Using IM

IM spotlights reflective Harvard instructors using instructional moves (high-leverage teaching strategies) applicable to multiple settings and grounded in teaching and learning research. Moves are anchored in videos showcasing classrooms from across the university. The videos, which combine class footage with reflections from instructors and students, are supplemented by relevant research on the move’s efficacy, tips for enacting this move in diverse settings, and related resources that facilitate deeper exploration. IM also features a library of raw clips: unedited classroom footage that gives instructors a common experience to explore and discuss instructional practices. The resulting website seeks to help classroom instructors learn research-based pedagogical techniques, gain deeper insight into classroom complexities, and explore resources geared toward improving teaching and learning outcomes. Carefully curated and designed for both independent and guided use, IM aims to facilitate powerful conversations about pedagogy among classroom instructors.

IM’s site is organized into five modules: Building Community, Lecturing Interactively, Facilitating Discussions, Teaching Through Problems, and Educating for Equity and Inclusion. Each module contains a range of moves which bring the topic to life and features a core group of Harvard instructors sharing, demonstrating, and reflecting on practices proven effective in their classrooms.

Move videos have their own pages offering background on practices and further guidance on move employment. Explore tips for applying a particular move to different teaching contexts, research that supports its use, and supplementary resources to ensure effective implementation. In the first four modules, each move ends with a selection of related moves. The newer Educating for Equity and Inclusion module arranges the moves into more linear pathways to create a clearer learning trajectory.

Does a particular instructor’s practice resonate with you? Check out the rest of their instructional moves by accessing IM’s faculty pages. In addition to collections of instructors’ move videos, these pages present background info on featured faculty and class contexts as well as downloadable materials which may prove helpful when transferring practices to your own classroom (e.g., handouts, assignments, syllabi). Faculty pages additionally house full class sessions, allowing users to observe instructors’ practices in their unabridged class contexts. These full-class videos come with a companion document breaking down class activities with time stamps, allowing you to look for various pedagogical practices.

To augment the use of unedited classroom footage, we have also created a Raw Clips Library. These clips provide the opportunity for participants to watch unedited footage and more actively construct meaning and contribute their expertise in a collaborative setting. This library of clips can be searched and sorted to find clips related to a variety of topics.

Instructional Moves offers a range of possibilities for improving teaching practice including: exploring at your own pace, workshopping a given move with a colleague, using a module as flipped content for professional development, designing professional learning experiences around raw clips, or creating live demonstrations of teaching leveraging the principles and practice of Instructional Moves. See our Facilitation Guide for more details. If you have questions as you develop professional learning opportunities that employ IM resources, feel free to contact Josh Bookin, Director of Instructional Support and Development at HGSE’s Teaching and Learning Lab.

Although each of the featured moves is supported by research- and practice-based evidence about what benefits learners, much is still not known about effective pedagogical techniques in particular classroom contexts. In addition, although IM engages with research on instruction, teaching is not only a science, but also an art. Moves that work for some instructors may not for others. As a result, IM does not champion a “one-size-fits-all” approach to teaching, but rather advocates that university instructors build broad pedagogical repertoires and gain the skills of matching the right techniques to accomplish particular purposes.

IM's core material comes from Harvard classrooms, and the practices of its featured faculty are tailored to the Harvard context. However, this does not mean that IM content cannot be applied to other educational settings. While some thoughtful adapting and healthy tweaking are always recommended, we hope IM’s interactive resources will provide value to instructors beyond the Harvard community as well.