Early Career Teaching Academy
Most large public universities train and support their professoriate to conduct research, but few institutions have structures in place to support the development of faculty as learning-centered and equity-focused teachers who critically reflect on and shape the development of their teaching practices and teaching careers. These are the two main goals of the Early Career Teaching Academy (ECTA). Faculty who thrive as Early Career Teaching Academy Fellows are in a position
- to develop a record of successful teaching practices and improved student learning, and
- serve as a teaching resource for colleagues
- to play a leading role in efforts to develop a community of learning-centered and equity-focused teaching practitioners within departments and schools at IU Indianapolis
ECTA fellows network with teaching-focused ECTA faculty fellows from IU Indianapolis, IU Columbus, or IU Fort Wayne, and together build a foundation of knowledge to improve and make learning more equitable, to represent and document their teaching practices and student learning in a teaching philosophy and ePortfolio (for use in promotion dossiers, teaching award applications and grant proposals), to plan and shape their development as teaching faculty, and to begin using generative A.I. in their teaching work.
Academy Dates:
- Monday, February 3, 2025 (begin required pre-work online, asynchronously)
- Friday, February 14, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
- Friday, February 21, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
- Friday, February 28, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
- Friday, March 28, 2025, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.,
- Friday, October 3, 2025, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
All meetings are in-person at the IU Indianapolis Center for Teaching and Learning. Lunch will be provided for the first three intensive days.
Academy Learning Objectives (numbered) and Outcomes (bulleted)
By the end of the five meetings of the Academy, participants will be able to:
- improve student learning outcomes and learning equity
- plan to develop and/or refine a teaching practice (a teaching “intervention”),
- implement and measure the effectiveness of that teaching intervention
- use an equity lens in all aspects of the development of teaching practices
- explain (document) how they make learning happen to various audiences: to self, to colleagues, and to students (i.e., teaching inputs, course design)
- identify the basic steps of two main teaching/learning processes
- employ generative A.I. to identify learning activities and assessment schemes that enhance student learning
- articulate elements of their teaching philosophy, and the relationship between their philosophy and teaching practices
- create a teaching ePortfolio that captures teaching practices and student successes
- write an ePortfolio summary describing the achievements of their teaching intervention
- measure and document student learning
- write a learning objective
- create a rubric to measure student learning, using generative A.I. tools
- measure student learning outcomes as part of a teaching intervention
- draft the elements of a teaching philosophy
- articulate, shape, and communicate their professional development as teachers
- draft the elements of a teaching philosophy
The Early Career Teaching Academy helps achieve all five of the CTL’s goals:
- Promote evidence-based practices in teaching and learning
- Encourage professional grown in teaching for faculty of all appointment types
- Advance innovation and experimentation in teaching and learning
- Empower engagement in scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning
- Foster inclusion and equity in teaching and learning
The Early Career Teaching Academy supports IU Indianapolis 2030 Strategic Plan’s Student Success and Opportunity pillar, in close alignment with Goal 2: Increase Retention and Graduation Rates, and Goal 4: Improve Equity and Inclusion Across Student Experience.
