, so we try to keep pace with changing trends and be a presence wherever instruction is happening. Our work takes us into traditional classrooms, into collaborative work environments, into makerspaces and virtual worlds, and into online platforms. Additionally, the center plays a critical role in the evolution and modernization of learning spaces across campus.
Open
Lab @ Hillman. Having just completed its first full academic year in its newly remodeled space in Hillman Library, the Open Lab @ Hillman welcomed more than 3,100 visitors into its makerspace lab (an increase of 30% from the previous year), giving curious faculty, staff, and students a glimpse at emerging technologies being incorporated into teaching and learning at Pitt. Staff assisted with nearly 60 course-related projects over the school year, supporting 70 instructors on projects utilizing 3D printing, 360-degree video, virtual reality, engraving, and vinyl/laser cutting— enhancing the classroom experience for nearly 1,000 students. The learning extended beyond the physical space of the Open Lab and into a virtual environment, as the Open Lab @ Canvas trained an additional 2,800 learners on instructional applications of the lab’s educational technologies through an online training course.
LMS
expertise. We provided exceptional support for Canvas, the University’s learning management system, through on-demand assistance from our educational software consultants. The team closed more than 2,400 support requests last year in support of 1,100 Pitt constituents. In addition, the team hosted a variety of technology-focused workshops, drawing more than 300 registrants that were
delivered
We often customize our faculty support and work closely with individual instructors who have specific learning outcomes in mind. Such was the case with Colleen Culley, associate professor at the School of Pharmacy. She worked with educational software support specialist Daryl Putman to experiment with Canvas Outcomes, a tool that enables instructors to track students’ progress as measured by pedagogical goals or desired outcomes. The results were better than expected.
“Using the mastery scale was a more honest assessment for students and made the areas of improvement more clear,” Culley said. “I presented this as an innovation at our Pitt Pharmacy teaching retreat in May. It was well received and I had several faculty ask me questions about it afterwards. I am definitely planning to use Outcomes again next year.”
Colleen Culley, Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy
Classroom equipment upgrades
As the University upgrades and renovates learning spaces across all of its campuses, we contribute to this effort in a number of ways: (i) our Classroom Services unit completed 386 unique service requests, (ii) we installed new audio/visual technology equipment in 35 different classrooms, and (iii) we are managing six new audio/visual technology installation projects that will close in the coming year. These actions directly supported faculty in the classroom, empowering them to engage their students in new, creative ways.
What colleagues are saying:
“This looks great, and what a fantastically simple system. This is going to make a big difference in usability of the room—for faculty, graduate students, and presenters.”
-Hernán Brizuela, IT Support, Department of Chemistry, about upgraded presentation equipment in Pitt Chemistry’s Chevron Building
“Thank you so much for your guidance in helping me set up these new quizzes. You were critical to this experiment being a success!”
-Colleen Culley, associate professor at the School of Pharmacy, on using Canvas Outcomes for the first time
“I just wanted to thank you and the learning environments team. I visited the anatomy lab this morning and the new screens and projector are so much better. I appreciate that you were able to do it so quickly.”
-Jason “Jake” Dechant, assistant professor at the School of Nursing, on equipment installations in Pitt Nursing’s Victoria Building
Grab-and-go
resources online
Our website resource portfolio expanded to include a comprehensive teaching and learning resource hub, which resulted in 25% more visitors on our website than last year. Trending example: our GenAI resources page was viewed more than 5,000 times over the school year.
Promoting
instructional excellence
We worked closely with the Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence (ACIE) and developed a detailed set of recommendations for the Teaching Excellence and Advancement through Certification in Higher Education (TEACH@Pitt) initiative, a flexible, stackable credentialing program for all new faculty and teaching assistants. We anticipate that this program will be approved for full implementation in 2025.
Staying connected all year
We use multiple mediums and platforms to stay in touch and stay engaged with faculty, staff, and students.
• Our website www.teaching.pitt.edu, generated more than 386,000 unique visitors this past school year, soaring past last year’s web traffic total by nearly 25%. While the materials on our webpages cater to a Pitt audience, colleagues from our peer networks informed us that they utilize resources on our website for the needs of their own educational institutions. Candace Girard, an educational technology specialist at Tufts University, said she’s working with technology services personnel to “model our website after the Teaching Center’s.” And Cindy Davis, program manager at The Ohio State University, said, “whenever someone asks me for resources, I tell them to use Pitt’s Teaching Center website.”
