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Feature Stories

Teaching Award Winners

Outstanding teachers abound across Penn. The University and its schools recognize some of those excellent teachers every year with teaching awards. University-Wide Teaching Awards Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching Awarded […]

News & Features

On this page, CETLI shares insights, awards, and the latest news on innovations in online learning and teaching excellence.  Inclusion in a Nursing Program “To help students develop the ability […]

Penn’s Online Course Supports High School Students Navigating the College Application Process

Penn Admissions, in partnership with Heights Philadelphia, recently launched Applying to College 101.

Register: CETLI Course Design Institute

The 2024 Course Design Institute is full. To be added to a waitlist, please fill out this form. Learn more about the May 21-23 event here.

Online Assessment Tools

Below are some of the most commonly used online assessment tools at Penn. Additional tools can be found on CETLI’s list of tools for Teaching with Technology. Specific programs, departments, […]

Convincing Your Students You Believe in Them

facilitated by Phil Gressman, Math, and Heather Sharkey, NELC

Teaching in Person in the Present Circumstances: Strategies for Supporting Students

facilitated by James Aguirre, Physics and Astronomy, and Melissa Wilde, Sociology

Getting Students to Connect with Lecture and Each Other Using Poll Everywhere

facilitated by Jeff Saven, Chemistry, and Alex Weisiger, Political Science

Getting Students to Focus on Learning Not Grades

Spring 2022 Facilitated by Tobias Baumgart and Masao Sako Introduction Tobias Baumgart Students find classwork stressful because they feel vulnerable – the challenge of chemistry and other classes often seem […]

Takeaways from CETLI Faculty Discussions of Teaching

CETLI offers regular faculty discussions on a wide variety of teaching topics. Many have faculty facilitators. To learn about some of the ideas and teaching strategies discussed in select past sessions, […]

New Faculty Workshop

More Resources for New Faculty Penn Students Demographics More Calendar, Classroom or Course Roster Information More Syllabus Language and Policies More Placing Book Orders More Getting Started with Canvas, Penn’s […]

Weeks of the Semester

This calendar applies to most undergraduate classes. Other schools at Penn may have their own schedules. For additional context, you may also consult the Penn Academic Calendar. If you have […]

Teaching Grants for Faculty

Academically-Based Community Service (ABCS) Course Development Grants The Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships sponsors course development grants to promote Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) courses that integrate […]

For New Faculty

As you prepare for teaching your first classes at Penn, make use of the many resources available to you. Contact your department chair, undergraduate chair, or administrative staff, who will […]

Assessment and Grading in SAIL Classes

Although you may need to add some extra components to the course grade, in a SAIL class you can continue to assess students the same way that you always have, […]

Running In-Class SAIL Activities

In an active learning classroom, your role is that of a facilitator. Instead of providing students with all the answers, it is your job to give them the background and […]

Planning In-Class SAIL Activities

Planning for your in-class activities requires thinking about your end-goals: What do you want your students to be able to do? Also consider why you want to do the activity […]

Basics of a SAIL Class

In a  SAIL class students actively engage with course content through structured activities during class time. However, what students are asked to do, both in and out of class, and […]

Structured Active In-class Learning (SAIL)

Structured, Active, In-class Learning (SAIL) is one of many ways to incorporate active learning into your classroom. It provides structured, in-class activities that encourage students to learn through the direct […]

Teaching in Response to Upsetting Events

Students and instructors may be distressed, angry, or saddened by events like the death of a Penn student, as well as other local or national or global events. This may […]

Strategies to Help Students Stay on Track When They Must Miss Class

Due to illness or other circumstances in their lives, some students will need to miss classes on occasion. Proactively designing a plan for how you will approach missed classes will […]

Racial Equity Course Review

This review encourages instructors to consider how the intellectual substance and design of their courses may or may not contribute to racial equity. Although this guide focuses on racial equity, […]

Inclusive Teaching Practices & Course Design

This page offers strategies for inclusive teaching practices and course design. Inclusive teaching intends to open the classroom to a wide range of different students to best help everyone in […]

Inclusive & Equitable Teaching

The diversity of students at Penn is a tremendous asset for teaching and learning, whether in the classroom, lab, or mentorship. Teaching inclusively, though, comes with challenges and the responsibility […]

Guidelines on Collaboration

Collaboration on homework, take-home projects and in labs is an extremely gray area for many students. What is acceptable collaboration in one class is often labeled cheating in another. Although the […]

Creating & Proctoring Exams

This page includes resources for designing and proctoring exams that promote academic integrity. While students have a responsibility to ensure their own academic integrity, instructors can reduce students’ temptation to […]

