Teaching and Learning Initiative

Teaching Excellence at Mount Holyoke College

At Mount Holyoke College, we believe there are a multitude of ways to teach well—and that all teaching can benefit from critical reflection and faculty development. We also acknowledge that research into student learning has established some broad guidelines for understanding what “teaching excellence” means:

• Knowledge of one’s scholarly discipline
• Creative, responsive, and thorough course planning with attention to universal design
• Clear communication of learning goals to students
• Effective classroom practice, based on pedagogical goals
• Promotion of a bias-free and inclusive learning environment that values a diversity of learning styles, backgrounds, and perspectives
• Timely and detailed evaluation of student work with an eye to the student’s further development
• Engagement in supportive advising and mentoring of students, both in and out of the classroom
• Commitment to further development as a teacher, as demonstrated by engaging in conversations and reflection about one’s practice, faculty development programs, mutual mentoring, or the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Adopted by the Holistic Assessment of Teaching Faculty Seminar, July 2019. Sources consulted: Kenyon College Faculty Handbook; Schreyer Institute For Teaching Excellence at Penn State; Umass T-Eval Project and Rubric.