HOW TO ENGINEER AND SUSTAIN

TEACHING INNOVATION IN UNIVERSITIES

Lori Breslow
Director, Teaching and Learning Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT
Erin Driver-Linn
Director of Harvard's Office of Institutional Research - OIR and
the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching - HILT
Harvard University
Kevin Barry
Interim Director, John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning,
University of Notre Dame

Anglica Natera
Deputy Director,
LASPAU Affiliated with Harvard University

ABSTRACT
To address teaching innovations, universities must provide opportunities for
comprehensive faculty development and take into account the organizational culture.
This panel will discuss how MIT, Harvard, and Notre Dame are fostering teaching
innovation. Successes and pitfalls will be shared so as to provide guidelines for
implementing curriculum and teaching innovations.
KEYWORDS: faculty development, comprehensive strategies
OBJECTIVES
1. Provide an overview of faculty development approaches implemented by MIT,
Harvard, and Notre Dame in leading the strengthening and promotion of
innovation in teaching practices.
2. Identify key aspects to consider when developing an institutional strategy to
improve and sustain teaching innovation.
OUTLINE OF TOPICS
Description of three different institutional approaches for faculty development
(MIT, Harvard, and Notre Dame).

Identification of successes and pitfalls

approaches for faculty development.

when

implementing

institutional

Key aspects to consider when developing and implementing a program or

initiative to promote effective learning and teaching.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Lori Breslow, is the founding director of the Teaching & Learning Laboratory (TLL) at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). An internationally recognized expert in
teaching and learning in higher education, she conducts research on the development,
diffusion and assessment of educational innovation, particularly in science and
engineering. She is also a Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT
Sloan School of Management.
Erin Driver-Linn is the Director of Harvard's Office of Institutional Research (OIR) and
the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching at Harvard University. Before assuming
the OIR directorship, Erin served for four years as Associate Director for Research at
Harvards Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and taught a range of courses in
the Harvard Psychology Department
Kevin Barry, is the Director of the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning at Notre
Dame University. He also works with departments to provide consultation on program
assessment and curriculum revision. Kevin serves on a number of University-wide
committees including Academic Council and the University Council on Academic
Technology (UCAT) and served on the Board of Directors of the Professional and
Organizational Development Network (POD) from 2009 through 2012.
Anglica Natera, is the Deputy Director at LASPAU, a Harvard affiliated organization
and oversees the Initiative for the Development of Academic Innovation (IDIA) as well as
the organizations administration of scholarship programs. Since 2006 IDIA works with
higher education institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to design custom
programs focused on improving teaching and learning. We connect universities with a
global network of innovative education experts, conduct needs assessments to inform
program design, and evaluate programs to identify strategies that work in local contexts.
Anglica Natera
Laspau-Harvard University
25 Mount Auburn St. Office 102
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 02138
1-617-495-0488
angelica_natera@harvard.edu