Innovative Teaching Program

Experiential Program

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway is a faculty professional development program designed specifically to offer continuing support for all faculty teaching at Zayed University and to help them enhance their teaching and scholarly practices. This is achieved through a practical, reflective, contextualized and critical engagement with new approaches to teaching and learning and scholarship. The program is informed by scholarly research and based on best practice. Face-to-face seminars are delivered on both the Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses.
The Innovative Teaching Program– Experiential pathway has been developed to align to the Center for Educational Innovation’s Teaching Practice Framework and with the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF, see appendix A), an internationally recognized framework which offers a comprehensive set of professional standards and guidelines for faculty involved in teaching and supporting learning in higher education. Through completion of the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway, participants will be prepared to apply for the internationally recognized Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway

Rationale

Everyone responsible for the student learning experience at Zayed University should have a sound understanding of the theory and practice of teaching and learning in higher education, and an understanding of the unique context in which it is embedded. This program has been developed to provide opportunities for teachers to undertake and evidence their professional development in academic practice. It is designed to promote and embed high quality professional practice in learning, teaching and assessment.

Program audience

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway is carefully designed to support the faculty teaching at Zayed University, regardless of their rank, experience or discipline. The program offers participants a supportive, friendly and professional environment in which they can develop their teaching and research aspirations. Whether you are new to teaching and the community or an experienced faculty member, the CEI invites you to join the Innovative Teaching Program which focuses on faculty development, educational development, and innovative learning design specifically in the Gulf context.
Seminars will be held on both the Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses, so you can choose the location and timing that is convenient for you.

Program Pathways

There are two different program pathways that participants can choose from, based on their interest and needs: Taught and Experiential.
The Innovative Teaching Program – Taught pathway is a guided experience, where there are many Modules participants can choose to take based on their interest and experience. These modules will help to develop effective understanding and practical application of current best practices in teaching and learning across all areas of the CEI-TPF/UKPSF. In order to make a claim for fellow, candidates will need to successfully evidence their engagement with all of the CEI-TPF/UKSPF dimensions. Based on participant’s backgrounds, they may have individual gaps in their knowledge, or areas that they would like to develop further based on interest. Participants should select modules that will support them to build knowledge in any competency areas they need to develop. Following the modules, participants will be mentored and supported through the drafting and submission of a claim for fellowship.

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway is a more independent experience, where participants draw on their professional teaching experience to evidence their effective understanding and practical application of current best practices in teaching and learning across all areas of the CEI-TPF/UKPSF.  Experiential participants have the option of participating in Modules, however primarily will only be mentored and supported through the drafting and submission of a claim for fellowship.

To be successful in the experiential program, participants need to have a broad portfolio of teaching artifacts that evidence their expertise across all areas of the CEI-TPF/UKPSF to draw on. If a participant has gaps in this portfolio, we recommend considering the Innovative Teaching Program - Taught pathway.

While all participants have varied backgrounds and expertise to draw from, generally the Experiential Program is best suited to participants that have a sustained record of continued professional development in teaching practice, with many years of teaching experience in higher education in the Gulf region. The Taught pathway is best suited to participants that are either new to higher education teaching, or new to higher education teaching in the Gulf region. The flexible Module format allows participants in the Taught pathway to select only topics that are of interest or needed for them to help evidence their un

derstanding and application of current best practices in all areas of the CEI-TPF/UKPSF.
The HEA Fellowship program supports four categories of Fellowship: Associate Fellow, Fellow, Senior Fellow and Principle Fellow. However, only two different categories of fellowship are supported by the Innovative Teaching Program: Fellow, and Senior Fellow. These two categories of fellowship have been chosen as being most appropriate for ZU faculty, as they are expected to have a broad understanding of the theory and practice of teaching and learning in higher education, and that is the focus of these categories.

A successful Fellow candidate will need to draw on their teaching background and knowledge to demonstrate effective and broad understanding of current best practices in teaching and learning. Candidates will need to be able to successfully evidence their engagement with all of the CEI-TPF competencies and UKSPF dimensions. 

A successful Senior Fellow candidate will need to draw on their teaching background and knowledge to demonstrate effective understanding and leadership with current best practices in teaching and learning. Candidates will need to be able to successfully evidence their engagement and leadership with all of the CEI-TPF competencies and UKSPF dimensions. In addition, candidates will need to demonstrate a continuous ability to supervise and mentor others in relation to teaching and learning.  For example, experienced faculty who have been involved in the organization and management of programs, subjects and disciplinary areas and who have taken on responsibilities within ZU such as course coordinators, curriculum and assessment designers, and managers.   

