Quality Teaching Framework (QTF)
LTH Quality Teaching Framework (QTF)
Quality teaching is a shared, evolving practice that creates opportunities for all students to learn, contribute, and succeed. The LTH Quality Teaching Framework (QTF) focuses on three interconnected principles that foster teaching excellence:
Learner-Centered Practices | Inclusion & Access | Reflective Practice
Core Teaching Values
- Use evidence-based design principles (e.g., backward design, universal design for learning)
- Create measurable course learning outcomes
- Align course activities and assessments with the learning outcomes
- Establish and communicate course policies, expectations, and learning goals
- Use formative assessments to assess student progress
- Use technology tools to make complex ideas and concepts more tangible
- Employ accessible learning technologies to create supportive, engaging, and structured learning environments
- Use online tools for peer collaboration, teamwork, and real-time feedback
- Use active learning strategies to advance students’ curiosity, critical thinking skills, retention and transfer of new information, and interpersonal skills
- Promote self-directed learning
- Encourage students to take ownership of learning (set personal goals, seek out resources, and self-assess and reflect on progress)
- Use teaching materials that reflect diverse cultures and are relatable to students from various backgrounds and interests (e.g., visual materials, case studies)
- Invite speakers from different backgrounds and experiences to share their knowledge and stories
- Make an effort to learn students’ names, strengths, experiences, and learning goals
- Employ tools and techniques that adapt to student levels and personalize learning to move towards proficiency
- Have regular check-ins to understand students’ needs and challenges and accordingly adjust teaching approaches
- Provide recorded lessons to accommodate different time zones (for online learners) and personal schedules
- Facilitate discussions around current events and ethical issues to develop critical thinking and empathy
- Recognize that students have diverse lived experiences, backgrounds, and identities
- Recognize the power differential in the education system and modeling methods that promote respect and inclusivity
- Design instructional activities that require peer collaboration and encourage students to tackle problems from multiple perspectives
- Use various approaches to examine and improve teaching (e.g., anonymous mid-term student surveys, collegial observations, consultations)
- Record and review your own lectures to identify areas for enhancement
- Maintain a teaching diary noting what worked, what did not, and possible improvements
- Measure student course learning outcomes at the end of the term
- Identify and revise course content, instructional approaches, and assessments based on feedback and analysis results
- Engage in personal and professional development to stay abreast of new teaching methods and technologies
- Avail online resources and attend workshops based on reflective practices and evaluation feedback
- Join peer learning communities to share resources and collaboratively develop new teaching approaches
- Attend industry workshops and seminars to learn about the latest research, tools, and trends in the engineering discipline
- Invite industry experts to provide students and peers with insights into practical applications of disciplinary knowledge
- Attend conferences and read journals that focus on the intersection of multiple disciplines to understand interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary connections
- Develop courses that intersect with other disciplines and provide broader perspectives to students
Supporting QTF Resources
The following QTF implementation resources translate the framework’s values into practical tools for course design, classroom observation, reflection, and continuous improvement. Because effective teaching may look different across face to face, online, and hybrid settings, the resources are organized by instructional modality where appropriate.
The FSE’s Online Course Design rubric cumulates research-based criteria used to ensure quality of asynchronous online course design, development, and delivery in the Fulton Schools of Engineering. It aligns and, partially, expands beyond ASU Online’s Design Standards.
Scalable Convergence Across Learning Experiences and Disciplines (SCALED): A technology-enhanced instructional model which combines common instructional resources and curriculum across online and hybrid modalities, enabling active learning, and coordination of delivery by instructional teams.
The Observation Guide supports reflective teaching through structured, evidence based classroom observations. It provides formative feedback on course delivery, instructional strategies, student engagement, and classroom culture, while encouraging dialogue between the instructor and observer before and after the observation.
External Resources
5.1 Teaching Quality Frameworks and Benchmarks
- Oregon State: Online Teaching Principles
- Oregon State
- Colorado State
- OLC Pillars & Scorecard
- Expand on 7 Principles by Chickering & Gamson, e.g., Citadel
- U C Boulder
- UMass Teaching Evaluation Approach
- Univ of Kansas – Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness
- Appalachian State University – Teaching Quality Framework.
- Boise State University – Framework for Assessing Teaching Effectiveness.
- Indiana University – Identifying Pathways for Excellence in Teaching.
5.2 ASU/FSE Sources
- ASU charter and design aspirations – https://president.asu.edu/asu-mission-and-goals
- FSE Values – https://engineering.asu.edu/values/
- LTH Mission, Vision, and Goals – https://lth.engineering.asu.edu/our-approach/