• Our newsletter publication now reaches more than 12,000 inboxes on a weekly basis. Since July 1, 2023, we’ve sent more than 680,000 individual emails to our distribution list, and our average open rate continues to outperform the education industry benchmark of 25%.
• Our social media channels have proven to be a valuable tool for quickly and succinctly communicating with our audience, as we generated over 100,000 impressions last year on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Section 3
Propelling Innovation
While much of our work happens in plain sight, the Center’s robust portfolio of services includes hands-on support for multimedia, educational and classroom technologies, audio-visual management for special events, and behindthe-scenes expertise that can take any teaching, learning, or scholarly activity to new heights.
CuPID. We contributed to the creation of Community, Pedagogy, Identity and Dialogue (CuPID), a documentary-style, asynchronous course that explores concepts such as social identity and intersectionality through people’s lived experiences. Susan Graff, assistant professor and director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies’ residential program at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, blended a core team from the health sciences with instructional design and digital media expertise from the Teaching Center. The result was a semester-long course that engages those who aren’t typically engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion spaces.
“The interviews bridge abstract concepts like oppression, discrimination and various ‘isms’ to concrete human experience,” added Graff. “And not just any human concrete experience, but the experiences of people at Pitt.”
Participants in front and behind the camera noted that this experience was one of the most rewarding projects they’ve ever worked on. With a mission to cultivate connection among individuals and communities within and around Pitt, the course is free to the public and available on Pitt Professional.
NSF and HHMI grant funding. Teaching and learning consultants provided key insights to bolster Pitt Research’s efforts to secure grant funding through the National Science Foundation that would design and develop a training module
“CuPID is a course on humanizing one another so we can begin breaking down the barriers we’ve erected around ourselves. If we can be human together, imagine what we could do and what this world would be like.”
Susan Graff, assistant professor and director of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies’ residential program, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
to address the importance of research security, federal disclosure policies, and best practices for managing and mitigating risks to the security of research. Additionally, we worked with Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement to help a young researcher enter Pitt’s first bid for a multi-million dollar grant to explore novel genetic material through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Grant.
At your [classroom] service. Our learning space consultants provided technical expertise for nearly 2,000 classroom technology inquiries, 627 classroom technology equipment loans, 133 lecture capture assignments, 125 technology training consultations, 119 hybrid video conferences, and 97 media conversion requests. Our team developed a new process for preparing laptop loans for instructors, reducing the time spent on this popular service by nearly 90%.
Bolstering faculty presence through educational video. Digital media producers collaborated on over 100 unique classroom video projects that resulted in several hundred individual videos supplementing face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses. In many cases, the creative process introduced faculty to the power of video as an educational tool. For example, our collaboration with the School of Medicine and the Institute for Clinical Research Education [ICRE] resulted in a series of ~40 videos that trained medical personnel on how to have difficult conversations with patients through an online course called Critical Conversations. Doug White, vice chair and professor of critical care medicine at the School of Medicine, needed high quality video to demonstrate this critical component of the medical field to teach those who practice in hospitals (as well as practitioners, physician assistants, critical care fellows, and residents rotating through critical care units) on developing
the skills necessary to have effective familycentered conversations. To bring his vision to life, White worked with media producer John Guinane and Natalie Vazquez, ICRE video production specialist and multimedia designer. Together they embarked on a creative digital media journey over several months. The videos blended green screen lecture capture of White with motion graphic text animation to reinforce key points, such as the “I-REMAP” concept to improve goalof-care conversations with hospitalized and seriously ill patients, as well as with advocates for patients who cannot speak for themselves. The Teaching Center staged its studio to look like a hospital and used three cameras to capture footage from multiple angles of clinicians
interacting with patients and modeling the act of having tough conversations with empathy. The mixture of case-based, lesson, and interview style videos gives the learner multiple opportunities to absorb the content and learn from professors who’ve dedicated their careers to studying critical care medicine. “Working alongside other talented creative professionals always provides a space to share ideas, best practices, and techniques that impact the overall success of the end product,” said Vazquez. “We are excited to showcase the final videos and we will absolutely lean to the Teaching Center for future projects.”
“The best part of working with you was watching your team handle challenges. Whatever it was, your team owned the issue, communicated about them, and fixed them. To me, that’s the best way to build trust in a professional relationship.”
—Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Associate Professor of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine
Professional audio and visual event support. We provided technical support for nearly 200 events this past school year--and delivered 36 virtual reality photo tour services. Some of our highest profile events included (i) the memorial services for Jim Roddy, the first chief executive of Allegheny County, and (ii) producing the Damon Young Writing Workshop with the University Honors College, a live hybrid video production featuring nationally well-known podcaster, writer and Pittsburgh-native Damon Young.
Pitt’s
Civic Action Week. In October, The Teaching Center traded their laptops and notebooks for mattocks and one-handed reciprocating saws in support of Civic Action Week, the University’s annual community service campaign organized by PittServes and the Office of Engagement and Community Affairs. The team convened at South Side Park, nestled against the scenic backdrop of the South Side Slopes about four miles from the Pittsburgh campus. Mary Catherine “Kitty” Vagley and the Friends of South Side Park have been working for almost a decade to restore the area back to its original health after years of powerful storms and the arrival of invasive plant species. Over the course of the day, we planted eight new American bladdernut trees and cleared over 1,000 square feet of hillside, where grass and new vegetation was planted in the spring.
Serving students through
accommodated testing
Section 4
Cultivating Student Success
Testing services has adjusted operations significantly in recent years to be able to meet the rising demand for the accommodated testing service offered through our partnership with the Office of Disability Resources and Services (a division of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion). In the previous academic year, we administered a record 10,000 exams for Pitt, meaning that we have established a new high for testing volume for the third consecutive year. The annual increase is attributable to a consistent 20-25% growth in students receiving testing accommodations, and faculty have come forth to voice their support as they, too, have experienced an increased demand in teaching accommodations. “Testing services has managed math exams for my students receiving accommodations for more than a decade,” said Catherine Duane-Lennard, part-time faculty in the department of mathematics. “Their care, concern and professionalism has been outstanding, and I am grateful beyond words.”
The growth trend is happening across the higher education landscape. We conducted a survey of peer institutions through our membership in the National College Testing Association and of the 60 respondents, nearly all reported an increase in demand for accommodated testing. To prepare for this continuous growth, we have engaged in conversations with key stakeholders across the University to raise awareness and discuss solutions that will position Pitt for success in the accommodated testing environment for years to come.
Steady, continuous growth. The number of exams with accommodations administered by testing services has more than doubled since the partnership with DRS began in 2014. During that first year, accommodated tests accounted for 42% of all tests administered by the Testing Center. This year, it accounted for nearly 90%.
Finals Week: Volume during finals week now surpasses 1,000 exams regularly and has seen an increase of 331% over the past decade. Temporary staff, expanded hours, and three additional classrooms are needed for the week.
Rapid check-in. We installed a student ID badge reader to expedite the sign-in process. Previously,
students signed in manually, but now they tap their ID badge upon arrival and their information is cataloged in our system. This reduced a significant manual step in the process and student feedback has been extremely positive.
Campus awareness. Through a series of campus presentations and coverage in the University Times, Pitt News, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, we’ve raised awareness about the impact of the growth trend in accommodated testing and are discussing ways to adjust operations to support this service.
Classroom exam scanning and scoring. Just as accommodated testing reaches new heights, classroom exam scanning and scoring is slowly returning to its pre-Covid volume. During the 2023-24 school year, we processed more than 80,000 individual bubble sheet exams for nearly 150 faculty. Carol Fortney, teaching associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, has been using the center’s scanning and scoring service for the past 17 years. “Through nearly two decades, the testing center staff has maintained high professional standards. Even when I have special requests, the 24-hour turnaround time on exam results is always met. In fact, there have been times when test scores were already sent to me by the time I returned to my office.”
Teaching Initiative
In a highly competitive employment environment, the development of good teaching skills is a fundamental asset. Our Graduate Student Teaching Initiative prepares aspiring graduate student instructors to meet their teaching goals and responsibilities from the first day of class through the job search process. A signature piece of the initiative is a day-long event called New Teaching Assistant Orientation that introduces graduate students to the responsibilities associated with their roles. We also build and manage online training modules that consist of a series of five asynchronous sessions. Nearly 200 new teaching assistants participated in this year’s orientation events.
Building relationships with engaged individuals, schools, and departments can result in groundbreaking work that inspires the entire campus community to achieve more. Those collaborations can take many forms, and we are proud to contribute to a teaching and learning environment that creates interdisciplinary connections, networks, and opportunities.
