The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA) charged an IGHE Working Group with examining the best theory and practices in teaching and learning that will enable Duke Kunshan University (DKU) to act as a leader in a) high-quality pedagogical experimentation and innovation and b) developing authentic assessment tools that can enable our decision-making about teaching and learning.

A central tenet of DKU’s mission is to provide the highest quality undergraduate and graduate education. To that end, the university provides training to all incoming faculty, continuously offers feedback by experts, and equally weighs teaching excellence and research for tenure and promotion. Many faculty were attracted to the opportunity to participate in developing worldclass teaching at this new university. A recent poll shows that, on average, faculty spend more than half of their working hours on teaching and related activities. Overall, there is good reason to believe that the quality of teaching is higher compared to many other universities.

Nevertheless, a survey of education science research and conversations among Working Group members suggest there are significant opportunities for improvement if DKU is to fulfill its highest aspirations Many faculty are eager to learn more about recent advances in education research and to apply those lessons in their classrooms. And despite strong evidence in favor of more effective pedagogies, some old habits endure. The Working Group reviewed this evidence and how faculty and students at DKU can benefit significantly from a systematic evaluation and further development of teaching and learning standards and support. Identifying what are core features of evidence-based high-quality teaching and learning is essential to design effective and efficient training programs, fostering a culture of excellence, and upholding standards.

The Working Group explored several well-established best practices, including active instead of passive learning, retrieval for long-term retention, self-regulated learning skills, various types of feedback, and teamwork. While most faculty are familiar with these approaches, Working Group members gained new insights about all of these practices. Additionally, recent research suggests several opportunities to further test and integrate innovative approaches to teaching. For example, while Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) are not new, with the continuing development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) there is good reason to identify how ITS and human-directed teaching can work together. (A separate IGHE project will focus on the broader implications of AI for how we live, work, and learn.) Other promising approaches include experiential learning, authentic assessment, making errors a central focus, and throwing students in at the deep end.

In the following sections we describe what the Working Group learned and discussed, including topics such as learning theory, feedback, and intelligent tutoring systems. Next, we provide a brief overview of how these themes apply to DKUs context. For example, DKU has several uncommon features, including seven-week courses, a highly diverse campus, and interdisciplinary majors. Lastly, we provide thoughts about opportunities for improvement.