continuous improvement.

Hoʻokāi‘oi Mau (Continuous Improvement)

continuous improvement process.
The continuous improvement process of planning, executing, analyzing, and reflecting informs all that we do at Kapi‘olani CC, and it is especially critical to our instructional planning and teaching! Here you will find resources to support analysis and reflection in the continuous improvement of your teaching endeavors. 

Evaluation

Getting a well-respected peer’s perspective can be an amazingly insightful experience. Additionally, insights from your students can help you understand their learning experiences in your classes. Both of these can be fantastic opportunities to reflect and identify potential areas of improvement in both your course design and teaching. (Note: this page is focused on analysis and reflection for continuous improvement of teaching and learning. For information and documentation on other types of performance evaluations, contract renewal, tenure, promotion, and five-year reviews, please see the Faculty Resources section of the Kapi‘olani CC Faculty & Staff page.)

Peer Feedback

The following resources scaffold peer feedback on course design and/or teaching. To create your own editable copy of the document, go to File > Make a Copy

Course Design Reflection & Feedback

Teaching Feedback

 

Student Feedback

The Course Evaluation System (CES) is the UH System-wide solution for allowing instructors to gather student feedback on individual classes. Information about CES can be found in the CES Instructor Role Instructions.

Assessment

Assessment is crucial to determining whether and to what extent our students are achieving the learning outcomes of our classes, courses, programs, and general and institutional learning experiences. The Faculty Senate Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, in collaboration with the Institutional Assessment Coordinator, has developed a website with Kapi‘olani CC Assessment-related philosophy, policies, plans, and resources. It’s a can’t-miss resource for your continuous improvement toolkit! We also have a fantastic Institutional Assessment Coordinator in Amy Patz Yamashiro – feel free to contact her with questions or support requests as you plan, implement, and analyze your course and program assessments!

Professional Development

There is a wide variety of free professional development (PD) opportunities available to faculty and staff at Kapi‘olani CC and across the University of Hawai‘i system, as well as external PD either freely available or for which UH or UHCC has paid. There are also funding opportunities for additional professional development experiences.

Funding

Funding for professional development can be solicited from the Faculty Development Council (faculty) and Staff Council (staff). For more relevant information and application forms, see the Kapi‘olani CC Faculty & Staff page. The Wo Learning Champions also offer up to $300 per application for eligible faculty and staff for visits to other University of Hawaiʻi Community College campuses to consult with colleagues on program development, delivery of academic support services, facilities, etc. via the Go On Wo award.

Asynchronous, Self-Paced

  • Kapi‘olani CC Lamakū Course Framework: Not only is this a framework upon which you can efficiently develop a well-organized and intuitively navigable class site in Lamakū, it also has embedded training to assist with your course development.
  • Lamakū Instructor Essentials: This online, self-paced asynchronous training course is in Lamakū itself. It will give you an opportunity to use the LMS from a learner perspective and provides training for migrating, managing, delivering, and assessing course content in Lamakū. It is highly recommended that you use this resource to get started with Lamakū!  To access, sign into Lamakū and look for “Lamakū Instructor Essentials” in your “My Courses” widget.
  • Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility: an asynchronous, self-paced professional development course that may be especially helpful to faculty developing online classes, as it teaches the basics of creating, evaluating, and remediating digital content for accessibility.
  • Preparing to Teach Online at UH Module: a UHOIC program that addresses the organization, design, and development of quality online classes. After completing this module, you may also elect to participate in the UH Online Quality Course Design Review to receive additional feedback on your course design.

Webinars, Workshops, & One-Offs

  • Lamakū Webinars and Workshops: For information on Lamakū-related PD, please visit the Development page.
  • UHOIC Webinars: Instructional designers and faculty across the UH System collaborate to share tools, insights, and best practices
  • Go2Knowledge: Sign up for a free UHCC account to get access to scheduled and on-demand PD
  • Chronicle of Higher Education: Sign up for free with your UH email and check Virtual Events for upcoming and on-demand PD
  • SUNY Online Teaching Webinar Series: Sign up for a free account to access previously recorded webinars and upcoming events
  • Contract Renewal, Tenure/Promotion Support: Faculty preparing for contract renewal, tenure, and/or promotion may find it very helpful to attend related C4ward support sessions (information and schedule here). For more information, please contact Kelli Nakamura or Julie Rancilio (contract renewal) or Chris Gargiulo (tenure/promo).

Day-long and Multi-day Events

  • Kapi‘olani Summer Camp: a week of PD sessions that span a range of topics of interest to faculty and staff at UH and beyond (online synchronous Monday-Thursday; in-person Friday)
  • The ALOHA E Institute: a collaboration between Kapi‘olani CC and Chaminade University that provides professional development in three areas: Active Learning (AL), Online Hui (OH), ‘Āina-based Education (AE) = ALOHA E. This year is a one-day unconference-like event on Friday, Aug 9 at the CUH campus.
  • UH Online Professional Development Program: a synchronous summer program designed to support UH faculty designing online accelerated (e.g., 5- or 8-week) or early college courses
  • TCC Online Conference: a 3-day worldwide online education conference – registration is free for UHCC employees thanks to Wo Learning Champions.
  • A‘o Day: a one-day Kapi‘olani CC event in the spring centered on assessment, coordinated by the Faculty Senate SLOA Committee – this year’s A‘o Day is February 14, 2025.
  • Hawai‘i Student Success Institute: a day-long, in-person event for UHCC employees that spans a range of topics
  • Hawaiʻi National Great Teachers Seminar: a week-long professional development event for educators held at Kīlauea Military Camp in Volcano, Hawaiʻi. This summer’s date will be June 16-21. Contact Amy Shiroma for more info.
  • Oli and Hula Pahu Practice Sessions: The Kūloaʻa Project invites KCC students, faculty, and staff to practice sessions for those who wish to learn and experience the oli komo (entrance chant). Practice Schedule is (Weekly) Tuesdays | 2:00 PM, beginning on 2/4/25; (Every other) Fridays | 12:00 PM, beginning on 2/7/25. Contact kuloaa@hawaii.edu ((808) 734-9347 for more info. 

Year-long Programs

  • Wo Learning Champions: two individuals are selected from each UHCC for each cohort of this leadership development program open to full-time faculty and/or APTs.
  • President’s Emerging Leaders Program (PELP) is a professional development opportunity for highly motivated UH faculty and staff of the University of Hawaiʻi that identifies and develops future campus and system leaders.
  • E Hoʻi Nā Wai: a collaboration between Honolulu CC and Kapi‘olani CC, this year-long PD program helps participants implement indigenous education frameworks. Contact Ululani Kahikina (eliseuk@hawaii.edu) for info.
Build yourself a firm foundation before teaching others.