Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA)
Overview
Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience in the classroom, there’s always room to grow as an educator—and we’re here to help! The Center for Teaching Excellence invites instructors and faculty at every stage of their careers to join our Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA), available online each fall, spring, and summer. Through this series, you’ll discover practical, time-saving strategies you can use right away to refresh and energize your teaching and make your students’ learning experiences even better. When you complete TEA, you’ll earn a Teaching Excellence Academy Badge plus 600 miles toward either the Great Teaching for New Faculty Certificate or the Great Teaching Certificate within the Passport to Great Teaching Program.
Expected Time Commitment
Participants should expect to commit approximately 24-30 hours to complete the TEA program. Space is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.
Registration:
Summer 2026 (Virtual via Zoom)
- Program Dates/Times: Mondays and Wednesdays, July 13, 2026 – July 29, 2026, from 9:00am-11:00am
- Application deadline: Monday, June 29, 2026, 11:59 AM
Fall 2026 (In person at 302 Tigert Hall)
- Program Dates/Times: Tuesdays, October 13, 2026 – November 17, 2026, from 2:00pm-4:00pm
- Application deadline: Monday, September 28, 2026, 11:59 AM
- Relationships and Motivation
- Establish relationships with colleagues.
- Explain how social relationships facilitate motivation and learning.
- Describe factors that promote teacher-to-student and student-to-student relationships.
- Apply principles of motivation to your teaching practice.
- Active Learning
- Explain the difference between a course goal and learning objective.
- Explore research that shows the impact of active learning.
- Design a modular learning experience that aligns with learning objectives.
- Utilize collaborative learning techniques.
- Quality Learning Environment
- Discuss factors that create a quality learning environment.
- Recognize learner exceptionalities and variabilities that impact learning.
- Use principles of Universal Design for Higher Education (UDHE) to evaluate course materials, delivery, or assignments for accessibility and multiple perspectives.
- Utilize strategies to guide discussions about divisive and sensitive topics, empower cultural diffusion, and promote global perspectives.
- Transparent and Online Teaching
- Critique assignments utilizing the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework.
- Identify University of Florida Quality (UFQ) standards-based online teaching practices.
- Apply Backward Design to course maps.
- Evaluate online courses using principles of instructional design.
- Useful Assessment
- Create a climate of academic integrity.
- Articulate useful assessment terms and techniques.
- Develop an authentic or alternative assessment.
- Design assessments using generative AI and other educational technologies.
- Effective Feedback
- Articulate the elements of quality feedback.
- Apply efficient techniques for delivering meaningful feedback.
- Provide structured and consistent feedback to students using rubrics.
- Integrate best practices for peer feedback.
In order to earn all 600 miles and the TEA Badge, you must:
- Earn at least 100 points out of the possible 120 points for attendance.
- Attend 5 out of the 6 sessions
- Complete all of the “Before the Session” activities in each module
- Submit all six teaching portfolio assignments on Canvas and upload them to your teaching portfolio
- Submit your completion badge to the Passport Portal as a reflection