Fundamental principles

The following are the fundamental principles that guide the design and delivery of the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway:

• Teaching in higher education is challenging, rigorous, developmental, and rewarding.
• Excellence in teaching requires disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge.
• A successful educator encourages critical thinking skills, motivates students to learn, and engages students in the learning process.
• Quality education links classroom activities to the wider social and global contexts.
• Program and course design, teaching and learning strategies, and forms of assessment must be aligned.
• Teaching and research enrich and complement one another.
• Our focus is on what faculty achieve, not what faculty do.
• Good teaching practice can be enhanced through collaboration and reflective sharing.

Program aims

Members of the faculty who enroll in the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway will have ample opportunities to demonstrate:

• Understanding the foundations of student-centered approaches to teaching and learning
• Engaging with teaching and learning theories and practices
• Designing content and language-rich instructional material
• Choosing and utilize educational technology to support learning
• Critical reflection on their teaching practices through the development of an evidence-based teaching portfolio
• Using evidence and scholarship to enhance professional practice
• Gaining a comprehensive understanding of how to design formative and summative assessments
• Acquiring new techniques to create inter-culturally attuned, supportive, motivating and engaging learning environments  
• Cultivating creative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment through collaboration with peers
• Enriching research profile by engaging with the scholarship of teaching and learning
• Interacting with colleagues to learn and share good teaching practices   

Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential Structure

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway is customizable based on the individual needs of the participant. The following is a typical path through the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway:

Optional Constellation Module Descriptions

Below are general descriptions of the optional constellation modules available to Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway participants. These modules are part of the taught program focused at the Fellow category. However, participants may find that the topics could be relevant to the Senior Fellow category if they are undertaking a leadership role in the topic area. For example, the module topic of assessment might be relevant to a participant planning a Fellow category claim looking to re-design an assessment for their own class section. The same module may be relevant to a participant focusing on a Senior Fellow claim that is leading an assessment change for multiple courses or a program. Participants can choose one or more of the following modules as extra support:

Further special topic modules may be developed based on the interests or needs of Fellow or Senior Fellow cohorts.

Pedagogical approach of the optional support modules

The Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway optional and required modules will be delivered through face-to-face seminars, with supporting on-line activities. The modules are developed to provide participants with content and practice in the topic area, opportunities to build their portfolio through in-class and between-class activities, and to leave most sessions with something they can use in their next class.
Interactive face-to-face seminars:

• Seminar leaders are HEA recognized, familiar with ZU’s unique work environment, policies, expectations and challenges as well as best practices in education.
• Participants attend interactive seminars where they share, discuss, apply and reflect on the topic.
• Additionally, participants explore and reflect on teaching and learning issues that relate to their discipline, course content and teaching context.
• Seminars will model a wide variety of teaching approaches for participants that they may want to incorporate into their own practice.

Relevant and Pragmatic

• Seminars and activities lead to opportunities to practice what participants have learned
• Artifacts (activities, materials, reflections, etc.) are structured to provide evidence via teaching portfolio entries
• There is a focus on immediacy e.g., ‘what can I do by next Tuesday?’ 

On-line module support:

• Modules will use a corresponding Blackboard site, containing course materials for pre-reading and reference, submission areas for module activities, as well as discussion areas to interact with module colleagues.

Commitment & Attendance

The Program Orientation Session is required as an introduction to the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway. It is one session that is 3 hours long.
All optional constellation modules consist of five two-hour seminar sessions offered over a period of five to seven weeks. To successfully complete a module, participants are expected to attend all sessions and participate in all between-class activities. In addition to attending the face-to-face sessions, participants should expect to spend 2-3 hours weekly to complete between-class activities, complete pre-readings. 
The Build the Claim module is required and will consist of five two-hour sessions over a period of 8 to 10 weeks. Participants should expect to spend approximately 30 hours to build the 3,000 word critical reflection for the application for HEA Fellow or 6,000 word critical reflection for the Senior Fellow designation.

Formative Assessment & Feedback

In the Build the Claim module, participants will be in a peer-writing community, and paired with a mentor, both to provide feedback on their draft claims.
Formative assessment and feedback through self and peer assessments are embedded into the optional modules, and will take place in a variety of forms and contexts depending on the module. Throughout the optional modules, participants will engage in a variety of activities that allow them reflect on and develop their teaching practices. These activities create artifacts that can be curated in a teaching portfolio and provide evidence for HEA fellowship claim.

