Digitally-Enabled, Evidence-Based Teaching Practices

Welcome to the hub for Digitally-Enabled Teaching & Learning presented by the U.S. Program within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This specific team is focused on Digitally-Enabled Teaching & Learning as a mechanism for improving equity and the learning experience across U.S.-based postsecondary institutions. Here you will find resources and best practices across pedagogy, curriculum, and technology as well as a growing body of evidence to support the use of technology in the classroom to support learning and improving equity.

Digitally-enabled, evidence-based teaching practices refer to instructional approaches that integrate technology tools and platforms to enhance and support teaching methods grounded in empirical research and data-driven insights. These practices leverage technology to collect, analyze, and apply evidence to inform and improve the effectiveness of teaching strategies, ultimately leading to more successful learning outcomes for students.

The goal of this site, in addition to being a hub for instructional examples, is to engage with the academic community. We hope to receive feedback on these practices, source further examples of how they are supported by technology and are implemented in courses throughout the U.S., and work together to build a community around teaching and learning. Thank you for helping us support the field.

How to use

One of the set of eight practices is illuminated.

Start anywhere

These practices are not sequential. You can start anywhere.

Three of the eight practices are illuminated, but at different amounts.

Take small 
steps

Practices do not need to be implemented in full to make positive change.

Three of the set of eight practices are illuminated.

Different practices drive different outcomes

Implementing different practices will help you reach specific teaching and learning goals.

Choose a practice

Active Learning

Decrease professor lecture time and increase student participation in learning

Assessing & Activating Prior Knowledge

Determine what students already know and integrate their experiences into learning

Data-Informed Instruction

Adjust instruction based on real-time student data

Formative Assessment & Practice

Deploy a frequent, low-stakes way to monitor student learning

Fostering a Sense of Belonging Through an Inclusive Learning Environment

Create safer and more welcoming spaces for learning

Instructional Transparency

Share the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind instructional decisions

Metacognition & Self-Regulated Learning

Help students learn how to learn

Peer Collaboration

Create opportunities for students to support each other’s learning

Impact on Teaching & Learning Goals

Implementing different practices will help you reach specific teaching and learning goals. Here we explore five goal areas, sequenced based on how one may lead into the next in the student learning journey.

Choosing where to start depends upon your goals, the needs of your students, and your capacity for implementation.

Learning Environment

Learning Environment is defined as the culture and context of your course and measured by students’ sense of belonging and ability to achieve any of the other goals. To improve the learning environment, consider incorporating the following practices in your classroom:

Motivation

Motivation is a summary of the reason(s) students choose to invest time and energy into assignments. To improve motivation, consider incorporating the following practices in your classroom:

Engagement

Engagement is defined and measured by meaningful contact students make with instructional events or activities. To improve student engagement, consider incorporating the following practices in your classroom:

Persistence

Persistence, simply put, is engagement over time. To improve students’ persistence, consider incorporating the following practices in your classroom:

Learning

Learning is the acquisition of new knowledge that can be applied via recognition or recall or in real-time interactions. All eight of the digitally-enabled, evidence-based teaching practices defined on this site will make a positive difference for student learning:

Instructional Examples

The Instructional Example Library features a wide range of digitally-enabled examples sourced directly from instructors who are using technology to implement evidence-based teaching practices in their courses. These examples focus primarily on math, chemistry, and statistics gateway courses, but are applicable across disciplines.

Visit the Instructional Example Library

Have an Example of Your Own?

Help us build our Instructional Example Library! We are looking for contributions from higher education instructors across disciplines who use technology to enable evidence-based teaching practices. To learn more and to submit an example, please visit the form page linked below. Thank you for helping us support the field.

Submit an Example

Research & Resources

The following research, resources, and organizations are foundational to the framing of our digitally-enabled, evidence-based teaching practices strategy as a whole. You will find additional resources across the site that are specific to certain topics or components of the strategy. This section of links and files is in-progress and will grow as the site is updated.