Effective Teaching Practices

ACUE’s Certification courses are most impactful when you are actively teaching at least one college-level course, whether face-to-face, hybrid, or online. ACUE courses are relevant to educators across all disciplines teaching at all types of institutions. 

All courses are subject to the ACUE Terms and Conditions. If you’re not sure these courses are for you, please email courses@acue.org to discuss your situation. 

Please review our enrollment policy page for details on managing your enrollment. 

Institutions may register a group of faculty in ACUE’s cohort-based Certification courses by contacting the program director at courses@acue.org. Depending on the group enrollment size, course-takers may be split between multiple cohorts of the same course.

Self-paced Certification courses are available for purchase by an institution in groups of 10, 25, or 50 faculty. Access for courses begins simultaneously for all course-takers upon payment. Contact us at courses@acue.org for additional information.

Please note: Institutions that enroll course-takers in courses are subject to the cancellation, deferment, and forfeiture of fees listed on our enrollment policy page by product type.

Faculty groups should also consider ACUE’s Programs for Institutions. ACUE’s campus and system partnerships are formed through a collaborative process with a broad set of institutional stakeholders. ACUE’s Programs for Institutions include academic support, advanced reporting, impact research at both faculty and student levels, and campus culture and communications support.

The enrollment deadline for individual purchase of a cohort-based course is 3 days prior to the course start date. The enrollment deadline for institutional small groups is 10 business days prior to the course start date, subject to course availability. 

Enrollments are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration is recommended. 

Self-paced courses may be purchased at any time. Course access is provided upon payment.  

You may express interest in a cohort-based Certification course with a future start date, even if you’re unable to pay today. Submit your application here. Confirmation of your application will include enrollment and payment details. Payment must be received before confirming your enrollment in the course. The deadline for payment submission for your chosen start date is the Friday preceding the Saturday course start date.  

ACUE’s Certification courses are most impactful when actively teaching at least one college-level course, whether face-to-face, online, or hybrid. 

To earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification, you must complete four courses: Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning, Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners, and Designing Learner-Centered and Equitable Courses. You may take these courses in either the Effective Teaching Practices (ETP) Pathway, the Effective Online Teaching Practices (EOTP) Pathway, or a combination of both modalities. 

To earn the Advanced Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework you must complete Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning, Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners in both ETP and EOTP. 

One aspect that sets ACUE apart from traditional development courses is that course-takers select at least one new practice to implement in each module. The opportunity to apply your learning and reflect on the impact to students leads to transformation. 

 “The only way you’re going to learn something new  is to do it. You have to apply what you’ve learned … then reflect on what worked well, what needs tweaking in the future, what [you’ve] missed….” 

—Stephen Brookfield 

If you are unable to implement during the course, you will be asked to write “plan to implement” reflections where you prepare to implement a practice and reflect upon the likely future impact. 

• Certification courses are comprised of six or seven online learning modules. Each module addresses a competency defined in ACUE’s Effective Teaching Practice Framework. Successfully completing a Certification course earns a course badge which can stack with other ACUE courses to earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification.

• The Fostering a Culture of Belonging course is a deeper dive into inclusive practices. This course contains four modules and does not apply toward the ACUE Certification or Advanced Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework. This course is not available in a self-paced format. 

• Modules are content rich and include demonstration videos, interviews with leading experts, curated planning guides, and other resources. 

• Downloadable implementation guides and resources are provided to support learning and implementation of recommended practices.

• Cohort-based courses also include:
  • A synchronous and facilitated 1.25-hour course launch on Zoom. Course instruction is supplied by an expert in teaching and learning with whom you will share insights and ideas along with other educators in your cohort.

There is no set order to take Certification courses. Each course description includes module titles and short descriptions that may help you determine which one is of most interest to you at this time. 

Creating an Inclusive and Supportive (Online) Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning (Online), and Inspiring Inquiry and Lifelong Learning (in Your Online Course) are structured such that you engage with the course content, identify a practice, implement this practice with your current students, and then reflect upon the student impact of the new or modified practice selected.  

Designing Learner-Centered and Equitable Courses is the exception. This course is focused on working with your course documents, applying the concepts learned in the modules to those documents, and reflecting on the process and the impact on student success in your course. You may find it beneficial to take this course after the others so that you can take the knowledge from the modules in the other courses and apply it as you work on developing outcomes and assessments. 

Discounts for purchasing multiple courses in the same order will be applied in the cart upon checkout.  

When purchasing the four Certification courses, start dates for all courses must be selected prior to the start date of the first course. Course dates may be adjusted consistent with ACUE’s deferment policy. We suggest taking one course at a time when actively teaching at least one course. You have 18 months to complete the four Certification courses. Bundled courses are non-transferrable. 

 When purchasing multiple self-paced Certification courses in the same order, you will need to determine the order in which you want to access them. This ensures each course remains available for the appropriate duration. If you choose to take two courses concurrently, you will have 8 weeks from purchase to complete both.

Course-takers report it takes approximately 2–3 hours to successfully complete each module. This typical time commitment includes time to review module content, engage in online discussions with colleagues (for cohort-based courses), plan and implement a practice, and complete a written reflection. Most Certification courses contain six or seven modules that will collectively require 12–18 hours to complete over a 6–8-week period. You will be given 8 weeks to complete the course. 

The Fostering a Culture of Belonging course contains four modules and the estimated time to complete is 2–3 hours per week (4–6 hours per module) over an 8-week period. This course opens a new module every 2 weeks. 

We strongly recommend taking one Certification course at a time. Each week you will be asked to learn new research-based practices, implement them in your courses, and reflect on your practice. The one–module–a–week pacing allows you and your students to benefit from a deep focus on that module’s practices before moving on to additional topics and practices. 

Cohort-based Certification course start dates are established so it is possible to start the next course within 2 weeks of completing the previous course, allowing you to earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification within 9 months.  

Each course is allocated an 8-week completion period. After this time, you will have an additional 30-days to review and download course materials. To access course resources after this time, consider a yearly membership to the ACUE Commons.

Yes, courses are available to international course-takers. Please note: ACUE courses are taught, administered, and supported in English. 

In cohort-based courses, an ACUE instructor will provide support throughout your course, including facilitating virtual discussions in LMS discussion boards. In addition, instructors will respond to any support needs within 24 hours.  

Technical assistance is also available by emailing support@acue.org. For additional information about course accessibility, please review our Statement of Accessibility. 

ACUE courses are taught, administered, and supported in English. To get the most out of your experience, proficiency in written and spoken English is essential. 

To satisfy module requirements and earn a badge, course-takers complete a written reflection that meets specified criteria outlined in a rubric made available to all course-takers. 

Please contact courses@acue.org with questions about cohort-based Certification Courses.