Cultivating an Engaged Teaching and Learning Community
New Faculty Essentials
Each fall, we welcome new, full-time faculty to our campus learning community through a series of orientation events. Over the past decade, we’ve supported more than 1,000 new instructors during the earliest frame of their teaching careers, including 160 new faculty just this past year. Faculty get a chance to meet University administrators during a welcome reception, learn more about the wide array of resources available through a resource fair, and receive exclusive monthly emails that deliver special messages from the office of research, student affairs, and equity, diversity, and inclusion straight to their inboxes. In many cases, the relationships we build during orientation last well beyond an instructor’s first year, as was the case with Benjamin Rottman from the Department of Psychology.
“When I taught for the first time at Pitt, that was the first time I had ever taught anywhere,” Rottman said. “It was very hard and did not go the way that I wanted it to go. After my first year, the Teaching Center observed my class and gave me some excellent tips—and those tips changed the trajectory of my teaching.” Rottman, an associate professor and a research scientist, won the 2024 Tina and David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award, presented annually to outstanding and innovative undergraduate instructors in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
Assessment and Teaching Conference
We co-host a day-long conference with the Office of the Provost dedicated to all facets of teaching and assessment of learning. Nearly 200 faculty, graduate students, and faculty support specialists participated in this year’s conference, which provided a valuable platform to exchange innovative ideas across diverse disciplines.
“This conference is critical for the campus community, as it focuses on crucial topics that influence teaching and learning,” said Jennifer Cooper, assistant director for advising, professional development, and instructional support in the Office of the Provost. “It also facilitates an exploration of best practices in assessing student learning within higher education, tailored specifically to Pitt’s colleges and schools.”
Cooper said the discussions about assessment and teaching facilitate reviews of assessment outcomes and foster enhancements in course design and delivery. “This dialogue ensures that there is alignment among learning objectives, assessments, and teaching approaches,” she said. “Faculty can evaluate the effectiveness of diverse assessment methods to cater to different learning styles and gain a holistic understanding of student comprehension. This is essential for maintaining instructional excellence.”
Pride on the Patio
In June, we participated in Pride on the Patio, the University’s annual resource fair for the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. We distributed teaching resources available through our DEI resource hub, such as information about advocacy groups and our Pride Syllabus. The Open Lab @ Hillman created miniature 3D printed Cathedrals of Learning, and they quickly became a hot commodity during the event. Chancellor Gabel joined us on the walk to the event..
Committee Participation
Our team members take an active role in the campus and higher education communities by serving on committees, associations, organizations, and clubs that stimulate professional development and promote knowledge sharing.
• Bobby Ackerman, Sera Mathew, and Lindsay Onufer represent the Teaching Center on the General Education Task Force.
• Erik Arroyo completed his 10th year as a member of the National College Testing Association’s grants committee.
• Michael Bridges was co-guest editor of a special issue of Education Science, “Long Overdue: Translating Learning Research into Educational Practice.”
• Joy Hart was elected to a two-year term as the vice president of public relations for the Staff Council at Pitt.
• Nathan Ong, John Radzilowicz, and Michael Bridges served on the organizing committee for GenAI and Dialogue: An Idea Lab for Revolutionizing Teaching and Learning, funded by Pitt’s Year of Discourse and Dialogue. Radzilowicz also served as co-chair of the ad-hoc committee on GenAI in Research and Education.
• Sera Mathew received Year of Discourse and Dialogue funding for the “Let’s Talk About Reproductive Justice: A Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns Initiative.”
• Lizette Muñoz Rojas received a travel award for her participation in the Inclusive Stem
Teaching Project, as well as for her work on the STEM Equity Learning Community Writing Project as a part of the Spring 2024 SEISMIC (Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses) Project Retreat.
• Lisa Votodian served as co-chair of two Explorance Blue Community of Practice Groups: Midterm Surveys and East Central regional.
Center for Mentoring
Reciprocal relationships aren’t just built between the Teaching Center and our University constituents— we cultivate teacher-to-teacher relationships through our multi-disciplinary learning communities. Through the center for mentoring, we support professional excellence by encouraging faculty development as mentors, scholars, and teachers. By becoming more effective mentors and mentees, instructors can strengthen professional interactions with colleagues, advance the mission of scholarship, and foster connections with students that prepare them for success at Pitt and beyond.
Teaching Center Staff Excellence Awards
We presented the Teaching Center Staff Excellence Awards to Santa Pastorius, senior instructional designer, and Lisa Votodian, survey assessment manager. These peer-nominated recognitions are presented annually to those who exemplify the center’s values; demonstrate enthusiasm and commitment toward work responsibilities, colleagues, and customers; serve as a role model and contribute to a collaborative and constructive work environment; embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion; and consistently provide outstanding contributions to the Center.