Support for Participants Making Fellowship Applications

Zayed University faculty and teaching-support staff who join the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway will be supported throughout the duration of their engagement with the program in a variety of ways. Participants are offered methodical, flexible and goal-oriented support to build knowledge and skills, select evidence, and build fellowship claims. Starting with the initial Orientation Session, continuing with work in any of the optional modules as needed, and then drafting and submission of a claim for fellowship. If participants make successful applications for fellowship, they may continue with programs to become a Mentor or Reviewer to promote and support continual growth.
Program Orientation

• In the Program Orientation, you will learn about the overview of the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway and the CEI-TPF and HEA fellowship pathways. Participants will have the opportunity to complete a self-assessment, select an appropriate recognition pathway and modules to complete to support their submission of claim. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions, and meet other colleagues that are interested in pursuing fellowship in the same cohort group.

Program Coordinator Follow-Up

• The Program Coordinator (email: cei@zu.ac.ae) will reach out to participants after the Program Orientation Session and once per semester following, to offer one-to-one or group meetings to ensure that participants are making progress towards their goals and submitting applications. The Program Coordinator is a Senior Fellow of the HEA, and fully familiar with the CEI-TPF/UKPSF.
• Individual one-to-one appointments will usually take place in the Writing/Resource room (more information below).

Optional - Constellation Module Participation

• The Constellation Modules are the primary support for building a portfolio of evidence reflective of current best practices in teaching and learning in higher education, particularly in the ZU teaching environment. This portfolio can then be used as supporting evidence build a claim for fellowship.
• Facilitators for constellation modules are all HEA recognized fellows and senior fellows, and as such are familiar with the building of claims.  The modules are designed specifically to engage participants in knowledge building activities that will align with evidencing competency across the CEI-TPF and UKPSF. As participants take constellation modules, facilitators will be continually encouraging participants to consider the aspects of the CEI-TPF/UKPSF and how they can develop and evidence their skills in all the areas.

Build the Claim Module

• The Build the Claim module is the primary support for drafting a claim for fellowship. A facilitator (who holds HEA Fellowship) will work through the claim requirements in detail, and help participants to verify that they are creating a claim for an appropriate fellowship category and selecting appropriate forms of evidence.  Participants will engage with a writing community in the modules, where they will both review other colleagues draft work, and receive feedback on their own.

Optional – Cohort Workshops

• Following the Build the Claim Module if needed, the Program Coordinator may set up workshops to support Fellow or Senior Fellow applicants to complete their Claim submissions. Follow up with the Program Coordinator (cei@zu.ac.ae) if there are topics you would like to suggest, or supports you require.

Mentors

• In the Build the Claim module, participants will be paired with a Mentor that is an HEA recognized fellow and a ZU colleague. The Mentor’s role is to individually support and provide guidance to the participants through individual meetings to review their portfolio and give formative feedback as to components, alignment with the CEI-TPF/UKPSF and critically reflective narrative writing structure.

Writing/Resource Room & Website

• Finding time to write without interruption, and ensuring all the required resources are available is challenging. To support this, there is a Writing/Resource room on each campus set up, which is a physical space faculty can bring their laptop to and work. 
• All support-related documents (forms, handouts, handbooks, descriptions, UKPSF, CEI-TPF, applications for recognition, and so forth) are made available to participants in hardcopy format at the Writing/Resource Room
• All of the same resources available in the Writing/Resource Room are whenever possible made available in digital format through the Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway Blackboard, our official learning management system.

One-to-One

• The CEI faculty members invite participants to contact them should they need any form of support, including one-to-one consultation.
• Pre-arranged appointments for individualized consultations can be requested through the CEI email account: cei@zu.ac.ae.
• For fellowship specific questions, or to address any concerns participants may have throughout the academic year, participants may arrange meetings with the Program Coordinator.

Application Requirements for Fellowship

Through your application for CEI Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway and HEA fellow, you will have an opportunity to demonstrate, and be recognized for, your professional practice as an educator. You will critically reflect on your educational practices and provide evidence that you have met the requirements of fellow. Critical reflection is intended to be a development opportunity for you.
In order to become a CEI Innovative Teaching Program – Experiential pathway and HEA fellow, you are required to build a critically reflective fellowship claim that provides the examiners with evidence that you have met the CEI-TPF (CEI-Teaching Practice Framework) and the UKPSF (United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework) requirements [See Appendix A].
As we recommend in the Orientation Session, we advise you build a teaching portfolio (in any format you choose), with various types of artifacts from your teaching experience. You can then use this portfolio as a collection of potential evidence for use while writing your claim. Your fellowship claim will need to connect the portfolio evidence in a critical review of your educational practice as it relates to each of appropriate criteria of the fellowship.

