Models & Processes

Program (Re)Design

The Center for Teaching Excellence developed the Program (Re)Design model, a faculty-led, data-informed process aimed to assist academic programs in creating a more learner-centered curriculum. The collaborative process uses an iterative and customizable 8-step model to encourage systematic redesign that fosters critical dialogue and collegiality among curricular change stakeholders. We invite you to learn more about the PRD model and implementation at Texas A&M University. Click here for the Curriculum Development Template. 
 

Transformative Doctoral Education Model

The new Transformative Doctoral Education Model (TDEM) offers a fresh approach for doctoral education. Envisioned to guide all aspects of graduate student development, TDEM presses beyond the traditional apprenticeships of doctoral education by intentionally augmenting technical development with transferable skill building and career planning. The goal is to transform the student into a multidimensional scholar rooted in empirically-based knowledge that is also adept at processing complex information to adapt to new challenges. The model is customizable and flexible across institutions, disciplines, and learners. 

Graduate Education Model (GEM)

By iteratively interrogating TDEM and re-conceptualizing the model to be more inclusive for graduate education, this collaborative and innovative work will ultimately create the opportunity for a rigorous empirical evaluation of the model’s customizable design and utility that could inform and impact the broader graduate education field. Therefore, this emerging and dichotomous perspective initiated our ongoing collaboration and interrogation of TDEM so as to consider a new model; one that is more wholly inclusive of today’s graduate education landscape -- Graduate Education Model (GEM).

WPI IDeaS Guide to Capacity Building

Capacity building is an underutilized tool for teams working toward systemic change. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant, created the WPI IDeaS Guide to Capacity Building in connection with using Problem Based Learning (PBL) to transform STEM education. The model supports active engagement of team members in institutional change efforts through the principles, planning, and doing of capacity building (CTE is a partner on the grant supporting sustainability of outcomes).