This year, UNL celebrates 30 years of the Faculty-led Inquiry into Reflective and Scholarly Teaching project.
The program, formerly known as the Peer Review of Teaching Project, has been a constant feature in the professional development of instructors at UNL since 1994 and over 500 faculty from at least 53 different department and 8 different colleges have participated.
The focus of the program has always been to help instructors document, assess, and improve student learning and performance via extensive analysis and reflection on course development, instructional strategies, classroom activities, and students’ work. This year, peer observation has been added to the program as a further reflective tool.
The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Center for Transformative Teaching have supported FIRST since its inception, and the CTT will be organizing events in the spring to mark the anniversary.
"We like to say that in a time when it feels like we’re always being asked to do more with less, FIRST allows us to do more with more," said Eve Brank, Aaron Douglas Professor of psychology and FIRST co-lead. "FIRST provides its participants with more set-aside time, more colleagues, and more resources to be the best teachers possible. In light of our 30-year anniversary, we’ll even have more to celebrate!”
For instructors wanting to sign up, the fall program is now closed, but spaces are available in the spring cohort. Visit the FIRST website or contact Eve Brank at ebrank2@unl.edu.
More details at: https://peerreview.unl.edu/