All fellow applicants who are applying through the CEI experiential pathway are require to enroll in the CEI Build the Claim module, which will provide mentorship and assistance in building the fellowship claim. For more information, please refer to the Build the Claim module handbook.

Application requirements:

What should be included in my fellowship claim? See specifics for Fellow or Senior Fellow on p. 19, however generally:

• Critical review of educational practice

This provides a written and critical reflection on how your educational practice demonstrates your engagement with the fellowship criteria.

• Peer references

Your peer references provide written authentication of your practice as evidenced in your fellowship claim. Peer references should have familiarity of your educational practices and who have knowledge and understanding of the UKPSF. Guides for peer references can be found in appendix D.

• CEI Taught program transcript (optional and only for CEI Optional Constellation Modules)

If you participated in any Optional Constellation Modules, you may request a transcript that indicates the modules you have successfully completed to authenticate any evidence that you developed within the module that may be included in your fellowship claim.
*For specific requirements for Fellow or Senior Fellow please see p. p. 19.

Critical Review of Educational Practice

This section provides you with information on the format and structure of your critical review. Your critical review should draw on evidence from your higher educational teaching experiences and will enable you to demonstrate the CEI-TPF and UKPSF Fellow or Senior Fellow criteria (appendices B and C). You may draw on a wide range of sources and evidence when writing your critical review that demonstrate your understanding of higher education teaching and student learning. Using a variety of evidence, you will demonstrate and reflect your current teaching practice and plans to future teaching development. You will need to support this with relevant literature and sources. These sources will likely be related to teaching and learning, assessment in higher education, pedagogical sources within your discipline and subject area, etc.
The critical review should draw on your own teaching practices and experiences, and show evidence of meeting the standards in the CEI-TPF and UKPSF. You should include within your claims:

• Reflection and analysis of evidence of your educational experiences and practices;
• Evidence of how your practice relates to the criteria relevant to the category of fellowship you are apply for;
• Demonstrating and justifying how your practice is connected to your educational values;
• Demonstration of scholarly teaching – the core knowledge that has informed and influenced your teaching e.g. scholarly literature; Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research that you have conducted; conferences, shared practices, etc.);
• Through reflection and analysis, indicate how you plan to develop and improve your educational practice;
• Clearly articulate the value critical reflection in your practice and its likely impact on your future practice.

It is important to note that while you will likely reference and allude to a wide range of evidence from your educational practice, you are not required to submit individual artifacts mentioned and discussed in your claim. It is recommended that fellowship applicant curate a teaching portfolio, which acts as a repository for teaching artifacts and reflections. Fellows who have successfully completed modules in the CEI taught program will have artifacts and reflections that may be used as evidence in their portfolios.

Peer References

As mentioned, your fellowship claim requires an evidenced and critical review of your practice. It acts as a reflective self-assessment of your teaching practice and a demonstration of the progression of your educational practice that draws on a variety of evidence.
You must provide within your fellowship claim at least two references written by colleagues who are familiar with your educational practice, and more specifically with the evidence that you provide within your claim. Referees provide authentication and verification of your claim. Ideally referees are familiar with the CEI-TPF and the UKPSF. Referees do not have to be department heads or have a ‘line managing’ role.
Peer references are a mandatory component to you fellowship claim and your claim will not be reviewed without them. You can find a guide for referees in appendix D.

CEI Taught program transcript (optional and only for CEI taught program)

If you have taken optional modules in the CEI taught program, you may request a transcript that indicates which modules you have successfully completed. This transcript can provide authentication of your educational practice as demonstrated within the module, which will likely include educational artifacts (i.e. lesson plans, assessments, educational learning objects, etc.) or critical reflection of your practice as it relates to the module. You may request a transcript from the CEI once you have enrolled in the Build the Claim module.