We supported school and departmental mentor training requirements at the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Our Mentoring Academy delivered a series of professional development programs that boosted competencies across eight unique subjects like effective communication, fostering independence, and articulating one‘s mentoring philosophy.
Through our partnership with the Office of Academic Career Development and the Office of the Provost’s K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship, we provided University-wide trainings for graduate and professional student mentees.
To expand our own talent in this space, our mentoring personnel participated in extensive competency development in Culturally Aware Mentoring through the National Research Mentoring Network and Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences.
Section 6
Propelling Knowledge Sharing
Transforming the learning experience does not happen in a vacuum. We share our expertise with local, regional, national, and international audiences in the hopes that what we do, or make, or discover, will help educational professionals around the world. Through presentations at professional development sessions in multiple states, interviews in print and online publications, guest starring on podcasts, appearing on streaming outlets, and sharing our knowledge through every channel and medium available to us, the Teaching Center has provided strategies for success across the entire pedagogical and academic services spectrum.
Pittwire
• “A Pitt program is connecting people through storytelling to build a more inclusive campus.” May 2024.
• “Innovation in Education Awards submissions are open through Feb. 16.” January 2024.
• “Cynthia Golden won the 2023 Educause Leadership Award.” October 2023.
• “10 ways faculty and staff can promote student well-being.” June 2023.
University Times
• “Panel discusses merits, limitations of open educational resources” April 2024.
• “Idea Lab will pair AI with Pitt’s learning sciences expertise” April 2024.
• “Testing accommodations could hit 14,000 by 2025-26, teaching center says” March 2024.
• “Embracing productive struggle the key to success for college students” March 2024.
• “Supporting neurodiversity in learning environments” February 2024.
• “Seed grant winner’s program takes a hard look at identity” January 2024.
• “As accommodation requests increase, students, faculty call for more testing resources.” January 2024.
• “Using generative AI to create more accessible student learning experiences” January 2024.
• “Book Review: ‘The Abundant University” December 2023.
• “More than one checklist: A primer to teaching inclusively” November 2023.
• “Teaching and the Legal Landscape: LGBTQ anti-discrimination law” October 2023.
• “Legal Landscape and the University Classroom: After affirmative action” September 2023.
• Michael Bridges named permanent director of Teaching Center” July 2023.
Additional Coverage
• “More Pitt students are requesting extra time to complete exams.” April 2024.
• “SEISMIC Voices: Lizette Muñoz Rojas” April 2024. Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses (SEISMIC).
• “Stephany Andrade: The Steve Jobs of education.” April 2024.
• “Avoiding Techno-Bias in Instruction: Striving Toward Technology for All.” January 2024.
• “From the Office of the Provost. Episode 4: Inspiring Innovation with the University Center for Teaching and Learning.” November 2023.
• “Learning Research & Development Center: Learning Sciences Video Series.” 2023.
• “Working students and experts agree: AI is here to stay.” 2023.
Memberships and Associations
• EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
• Learning Technology Consortium
• National College Testing Association
• National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
• Open Source Initiative
• Quality Matters
• Online Learning Consortium
Presentations and Publications
• Ayoob, J., Brady, J., Dukes, A. (March 2024). Presentation: “Pitt’s Mentoring Academy: Maximizing the Mentee Experience.” University of Pittsburgh Mentoring and Advising Summit.
• Lovett, M. C., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Ambrose, S. A. & Norman, M. K. (2023). How learning works: Eight research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.
• Bridges, M.W. (March 2024). Podcast: “Inspiring Innovation with the University Center for Teaching and Learning” Podcasts from Office of the Provost (University of Pittsburgh).
• Bridges, M.W. (January 2024). Presentation: “More Engaging Lectures: Lessons from TED”. Faculty Development Fellowship, UPCM.
• Bridges, M.W. (January 2024). Presentation: “Writing Survey Questions”. Faculty Development Fellowship, UPCM.
• Bridges, M.W. (April 2023). Presentation: “How Learning Works”. Faculty Development Fellowship, UPCM.
• Butler, S., Jackson, R., Rocco, S., Kapel, M. (October 2023). Panel Discussion: “Leading an Instructional Design Team for Online Programs.” Online Learning Consortium Accelerate 2023.
