Educational Improvement and Innovation

The Office of Educational Improvement and Innovation promotes and advances the reflective, scholarly and innovative endeavor of teaching at OHSU and beyond. We help develop the OHSU community as teachers, scholars, mentors and leaders in the health professions to sustain and nourish their careers and become outstanding practitioners and scientists.

We do this through:

  • Establishing an educational culture that recognizes and promotes teaching excellence
  • Advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation
  • Preparing faculty to meet assessment and accreditation standards for educational excellence  
  • Cultivating the potential of OHSU to contribute to the growing body of scholarship in health professions education 
  • Recognizing and rewarding faculty members by providing visibility to their work, interprofessional collaborations with colleagues and opportunities to make unique contributions
  • Providing quality educational services including student support, curriculum design, assessment planning, teaching consultation and more

For Students

To meet our commitment to student success, the Office of Educational Improvement and Innovation provides high-quality academic support services to our diverse learners.

Student support

We assist students in identifying services to help them achieve their educational and personal goals. We offer:

  • Assistance with writing and scholarly research in coordination with the OHSU Library
  • Individualized support in areas such as motivation and goal setting, study and test-taking skills development, exam preparation, overcoming test anxiety, stress and time management and learning strategies
  • Accommodations and support for students experiencing a disability through Student Access

Sakai course management

Sakai is OHSU's online course management system, a suite of useful web-based tools supporting communication and collaboration. It is used by more than 200 courses every term to distribute course materials, provide course announcements, submit assignments online and provide collaborative workspace. It can be accessed from any computer that has an internet connection and a web browser, enabling students and educators to connect from anywhere. Log in to Sakai now (Network ID required). Visit O2 for frequently asked questions or for questions and technical support.

 

Health, wellness and safety

Through the Joseph B. Trainer Health and Wellness Center, students can access primary health care, counseling and other wellness services. Student health insurance is also managed through JBT Health and Wellness Center.

Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity leads development and awareness of diversity, accessibility and respect within OHSU and the wider community. AAEO and the Title IX coordinator respond and work to prevent instances of discrimination, harassment, sexual assault and misconduct.

Public Safety responds 24/7 to maintain the safety and security of the OHSU campuses. Officers and staff also provide crime prevention expertise and tips, crime reporting, safety planning, safety escorts and much more.


For Faculty and Staff

We offer expertise and resources to support the professional growth of faculty and staff to be effective instructors and developing scholars of teaching and learning.

Scholarship of teaching and learning

This scholarly inquiry into student learning advances the practice of teaching by making inquiry findings public. For a consultation, contact , vice provost, Educational Improvement and Innovation. 

 

Curriculum design

Curriculum design in health professions programs is often referred to as a cycle of: 

  • Problem identification and general needs assessment 
  • Needs assessment for targeted learners 
  • Goals and objectives 
  • Educational strategies 
  • Implementation 
  • Evaluation and feedback

To request a curriculum design consultation, please contact .

Course evaluation

Effective course evaluation allows faculty to learn about the quality of the course design and instruction with an expectation that the responses would be used to improve the course. This experience demonstrates that by taking a teaching/learning approach to evaluation, faculty members can obtain helpful feedback to use in altering course design, objectives and pedagogy. They also can identify barriers to student learning and discover much about what their teaching is doing to enhance student learning. For a consultation, contact .

Program evaluation support

The OHSU Evaluation Core assists faculty, researchers and other groups with planning and implementing effective program evaluation, providing leadership and guidance through every step of project evaluation. Services range from developing logic models to identifying outcome metrics to serving as lead evaluators in a multi-year endeavor. The core can also provide referrals to internal and external resources for database design, statistics and content-specific expertise. Email evaluation@ohsu.edu to request a consultation.

OHSU WRITEs

OHSU WRITEs - Writing Resources for Interprofessional Transformation and Excellence – serves to identify and enhance the resources for and applications of creative, reflective, medical, scientific, therapeutic, narrative, grant and other types of communication with a goal to drive creativity, innovation, wellness, publication, grant awards and to enhance diversity and diverse achievement across the university. An integral component of the OHSU Interprofessional Initiative, OHSU WRITEs resources are available to all schools, departments and units across OHSU.

Workshops, seminars and learning opportunities

The Office of Educational Improvement and Innovation offers a wide range of continuous learning opportunities to support faculty and staff in everything from assessment planning to test design to teaching and learning strategies.

Assessment academyAssessment Academy

Assessment Academy workshops provide opportunities for participants to increase their knowledge of assessment, improve their practice and strategies in educational pedagogy and learn how to use data to improve student learning and program effectiveness. See the schedule of current Assessment Academic offerings on O2 (network ID required). 

Click the image for the full PDF.


Train Your Brain

train your brain 2018 spring

This learning series covers variety of educational topics including test design, teaching and learning strategies, assessment, outcome measurement, curriculum mapping, Sakai tips and tricks and Quality Matters training. Current offerings are available on O2 (network ID required) or email tlc@ohsu.edu with questions or requests.

Click the image for the full PDF.

Educator's Collaborative

The Educators' Collaborative is a community of practice for people who are interested in education, including direct teaching, innovation, scholarship, curriculum design and mentoring. This group of skilled practitioners interact regularly to learn from and with one another for the purpose of professional and personal development.

Grants

Two types of mini grants encourage curricular and pedagogical innovations that will result in more engaged and improved student learning. Innovations may be at the course, department, program, division and/or university levels.

Individualized consulting

Our team members are available for individual or department consultations to investigate new (or fine-tune existing) teaching strategies, methods and opportunities. Consultations are confidential. Contact