Specific Requirements by Category

Fellow

Senior Fellow

*Please refer to the assessment criteria for relevant level of fellowship below

Submitting Fellowship Claims

Faculty are expected to submit their completed claim to the CEI for recognition. This included the applicant's Critical Review of Educational Practice and reference documents from appropriate referees.  Submissions are done through the Blackboard site to ensure secure and efficient access by internal and external reviewers. Faculty can submit their claim during the designated peer review cycles (minimum 2 per year). The dates can be found on the CEI website [WEBSITE LINK]. Any claim submitted after each deadline will be deferred for review in the following cycle. Recognition decisions about the claim are made using a review criteria [Appendices B and C] appropriate for each Fellowship level. These criteria can also be used by the applicants as a self-review tool prior to submitting their claim. The criteria are set aligned to the Center for Educational Innovation's Teaching Practice Framework which is subsequently aligned with HEA's UK Professional Standards Framework.

Recognition Process
The recognition process of the completed claim is carried out by Faculty at the CEI and the wider ZU academic community. Fellowship applications are also reviewed by selected internal and external reviewers. The process is designed to be rigorous, professional and constructive while adhering to predetermined criteria appropriate for each Fellowship category.
As soon as a claim is submitted, a designated CEI faculty is responsible for coordinating the examiner’s feedback and discussions until a decision has been reached about each claim. Both internal and external examiners are required to use the category-specific rubrics and criteria to evaluate each claim and make their judgment. 

• Claims at the Fellow category are examined by a minimum of two examiners at least one of whom is a FHEA and one of whom is external.
• Claims at the Senior Fellow category are reviewed by a minimum two examiners, one of whom is an external examiner who has been recognized as Senior Fellow. 

While internal and external examiners assess each claim independently, they reach recognition decisions collaboratively through discussion ensuring that the relevant criteria are applied as per CEI and HEA guidelines and standards. Examiners must reach consensus as to whether the applicant has provided the necessary evidence to be recognized at the target level. 

Reviewers can choose one of the following possible decisions:

• Recognition – this decision indicates that the claim can be accepted for the Fellowship without any further action. The applicant will receive feedback and recommendations for further professional development, if needed.
• Recognition conditional upon minor changes – this decision indicates that the claim could be awarded the Fellowship after minor changes (such as clarifications, additions, deletions, etc.) have been made by the applicant based on the reviewers’ feedback. Applicants are expected to resubmit within two weeks of judgments. Resubmitted claims with minor changes are reviewed by a CEI fellow, who ensures that the reviewers’ recommendations and changes have been successfully applied to the claim by the applicant. If the applicant chooses to disregard one or more of the reviewers’ recommendations, he/she must provide justification. The applicant’s justification and the final application is then fully reviewed by one of the original internal reviewers who must make a judgment as to whether the claim can be accepted 'as is' based on the information and justification provided by the applicant or whether the applicant needs to make further changes. In case of further changes, the applicant is notified and the cycle of revision and review starts again. Each cycle of revision and review lasts 2-4 weeks.
• Decision suspended pending review following resubmission – this decision indicates that the applicant has not satisfied the criteria for the target fellowship. Feedback from the reviewers will provide guidance to the applicant on how to improve and enhance the claim, which will need to be resubmitted for another cycle of review. Resubmitted claims are ‘fast-tracked’ and whenever possible the same assessors review the resubmitted claim. In case the original assessors are not available for the second review, new assessors will be assigned. If the second review process yields the same result, i.e., Decision suspended pending review following resubmission, the applicant is assigned a CEI mentor who will work closely with the applicant to prepare the claim for resubmission. The cycle of resubmission and review can be repeated as needed until the claim is accepted without further action. 

The results of the examination process are later ratified by the HEA and faculty receive their Fellowship recognition certificate in due time.

NOTE: To avoid conflicts of interest, fellowship examiners cannot be mentor or referee of the fellowship applicant, nor a facilitator of any module in which the applicant attended.

Appeals Process

Participants may appeal a decision if they feel there was an error in process. Appeals may filed be on the basis of perceived failure to follow proper examination processes. Appeals are forwarded to the Program Coordinator who will ensure the appeal is complete and clear, and will then forward to the Ratifying Committee for a decision. The Ratifying Committee will review the judgments from the examiners and the process used to arrive at those judgments. If the committee finds that proper process was not followed (e.g,, one or more examiners did not follow process, materials were missing, etc.), then a new examiner may be asked to review the fellowship claim. In extreme cases the examination process may be restarted with a completely new set of examiners.

Review Criteria

Recognition decisions about the claims are made using assessment criteria for Fellowship or Senior Fellowship category. The criteria are aligned with UKPSF and CEI-TPF [Appendix A – CEI Teaching Practice Framework].  Criteria are available to applicant and can serve as a self-review tool prior to submitting their claim. [Appendices B and C]