Essays & Research Papers

Designing essays and research assignments that make plagiarism difficult often allow students to do better work and engage more with their projects. Creating assignments that encourage integrity Show students the […]

Promoting Academic Integrity

While students are ultimately responsible for maintaining academic integrity, instructors can also create an atmosphere in class that encourages students to be honest by removing incentives to cheat and valuing […]

Faculty Advice on Penn’s Academic Integrity Policies

Penn’s Code of Academic Integrity is fairly flexible and gives professors a great deal of leeway in dealing with infractions of the Code of Academic Integrity. As a result, professors […]

Reporting Academic Integrity Violations

When instructors suspect a student of violating Penn’s Code of Academic Integrity, they may report the student to the Center for Community Standards & Accountability (CSA). CSA is responsible for adjudicating such […]

FAQ about Penn’s Integrity Policy

The Director of the Center for Community Standards & Accountability (CSA) has provided answers to the following questions that faculty frequently ask about reporting to CSA. If you have additional […]

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is central to Penn’s educational mission and the institution has set out definitions and standards to guide students and faculty in its Code of Academic Integrity. Students are ultimately […]

How Students Can Show Their Work on Exams in Canvas

When giving tests online, you may want your students to show their work, either to enable you to evaluate students’ thinking or as a check against academic dishonesty. This can […]

Assessments and Exams in Online Courses

Designing or adapting assessments for an online learning environment involves several considerations, some distinct to online teaching, some broadly relevant: What are your most important goals for students to know […]

Asynchronous Elements of Online Courses

What can students do on their own time? Asynchronous tools can help your students prepare for synchronous sessions, practice and reflect on their understanding, and create space for student interactions.  […]

Meeting Synchronously

Leveraging the Value of Real-Time Communication in Online Courses Synchronous class meetings allow for real-time student discussion, problem-solving, clarifications, and emphasizing and summarizing key points. This is a time when […]

Organizing Your Course and Distributing Materials

Because students in online courses navigate so much of the content and activities on their own time, it is important that the goals that they are aiming for are clear […]

Creating Community in Your Online Course

Building community in online courses takes thinking intentionally about where students can connect with each other and with their instructors. There are many ways to establish and sustain community in an […]

Teaching Online

This guide is intended to help faculty, instructors, and TAs to adapt a course to a fully or mostly online course.  The following principles can help you identify ways to achieve the course’s goals and support […]

Using Online Tools for Discussion

Online discussion boards and other collaboration tools allow students to engage asynchronously with one another through a series of written posts and replies. Sometimes these posts can also contain multimedia like […]

Storing Zoom Recordings

Zoom is primarily a communications platform, not a place to permanently store recordings. The steps below can help you move Zoom recordings to a secure, longer-term storage solution. If you […]

What Students Want from Canvas Sites

CETLI asked undergraduate students across Penn for feedback on how Canvas helps or hinders their learning. This page provides some insights from them about what has been most helpful as […]

Getting Started With Canvas

Canvas provides instructors with many basic tools for sharing documents, posting and managing assignments, and assigning grades. Canvas also supports a wide range of other functions. This page provides resources and […]

Instructional Technology Support by Schools

If you don’t see a contact for your school or department listed, consult ISC’s Faculty/Staff Support Directory. Instructional Technology Support Annenberg: ASC IT Helpdesk School of Arts & Sciences: Instructional Technology & Pedagogy […]

Teaching with Technology

Technology can help instructors reach their goals for student learning when used thoughtfully. CETLI supports instructors as they think about why they might use technology, which tools might best fit […]

Technology Support for Evaluations

Course Evaluation administrators in each school provide assistance to students, instructors, and administrators. Students with questions about a specific course evaluation could contact the school responsible for the course. Other […]

Course Feedback for Instructors (CFI)

Course Feedback for Instructors (CFI) is an online questionnaire that instructors can use to get feedback from their students about their teaching. The system allows instructors to select the questions […]

End of Semester Student FAQ

Where are my end-of-semester course evaluations? Go to http://www.upenn.edu/eval. Then log in with your PennKey What are the benefits of evaluating classes? There are three main reasons students should complete course […]

End of Semester Faculty FAQ

Where are my end-of-semester course evaluations? Go to Courses@Penn. Then select “Course Evaluation Reports” in the lower lefthand tile. How do Penn course evaluations work? Student course enrollments are loaded into […]

Penn’s End-of-Semester Evaluations

During the last weeks of the semester, students are asked to evaluate their classes.  These evaluations stay open through the end of exams.  Students are asked to evaluate classes before […]

