Author: NCFDD
Teaching has always required faculty to make many decisions about what students need to learn and how to help them get there. Those decisions have become more complicated as expectations around technology, assessment, student support, and course design continue to change.
Faculty are being asked to respond while still managing the day-to-day work of teaching. They need to decide how AI fits into their courses, whether assignments still measure what they intend to measure, and where their own time is best spent.
Supporting teaching effectiveness today means giving faculty the tools and space to make those decisions well.
Clear learning goals still give faculty a place to start
With so much change around teaching, it can be tempting to focus first on new tools or new approaches. Learning goals still offer one of the clearest ways to decide what belongs in a course.
If students need to analyze evidence, solve a problem, develop an argument, or apply a concept, that goal can guide decisions about assignments and classroom activities. It can also help faculty decide whether something that has been part of a course for years still needs to stay.
Clear goals are especially useful when faculty are thinking about assessment. A familiar assignment may still work well. Another may need to change because students can now complete it in ways that make it harder to see what they understand.
Starting with the learning goal gives faculty a clearer basis for deciding what to change.
Faculty need ways to see what students are actually learning
Grades offer some information about student performance, but they do not always show where students are confused. They also may not show what students can do on their own.
Small checks for understanding can help. A short reflection, an in-class problem, a discussion prompt, or a brief explanation of reasoning can give faculty useful information before a major assignment or exam.
These checks do not need to create another layer of grading. Their purpose is to help faculty see where students are and adjust while there is still time.
That information can also make teaching decisions easier. If students already understand a concept, there may be no reason to spend another class period on it. If many are struggling with the same idea, faculty can address it before the end of the unit.
Good feedback needs a clear purpose
Feedback is another area where faculty can spend a great deal of time without always knowing how much students are getting from it.
The most useful feedback gives students something they can act on. Faculty might focus on a few important areas, give students a chance to revise, or help them recognize patterns they can apply to future work.
The level of feedback can also vary by assignment. A major project may call for detailed individual comments. A practice activity may need only a brief response, especially when the goal is to help students see whether they are on the right track.
Thinking about how students will use the feedback can help faculty decide where to spend their time.
Teaching effectiveness now includes decisions about AI
AI has added another set of choices to course design, and those choices can look very different across disciplines.
Some faculty may allow students to use AI for certain parts of an assignment. Others may decide that a task should be completed without it because the process itself matters to the learning goal. Many courses will likely include a mix of both approaches.
Faculty need enough understanding of the technology to make those choices with confidence. Students also need clear expectations. If AI use is allowed, they should know where and under what conditions. If it is restricted, they should understand why.
Those expectations may change as faculty learn more about how students use AI and how the technology evolves. Faculty need room to test approaches, see what is working, and make adjustments.
Faculty need time to reflect on their teaching
Some of the most useful information about a course becomes clear only after faculty have taught it.
An assignment may take much longer than expected. Students may struggle with instructions that seem clear. A class activity may work especially well. A reading that once generated strong discussion may no longer do so.
Those observations can disappear quickly once the semester ends and attention shifts elsewhere. Taking a few minutes to record what worked, what caused problems, and what you want to change can make future course preparation easier.
Reflection does not have to lead to a full course redesign. Often, the most useful changes are smaller. Faculty may rewrite an assignment prompt, change the timing of an activity, remove a reading, or adjust how they introduce a concept.
Over time, those decisions can make a course easier to teach and more useful for students.
Teaching support should help faculty make better decisions
Faculty development around teaching is most useful when it connects to choices faculty are already making in their courses.
That might include designing an assessment that better reflects a learning goal, finding a more manageable approach to grading, or thinking through an AI policy. It could also mean deciding how to respond when students are struggling with a particular concept.
Faculty can also learn a great deal from one another. Many teaching challenges are shared across departments and disciplines. Hearing how colleagues have approached them can give faculty ideas they can adapt to their own courses.
There is rarely one right way to teach a course. Faculty need practical approaches they can evaluate based on their students, discipline, institution, and goals.
Effective teaching can change as the classroom changes
The conditions around teaching will continue to shift. New technology will appear, student needs will change, and faculty will keep learning more about what works in their own classrooms.
Strong teaching effectiveness depends on having a clear basis for making choices as those changes happen. Learning goals, useful information about student learning, thoughtful feedback, and time to reflect can all help faculty decide what needs their attention.
A useful question to return to throughout the semester is simple: What is helping students learn in this course right now, and what could make that learning stronger?
