Consulting Services

What does it mean to consult with us?

• Instructional consultations are typically 1-on-1 meetings with Schreyer Institute faculty.
• All consultations are free and confidential, and may be in person or virtual.
• You set the agenda to discuss any aspect of teaching and learning.
• Consultations are available to anyone who teaches Penn State students, of any rank or title, at any location.
• We also offer small group consultations to instructors who share a common concern.
• Administrators, leaders, and staff responsible for teaching and learning also consult with us.
• Find your consultant, review their areas of specialty or send a request to site@psu.edu.

Common Consultation Topics

Instructors collaborate with SITE faculty to explore any teaching topic or concern that is too complex or personal to be addressed in a workshop

Common Consultation Topics

Instructors collaborate with SITE faculty to with instructors to explore address questions or concerns that are too complex or too private to be addressed in a workshop or other group settings.

• Course Design and Planning

  Talk with us about using evidence-based, effective course design; ask us to review your syllabus and course learning objectives; or discuss aligning course activities and assignments.

• Teaching and Assessment Strategies

  Discuss effective teaching in different modes, classroom management concerns, motivating and engaging students, constructing exams, and effective grading strategies. We are also happy to discuss how to write effective test items and interpret item analyses.

• Teaching Feedback and Assessment

  Instructors regularly consult with us about informal and formal feedback from students (SEEQs & SRTEs). We can help you identify strategies to gather student feedback before the end of the semester through Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs), non-evaluative class observations, and mid-semester class interviews. We are available to assist with interpretation of and responses to student feedback.

• Teaching and Learning Grants

  Institute consultants will assist you with proposals for internally or externally funded grants with a curricular or pedagogical focus. Our consultants have served as served as co-PIs, Senior Personnel, and grant evaluators (typically with an associated salary buy-out), but also as collaborators on internal grants.

• Teaching and Learning Scholarship

  Have you considered conducting research on your teaching practice? Consult with us on how to develop, design, implement, and disseminate a project focused on what is happening in your (physical or virtual) classroom.

Department, Program, College, and Campus Consultations

Schreyer Institute faculty consultants also meet with department, program, college, and campus representatives to design custom programs or discuss other broadly applicale topics, such as equity and inclusion, curriculum innovation and renewal, or Teaching and Learning Scholarship.