Course Evaluations

Using student evaluations to better understand your students’ experiences is one important way to improve as a teacher. End-of-Semester Course Evaluations Penn’s online course evaluations provide students the opportunity to give feedback […]

Combining Structure and Flexibility in Your Courses

Combining course structure and flexibility will help your students learn what you expect them to. That means giving students clear expectations, deadlines, and steps they need to take on a […]

Practices for Teaching Students Living with Stress and Trauma

Students experience a wide variety of stresses in their lives outside our classrooms, circumstances that affect how they learn in our courses. Considering ways to proactively design our classes to […]

Resources to Support Your Students

Faculty concerned about a student and not sure where to turn may also contact or refer undergraduate students directly to their school’s academic advising office. These offices can help students […]

Supporting Your Students

Students can have difficulties in the classroom as the result of academic or personal challenges as well as circumstances at Penn, in Philadelphia or more globally. As teachers, we can […]

Writing a Course Description

A course description needs to do several things: Indicate why students might be interested in the course (even if it is required). Indicate where a course fits in a curriculum […]

Communications & Email

A clear policy about how to communicate helps students know how best to interact with instructors. You policy should let students know when you are available, what platform to reach […]

Electronic Devices

Creating an effective policy on electronic devices, including laptops, cell phones, and tablets, requires instructors to balance the power these tools have for student learning with the power the tools […]

Course Costs

Increasingly, instructors are aware that students may struggle to buy the materials they need to for class. Many offer students less expensive options and explain them in their syllabus. Sample […]

Attendance & Absences

Penn’s Policy about Student Attendance Penn does not have an official policy on excused or unexcused absences except for religious holidays. Penn’s Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays asks that […]

Academic Integrity Statements for Your Syllabus

Why Include an Integrity Statement? Instructors who explain their expectations about integrity (as well as the consequences for not meeting them) help students better understand integrity and its value in […]

Advice on How to Succeed

These three examples show how faculty can use syllabus statements to help students focus their work and succeed in the class. Annette Lareau, SOCI 1000 “Free Advice” There are many […]

Syllabus Language and Policies

Penn has no official set of statements that an instructor must include on their syllabus. The following is a list of policies and statements that instructors might consider. In some […]

Course Roster, Classroom & Calendar Info

Instructors can find important information pertaining to their course rosters, classrooms, and Penn’s academic calendar in a number of places.  Courses@Penn for Enrollment and Grading Instructors can see who is […]

Policies Concerning Student-Faculty Interactions

A variety of University policies and federal laws structure teaching at Penn. For any Penn Policies that aren’t here, consult the PennBook which contains all of Penn’s Academic Policies. Policy on […]

Essay Grading

A clear set of standards or a rubric will help students set realistic expectations about the course and grades. You may not want to include these standards in your syllabus […]

Expectations about Active Learning

Evidence shows that active learning (in which students spend at least some time in class practicing the type of work they will be expected to do in exams and papers) […]

Setting a Welcoming Tone

A welcoming statement can signal that you value students’ questions and participation, and communicate your desire for students to thrive in your class. Sample Language Chris Murphy, CIS 350: “Software […]

Wellness Syllabus Language

Instructors can alleviate distress by giving students clear standards for their work and acknowledging that students face challenges outside the classroom as well. Syllabus and course design are two areas […]

Supporting First-Generation, Low-Income Students

The term First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) captures a diverse group of students. At Penn these students have the same high SAT scores and the same motivation and ambitions as their peers […]

Regrade Policies

Errors in grading do happen and most instructors are happy to correct them. However, students often hope that by arguing about their work they can improve their grades. Instructors often […]

Recitation Guidelines

Few undergraduates have recitations in high school or have a clear sense of what a recitation is. Explaining what you (and their TA) expect them to prepare beforehand and to […]

Participation

Students are often unclear about class participation, especially if it counts toward their grade. If you explain what you expect students to do and why participation matters, you will help […]

Office Hours

Giving students an explanation about what office hours are for and why they might come will encourage students to attend them and welcome students who might be anxious about talking […]

Missed Exams & Quizzes

There may be circumstances where students are unable to make a mid-term or quiz. Providing a policy for students can avoid negotiations and can help students feel less stressed about […]

Late Papers

Instructors can save time and ensure that the students are treated fairly if they provide a policy for late work. Remember: Student Health Services will not provide notes verifying student […]

Self-Created Feedback

Many instructors want more feedback on their teaching than the end of semester evaluations provide. CETLI has several options for instructors interested in creating alternative forms as well as several […]

Why Boon Thau Loo Says Teaching Online is the Opportunity of a Lifetime

After developing an online operating systems course, Dr. Loo’s rating for the same on-campus course jumped to 3.66 out of 4.0.