Improve your teaching

Teaching toolbox 
Our toolbox contains resources on preparing your course, teaching hybrid and fully remote courses, and learner engagement and motivation. Review our suggestions for faculty using generative AI in learning environments. And don’t forget to take the FERPA and Accommodations tutorials.

Train Your Brain
Train Your Brain is a learning series hosted by the Teaching and Learning Center. We cover a variety of educational topics, including test design, teaching and learning strategies, assessment, outcome measurement, curriculum mapping, accessibility, Universal Design for Learning, inclusive teaching, Sakai tips and tricks, and Quality Matters training. Content experts will come to you to present on the topic(s) of your choosing. We're happy to conduct sessions at departmental meetings, retreats, or simply as requested. Sessions can be expanded or condensed to fit your preferred timing and scope, but most are 30-60 minutes by default. Current offerings and detailed descriptions are available in our menu.

Assessment Academy
The Assessment Academy is a learning series hosted by the Teaching and Learning Center to help faculty and staff to improve their assessment knowledge and skills. You can attend one of our sessions, watch the video of previous sessions, or have us come to you. Email assessment@ohsu.edu with your request.

Fundamentals of Teaching and Learning
The revamped Fundamentals of Teaching and Learning modules offer quality, foundational practices to guide you in course creation. These facilitated, asynchronous sessions are held in Sakai, and each module can be completed over a two-week period. Participants can take the modules in any order they want, and we will be offering these on a rotating basis throughout the year. This material is geared towards any beginning faculty member or any faculty member who would like a refresher. Current topics include preparing for the term, online and hybrid teaching, building an inclusive environment, and clinical teaching. Please reach out to tlc@ohsu.edu for more details.

Consultations
We provide consultations  on curriculum mapping, assessment, online course development, digital accessibility, innovative ideas for teaching, technology-enhanced learning, and Quality Matters. Contact the TLC  to request a consultation.

Training Future Faculty

Training Future Faculty (TFF) is a teaching professional development program for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at OHSU. The program supports excellence in education through pedagogical training, teaching experiences, workshops, and mentorship.

Please see the Training Future Faculty page for additional information.

Digital tools

Sakai
OHSU's learning management system, Sakai, is a suite of web-based tools supporting communication and collaboration across learning environments. Sakai supports more than 400 courses each term in distributing course materials, providing a platform for the exchange of information through course-specific announcements, submitting assignments, and providing a digital space for collaboration. The Teaching and Learning Center is home the Sakai Help Desk that provides technical support and facilitates system maintenance for Sakai.

iPads
The TLC's educational technology specialists are available to consult, collaborate with, and train faculty to effectively use iPad applications to support instruction and enhance learning environments. We can arrange 1:1 meetings as well as group workshops.

Accessibility Resource Center
The Accessibility Resource Center  provides resources to help you create course content for all learners. Some accessibility guidelines, such as alt text for images, are specific requirements for online content in compliance with the law. Other guidelines, such as principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), help to improve the education experience for all learners.

Blue
Blue is the course and instructional effectiveness tool used by OHSU. While it is for summative course evaluations, it can be used for preceptor, clinical skills, or lecture evaluations. Courses and instructors in all schools and programs are evaluated using Blue. Evaluations of courses and instructors are built each term, for each school.

Implement Your Innovative Education Idea
We want to help you innovate your teaching. Have a new idea to improve your teaching? Want to try a new technology in your classroom but don’t know how to get started? Send a request to the TLC to get started.

Quality Matters (QM) is a national organization that certifies hybrid and fully remote courses that meet rigorous standards for teaching and learning. Certified courses ensure alignment between objectives, assignments, and instructional materials as well as quality design in navigation and accessibility. QM certification serves as a commitment to creating and maintaining an environment of excellence and quality.

The School of Nursing led QM efforts at OHSU by joining with a basic membership in 2013. In 2018, OHSU upgraded to a full membership, which allowed for the benefit of providing official workshops and subscriber-managed reviews. Quality Matters was noted as one tactic for the OHSU 2025 objective of academic technologies, which allowed for the creation of a QM committee. One goal for QM is expanding certification of courses to the entire university.

Learn more about QM, including the certification process, on our O2 site  or contact us.