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Te cyclical nature of higher education makes informed REFERENCES
improvement a useful model, and the revolution in information
technologies has exponentially expanded our capacity to Brown, M., & Diaz, V. (2011). Seeking Evidence of Impact: A
understand what helps students to learn and succeed. Report on the ELI Focus Session: Boulder, Co: EDUCAUSE
Buskist, W., & Groccia, J. (2011). Need for Evidence-Based
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The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Seeking Evidence of teaching [Special issue]. New Directions for Teaching and
Impact program, with help from the teaching and learning Learning (p. 5).
community, has developed the following list of shared Hirschkorn, M., & Geelan, D. (2008). Bridging the Research-
observations, recommendations, and conclusions for measuring Practice Gap: Research Translation and/or Research
the impact of innovations. Transformation. Te Alberta Journal of Educational Research,
• Strike a balance between the desire to fnd the ultimate, 54(1), 1-13.
defnitive answer and what available resources enable you to Kirschner, A. (2012). Innovations in Higher Education?
do. Above all, strive to be efective within your specifc campus Hah!. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 58(32), B6-B9.
context to meet educational outcomes. Focus on persuading
practitioners and those who support them. Mesa Community College. (n.d.). Accreditation. Retrieved
from http://www.mesacc.edu/about/accreditation
• Cultivate a climate and a culture for evidence of impact work.
Share inspiring visions, results, and processes. Work on the McClenney, K. (2013). Community Colleges: Choosing Change.
relationships that will strengthen evidence-based practice. Change: Te Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(4), 26-35.
• Celebrate the accomplishments. Build the kind of climate that Shavelson, R.J., & Towne, L. (Eds.). (2002). Scientifc Research in
will facilitate evidence-based quality improvement. Education. Washington, DC: Te National Academies Press
• Evaluation work can be fun. Tere is pleasure in discovering Stiehl, R., & Lewchuk, L. (2012). Te mapping primer: Tools
things that nobody realized before about student learning for reconstructing the college curriculum (2nd ed., pp. 38-59).
and success. Corvallis, Oregon: Te Learning Organization.
• Tink about all the resources you have available to you for
evidence of impact studies. Do not discount the passion that Veronica Diaz, Ph.D. is the
people bring to the questions they are interested in studying. Director of Online Programs
• Just the exercise of creating a good research question will for EDUCAUSE and Associate
help you explore many of the questions and opportunities Director of the EDUCAUSE
you are facing. Learning Initiative. An authority
• In the absence of data, anecdote (and prejudice) will triumph. on instructional technology in
higher education, she presents
Tere are a lot of data already available on your campus. Go on seminars nationally, and has
a treasure hunt. authored several articles on
• Do not re-research questions that have already been answered. faculty use of instructional
We now know that online instruction can be as efective as technology, blended learning
face-to-face instruction. What is needed are studies of ways delivery models, intellectual property policies for distributed
of implementing online and hybrid models to see what works learning environments, privacy, and emerging technologies.
best and what does not.
• Identify the questions for which answers will make a
diference. Make sure the research question is relevant to Roger Yohe, Ph.D. is the Dean
your audience. of Innovative Learning at Mesa
Community College (AZ). He
With constant change from disruptive technologies such as has 25 years of experience in the
massive open online courses (MOOCS), online competency- Maricopa Community College
based learning, and learning analytics, educational leaders will District serving in several
be challenged to balance the science of evidence-based decision leadership positions dedicated
making with the art of managing and navigating the institution’s to advancing teaching and
culture. Evidence-based teaching is an important way to approach learning by designing engaging
what we know about teaching and learning and how to tease physical (classroom, teaching
through the vast amount of information to decide what to use. and simulation labs) and virtual
Te EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s Seeking Evidence of Impact (online learning) environments.
program encourages using evidence and research-supported
practices to develop a new tradition of teaching.

26 LEADERSHIP Vol. 20.3 Fall 2014

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