Evaluating a teaching development grants program: Our framework, process, initial findings, and reflections

• Our grant-based teaching development program and evaluation framework are described.
• Current and planned data sources are described and discussed.
• Good evidence was found for greater individual instructor knowledge and practice.
• Some evidence was found for the promotion of teaching as socially situated.
• We discuss potential directions and improvements for future evaluation.

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a teaching development grants program that provides small grants enabling instructors to implement, and/or systematically investigate new teaching approaches, new teaching tools, or curricular processes. The program evaluation draws on multiple levels and types of evidence directly linked to our program goals. A detailed and reflective account of our ongoing evaluation process including tools and methods, preliminary findings, and challenges is provided. We also explicitly seek to connect and compare our work and findings to similar initiatives. This work provides our emerging evidence for the efficacy of grant-based initiatives, finds resonance to others’ findings, and provides a foundation from which to foster further evaluation and discussion.