Research and Assessment
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Evidence-driven Inquiry and Impact Services
The Delphi Center’s Evidence-driven Inquiry & Impact (EdII) team is dedicated to supporting the development and measurement of research-based strategies designed to promote student success in digital and in-person learning environments.
Recent Reports
Upcoming Events
Sign up for our beginner-friendly series, Teaching and Learning Inquiry Workshops, for faculty curious about their students' learning, experience or success but are new to the idea of studying it systematically. No prior research background is required, just a willingness to look more closely at what’s happening in your classroom. Sessions are offered virtually and supported by a SharePoint site with readings and resources.
Choosing a Method for Your Teaching and Learning Question
February 25, 12-1 p.m., Virtual Session
You have a question about your teaching. How would you go about answering it? This session is a chance to think through that: the range of approaches available for studying teaching and learning, and how to match method to the question you’re asking. We’ll also consider how existing work can sharpen a question and suggest ways into it. Inquiry into teaching takes many forms and draws on many kinds of evidence, and the skills you already use can transfer. We’ll also discuss when to involve the IRB, since that decision comes before gathering evidence. You’ll leave with one or two ways you may approach answering your question.
Building a Plan for Your SoTL Project
March 25, 12-1 p.m., Virtual Session
You have an idea for looking into something about your teaching. What would it take to actually do it? This workshop would help faculty move from an early idea toward a possible project by identifying a manageable focus and realistic next steps. This session is a chance to build a plan: what makes a project manageable, what your context allows or asks of you and what a realistic project plan looks like. We’ll also cover the practical side of working with the IRB, including what to submit and when. Bring your project idea with you and you’ll leave with a timeline you can act on, so you can head into the summer with a plan ready to implement.
Schedule a Consultation
If you are interested in the support and collaboration EdII can provide, please use the consultation form or contact one of our team members.
The EdII team is available to educators and academic units seeking to explore, measure and research course-based and curricular innovations to enhance student success. This includes support for data collection, analysis and scholarly publication.
EdII staff is available to engage in collaboration and consultation related to the following areas:
- Data Analysis and Insights: Analyze course and program data (e.g., course grades or persistence rates) to uncover trends and inform teaching strategies
- Design and Assessment of Interventions: Guide faculty in developing, implementing and evaluating evidence-based teaching approaches
- Research Design and Evaluation: Provide expertise in research methods and data analysis to assess teaching and learning outcomes
- Data Storytelling: Transform complex findings into clear, impactful narratives for wider audiences
- Scholarly Dissemination: Support faculty in sharing research results within academic communities
Example: If you are interested in whether there is parity in outcomes between an in-person and an online offering of a course, EdII could assist in identifying what outcomes may be impacted by course modality. Then, EdII could offer support as you articulate the aims and goals of your research, find or build psychometrically sound measures to evaluate the outcomes of interest, identify analyses that would meaningfully measure outcomes and then interpret the results of those analyses. EdII could then support decisions around what to do with the findings, both in your work with students and in contributing to scholarly discourse using the findings.
Additional EdII responsibilities include:
- Regularly surveying students about their satisfaction with digital courses, including access to online courses
- Developing and evaluating research-based initiatives or interventions designed to impact student success, such as the Ascend Champions Program
- Support for the integration of digital media to promote student engagement and success and measuring the impact of digital literacy initiatives
- Assessing the impact of strategic initiatives across the Delphi Center
- Providing workshops about how to harness student success data to improve course design and teaching