New tool focused on classroom engagement being prepped for spring 2025 launch
A new teaching observation tool focused on engagement in the classroom is undergoing beta testing with preparations for a rollout across the Penn State Eberly College of Science in spring 2025. Available as an app, Capturing Classroom Engagement Data for Instructor Reflection makes it easy for instructors to gather data on their teaching.
The CCEDIR app was developed as part of Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology’s Faculty Fellows project awarded to Jackie Bortiatynski, director of the Eberly College of Science’s Grove Center for Excellence in Science Education, and is designed to record instructor and student engagement so faculty members can use the data to improve their teaching and the student learning experience.
Where it started
The idea for building the CCEDIR app evolved from discussions between Bortiatynski and Crystal Ramsay, senior director of TLT, about how to make the observation process easier while providing instructors with beneficial feedback. Bortiatynski explained that they wanted to provide a method of observation that would have a strong impact on how instructors teach their courses.
“The CCEDIR teaching observation tool was created to support the teaching development of instructors and instructional teams,” she said. “So how do we create a culture in which people are excited about receiving feedback on their teaching?”
Bortiatynski also said she wanted to ensure that instructors could make the data work for them and that they were in full control of the data, which is why the app does not save any instructor data; it is only sent to the instructor and the observer.
“It was important to us that whatever we developed was going to be instructor-centric, not administrator-centric, and that the data that would be collected would go directly to the instructor,” she added. “They could then decide whether they wanted to share that information or not.”
How it works
The CCEDIR app, Bortiatynski noted, was inspired by another program: Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM, created by the Carl Wieman Science Education Institute.
As TLT and the Grove Center team were creating their own app, she explained, they stressed the importance of the user experience; as a result, CCEDIR provides the classroom observer with a set of codes, 21 in total, that represent different aspects of classroom engagement, including instructor and student activity.
To get started, the observer meets with the instructor prior to the class to find out the instructor’s goals, what each code means to them, and when to use each code. The observer then attends the class and uses the app to assign codes based on this preobservation meeting.
Learning assistants — undergraduate students who have received training to help them facilitate learning — participated as observers in the first beta test, which Bortiatynski said proved to be effective because they were familiar with how the instructor taught and the culture of the classroom. Moving forward, she realized, there was potential for getting LAs involved as observers to help them further relate to the class and instructor.
“The LAs felt even more connected to the classroom than they had in the past,” she explained, “because they realized how their work as learning assistants was associated with this project.”
Where it’s going
Bortiatynski and a team of six faculty spanning three departments in the college are beginning the second beta test of CCEDIR this fall, where the faculty will be using their LAs as observers to address their own individual teaching goals.
One of those faculty, Michael Steward, associate teaching professor of mathematics, said, “I will use the CCEDIR data to assess the balance of time allotted to different activities in my class and to understand the level of student engagement with the instructional team, including both myself and undergraduate learning assistants. In the long term, I see CCEDIR data being useful in the training of graduate student instructors and learning assistants and being helpful in allowing instructional faculty to better understand their own teaching.”
During this beta test, Bortiatynski said, she wants to gather faculty members to share how CCEDIR has informed the way they teach, with the hope that all departments across the college will utilize it. The Grove Center team also has plans to introduce CCEDIR at the Evidence-Based Teaching Academy in the spring, to the graduate student community, and to departments individually. And, she said, while the Eberly College of Science is launching the app, it is the hope of the Grove Center team that other colleges at the University will take advantage of using it, as well.
“Faculty are required to do their faculty activity report annually, and they have to do a reflection on their teaching,” Bortiatynski said. “We hope this data will play heavily into their self-evaluation portion of their annual report, to set goals for themselves and share the data that shows they are making progress in this space.”
CCEDIR, she noted, is an optional tool, and a source of data, that instructors can use for self-reflection.
Bortiatynski also emphasized that she and the Grove Center team are dedicated to building their community in the college, and that instructor goals remain at the forefront of the CCEDIR project.
“The goals that we have for ourselves — for engaging students, for improving learning for all students, for building a culture that’s inclusive and exciting for our students —don’t happen with one person,” she said. “They happen when a community gets together.”
Interested faculty can contact Bortiatynski to learn more about CCEDIR and how to participate.