News & Events


New paper published on measuring active learning with the TDOP

In a newly published paper, methods to utilize the TDOP to study interactive modalities of instruction are described. In addition to providing detailed examples of ways to analyze and visualize data to identify key indicators of interactive instruction, results from an empirical study of 56 STEM instructors are provided that illustrate this new approach to analyzing TDOP data.

Hora, M. T. (2015). Toward a Descriptive Science of Teaching: How the TDOP Illuminates the Multidimensional Nature of Active Learning in Postsecondary Classrooms. Science Education.


Updates to the TDOP Website

We recently upgraded the TDOP website to provide a more user-friendly experience while also adding significant new capabilities. These included the ability to entirely customize a TDOP protocol with the dimensions and codes you need for your own study, new warnings and procedures for lost Internet connections, and new tools for automated data exporting and visualization. These functions also included the automated exporting of both individual TDOP codes and code combinations known as “keys,” and the ability to immediately create bar charts, time-series graphs and other visualizations of your TDOP data. More improvements and updates will be added in the summer of 2015.


Training Sessions for the TDOP

With the technical documentation found on this website it is possible to train small groups of observers to use the TDOP. In addition, on-site training and/or technical assistance may be available by the TDOP developers – please contact Matthew Hora for more information. And we are currently in the midst of developing an online training system that will enable users to become certified to use the TDOP after establishing a high inter-rater reliability with pre-coded videos.


TDOP 2.1 Basic Version Released

Released as part of the revision process the TDOP can now be used as a Basic Version which includes just three dimensions of teaching (Instructional Practice, Student-Teacher Interactions, and Instructional Technology). This version is easier to use than the more comprehensive version, yet will provide robust accounts of teaching practice. The TDOP website will reflect these revisions by early September.
TDOP 2.1 Basic Version Hardcopy (PDF)

TDOP 2.1 User’s Guide Released

This User’s Guide (PDF) provides basic documentation for how to use the TDOP, including the Basic Version as well as more comprehensive and detailed versions of the protocol. The guide also includes a discussion of how to customize the TDOP, best practices for training, how to use the TDOP for peer observations, and suggestions for data analysis and reporting.


Chronicle of Higher Education article features TDOP

The Chronicle of Higher Education posted an interesting and in-depth article noting how “higher-education scholars at more than a dozen institutions are seeking to shed light on the components of good teaching by documenting precisely what happens in the classroom,” with a focus on the TDOP as the origins of tools being used at the University of Virginia and the University of British Columbia. Co-developer Hora is featured in the article and argues for the TDOP and related tools to be used to better understand teaching, but not yet to evaluate instructional quality. Read the article

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TDOP is housed within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the School of Education , University of Wisconsin-Madison. © 2010, 2014 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.