The fact that a pilot program at a major university is actually altering faculty grading is somewhat unusual. It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t often receive attention. No big announcement, no glitzy launch party.
Just a series of three sessions that fit into the schedules of busy clinicians who also happen to be educators. However, that is precisely what appears to be taking place within Duke’s doctorate program in occupational therapy.
| Pilot Program Snapshot | Details |
|---|---|
| Initiative | Faculty Development Series — Pilot |
| Lead | Lindy Norman, MAT, Operations Manager, OTD Program |
| Host Division | Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) Program |
| Institution | Duke University, School of Medicine |
| Division Chief | Barbara Hooper, PhD, OTR, FAOTA |
| Format | Three-session series for OTD faculty |
| Focus Areas | Learning objectives, assessment design, rubric clarity |
| Academic Anchor | Practice-based doctoral research in Higher Education Leadership |
| Year of Pilot | 2025 |
| Reported Outcome | Faculty revising rubrics; clearer student expectations |
| Department | Department of Orthopaedic Surgery |
| Broader Theme | Inclusive excellence and equity in health professions education |
The OTD program’s operations manager, Lindy Norman, who is completing her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership, created the series. Her dissertation is practice-based, which means it aims to address an actual issue rather than merely outline one. Anyone who has worked in health professions education will recognize the issue she encountered: faculty members frequently come from clinical or research backgrounds, possessing extensive expertise in their fields but little formal teaching training.
After conducting the analysis and examining internal program data, she identified a pattern. lucidity. Or rather, the absence of it. It wasn’t always clear to students what was expected of them, and teachers weren’t always sure how to explain it. Previous research suggested the same thing, especially for initiatives attempting to embody the inclusive excellence language. It turns out that clarity is more than just a virtue in education. It has to do with equity.
A small, purposeful experiment was what came next. Writing learning objectives, creating performance criteria, and creating rubrics that students can truly understand were the main topics of three sessions that were structured around the actual rhythms of OTD faculty life. Norman created what academics have begun referring to as a “rubric for rubrics,” a sort of meta-tool for assessing the tests they were already utilizing. tiny tickets for leaving. warm-up exercises. even time spent without technology. tactics that appear modest until you see them in action.
Assistant professor and Capstone coordinator Cambey Mikush talked about how using a revised rubric to grade her first assessment was a truly different experience. Expectations were more explicit, according to students. She claimed that writing feedback was simpler. A clinician-turned-teacher’s almost casual admission that she had never felt confident in her rubrics before is telling. It’s the kind of candor that seldom appears in faculty meetings.
The program’s associate professor, Raheleh Ghasseminia, described it as a change in the larger culture. Teachers appear more assured. Cleaner feedback appears to be being given to students. Although it is still unclear if the change will last past the pilot, the initial indications point to something taking hold.
It’s important to note who spearheaded this. not a faculty member with tenure. not a consultant from outside. A staff member who has experience teaching and is working on a dissertation. The division’s chair, Barbara Hooper, has long advocated for OTD to operate as a learning community, and the pilot almost perfectly aligns with that philosophy. As this develops, it seems like Duke OTD is experimenting with what happens when knowledge can come from anywhere in the room. It is difficult not to wonder how many other programs have a Lindy Norman working in the background.