• Butler, S., Mathew, S. (2023). “Inclusive Remote Pedagogy: Instructional Considerations and Praxis.” In: Davis, P.K., Cohn, E.R., Branch, J.C. (eds) Diversity in Higher Education Remote Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Drozd, L., Hyatt, A., Kappel, M., (2023) Poster Presentation: “Rotating IDs: A Collaboration Model for Onboarding and Course Development.” 48th Annual POD Network Conference.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (April 2024). Podcast: “Digital Accessibility with Rae Mancilla and Barbara Frey.” The Future Trends Forum.
• Rand, K.J., Godley, A., Yearwood, G.M.H, Bridges, M. (2023). “Teaching Racial Literacy from a Distance: Designing and Enacting an Online, University-Wide Course in Anti-Black Racism.” In: Davis, P.K., Cohn, E.R., Branch, J.C. (eds) Diversity in Higher Education Remote Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (March 2024).
Podcast: “Transformative Conversations
– Digital Accessibility.” John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (February 2024). Presentation: “Instructional Design Staffing for Online Programs.” Quality Matters Research Webinar, Virtual.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (January 2024). Podcast: “Digital Accessibility with Rae Mancilla and Barbara Frey Part Two” Digital2Learn podcast.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (January 2024). Podcast: “Digital Accessibility with Rae Mancilla and Barbara Frey Part One” Digital2Learn podcast.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (Eds.) (July 2023). Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices, and Professional Development.
• Frey, B.A., Longo, C.M., & Mancilla, R. (2023). Presentation: “Applying Digital Accessibility Practices” 2023 Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education Conference.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (2023). “Inclusive Online Learning: Digital Accessibility Practices.” In: Davis, P.K., Cohn, E.R., Branch, J.C. (eds) Diversity in Higher Education Remote Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Frey, B.A. & Mancilla, R. (2023). “Instructional Design Staffing for Online Programs.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration.
• Hahn, M., (March 2024). Presentation: “Educational Technologies at Pitt”. Discipline-Based Science Education Research.
• Lesgold, A., (February 2024). Presentation:
“Ways that AI Will Change Education”. Discipline-Based Science Education Research.
• Mathew, Sera. (2024). Presentation: “Pedagogies and Caste-Based Discrimination.” 2024 Diversity Forum, University of Pittsburgh.
• Mathew, Sera. (2023). Presentation: “Queer Joy and Love: The Future of LGBTQ+ Affirming Spaces in Education and Beyond.” 2023 Annual Meeting and Conference of the National Women’s Studies Association.
• Mathew, Sera. (2023). Presentation: “Educate, Agitate, Organize: Combatting Caste-Based Discrimination in US Higher Education.” 2023 Annual Meeting and Conference of the National Women’s Studies Association.
• Muñoz Rojas, L. (2024) Presentation: “SEISMIC Action for STEM Department Transformation”. 2024 SEISMIC Conference.
• Muñoz Rojas, L. (2024) Co-facilitator: BIPOC/ Latinx Women and Women Identified Affinity Group. Fall and Spring 2024.
• Ong, N & Park, N. (July 2024) “An Analysis of the Limitations of Performing Research Using Generative AI.” World Congress of Comparative Education Societies.
• Dougherty, M., Plenn, E.R., Onufer, L., & Coulter, R.W.S. (2024) “Going the Extra Mile: How High School Staff Use Informal Strategies to Support, Protect, and Care for LGBTQ+ Students. The Journal of School Health, 94(4), 289–298.
• Onufer, L. (2023). “Faculty Development for Inclusive Online Teaching: Lessons Learned During the Pandemic.” In: Davis, P.K., Cohn, E.R., Branch, J.C. (eds) Diversity in Higher Education Remote Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
• Onufer, L., & Radzilowicz, J. (2023). “Faculty Development in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” 2023. Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education Conference
• Pastorius, V. & Frey, B. (2023) Poster Presentation: “Using Data to Create Effective Instructor-Created Videos”. 2023 Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education Conference
• Dotan, R., Parker, L., & Radzilowicz, J. (2024) Responsible Adoption of Generative AI in Higher Education: Developing a “Points to Consider” Approach Based on Faculty Perspectives. Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery, Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency.
• Radzilowicz, J., (September 2023). Presentation: “Generative AI Tools and the Implications for Teaching and Learning at Pitt”. Discipline-Based Science Education Research.
• Trybus, L. (April 2024). Presentation: “Disability @ Work: Introduction to Digital Accessibility” University Career Center, University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
