To: John Moseley, Provost

From: Greg Bothun, Chair, Ed. Tech. Committee

Re: Electronic Curriculum Tools and Teaching Scholarship

The Educational Technology Committee recommends that the University seriously consider faculty development and/or use of electronic curriculum and courseware when evaluating an individual's positive commitment to innovative and conscientious teaching. The preparation or use of these materials is time consuming and the new medium is very open to interpretation and does not always work for some students. Therefore, a vocal minority of negative student opinions can result and this may discourage faculty members from participating. Teaching preparation is time consuming and the criteria for its evaluation is usually vague yet its this preparation time that is usually the key to good teaching. Instead, teaching effectiveness and outcome become the measuring standards. The committee believes that today's network technology provides the opportunity for individuals to weave their own research into their teaching making the subject matter more real for the students. As a consequence, it is difficult to place this effort directly into either the teaching, research or service areas. In reality, it is an amalgam of all three, because the developed materials are used to teach, take time to research and they remain available to everyone over the network and thus represent a form of educational outreach. We further believe the development of networked material and/or the use of multimedia software in the classroom reflects a dedication, creativity and desire for classroom innovation that is not adequately measured by student evaluations.

Therefore, this committee seeks a position statement from the Administration, stating that the development of electronic courseware or the use of electronic materials as a curriculum supplement will be considered as a form of teaching scholarship which will be evaluated in tenure and promotion matters. This committee cannot set the standards of this evaluation but recommends that it be consistent with those laid out in the Faculty Rewards Commission report. We strongly wish to avoid individual faculty members feeling penalized for making the necessary time committment towards integrating the use of technology in their curriculum. To paraphrase from a similar document originating from Princeton University:

Computer-related teaching is a form of curricular innovation, scholarship, and service. It should be evaluated as an integral part of a faculty member's file. Faculty members are responsible for making a case for the value of their projects, articulating the intellectual assump- tions underlying their work, and documenting their time and effort. In particular, faculty members expecting recognition for computer-related work should ensure that their projects remain compatible with departmental needs, as well as with criteria for reappointment, tenure, and promotion.

One of the goals of the Educational Technology Committee is to enable greater faculty participation in this resource. A positive statement from the administration to the faculty asserting that educational technology may be considered as a form of teaching scholarship will help remove a perceived obstacle to greater faculty participation.

Thank you for your consideration.