Mary Wright
Biography
Contact me for:
- If you do not know the best contact at the Sheridan Center for your question. I can help!
- With any questions about and ideas for strategic directions of the Sheridan Center.
- For media inquiries about the Sheridan Center.
Mary Wright is Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, and a Professor (Research) in the Department of Sociology, Brown University. She is also a former president (2017-18) of the POD Network. Prior to Brown, Mary worked at the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching and served in multiple roles that include Director of Assessment, Associate Research Scientist, and Coordinator of Graduate Student Instructor Initiatives.
Mary’s research interests include measuring the impact of educational development services, graduate student professional development, and curricular assessment of student learning. Her most recent book, Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape of Educational Development, was published by Johns Hopkins Press in 2023. Her first book, Always at Odds?, focuses on the development of cultures of teaching and was published in 2008 by SUNY Press.
Mary is a co-author on the ACE-POD Center for Teaching and Learning Matrix (2017), which created operational standards for CTLs, as well as Defining What Matters (2018), which established guidelines for CTL evaluation. She is a co-editor of the International Journal for Academic Development, the journal of the International Consortium for Educational Development. She is currently excited to be working with a team on a new book that examines course design institutes (Routledge, 2025) and another collaboration about a longitudinal study of U.S. educational developers.
Select Recent Articles
Wright, M.C., Wiley, S., von Gent, E., & Huerta, M. (2020). The art of studying abroad: Leveraging an international experience requirement to enhance student learning and equity. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 30(4): 95-120.
Wright, M.C., Lohe, D.R., & Little, D. (2019). The role of a center for teaching and learning in a de-centered educational world. Change, 50(6): 38-44.
Wright, M.C., Lohe, D., Pinder-Grover, T., & Ortquist-Ahrens, L. (2018). The four Rs: Guiding CTLs with responsiveness, relationships, resources, and research. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 37(2): 271-286.
Brown, E.C., Brown, V.M., Chace, A., Flaming, A.L.B., Frederick, J., Hatcher, M., Herckis, L., Hoessler, C., Kustra, E., Lohe, D.R., Mansbach, J., McGowan, S., Troncoso, A.M., Watson, F.F., & Wright, M.C. (collaborative authorship, 2018). Defining what matters: Guidelines for comprehensive center for teaching and learning evaluation. Available podnetwork.org.
Bartholomew, T., Wright, M.C., & Michaels, C. (2018). Partnering with teaching and learning centers for curricular assessment: A case study of best practices. In C. Stanny (Ed.). New Directions for Teaching and Learning: Assessment in Action, 155 (pp. 21-29). Wiley.
(invited contribution) Chen, A., Bundy, C., Kim, J., Bass, R., Burgstahler, S., Lippincott, J., & Wright, M. (2017). 7 things you should know about the evolution of teaching and learning professions. Educause Learning Initiative. Available: https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2017/3/eli7142.pdf
Meizlish, D.S., Wright, M.C., Howard, J., & Kaplan, M.L. (2017). Measuring the impact of a new faculty program using institutional data. International Journal of Academic Development. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2017.1364644
Wright, M.C., Bergom, I, & Bartholomew, T. (2017). Decreased class size, increased active learning?: Intended and enacted teaching strategies in smaller classes. Active Learning in Higher Education. Available: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1469787417735607
Gross, M.M., Wright, M.C., & Anderson, O.S. (2017). Effects of image-based and text-based active learning exercises on students examination performance in a muculoskeletal anatomy course. Anatomical Sciences Education. DOI: 10.1002/ase.1684
Wright, M.C., Goldwasser, M., Jacobson, & Dakes, C. (2017). Assessment from an educational development perspective. To Improve the Academy, 36(1): 38-49. Abstract: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tia2.20051/abstract
Wright, M., Little, D., Cook, C., Sorcinelli, M.D., McDaniels, M., Lee, V., Kalish, A., Kaplan, M., Zakrajsek, T., Chaudhury, S.J., Zhadko, O. (2016). Evidence-based principles for online faculty development. Educause Review. Available: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/11/evidence-based-principles-for-online-faculty-development
Blazek, M.C., Dantz, B., Wright, M.C. & Fiedorowicz, J.G. (2016). Spaced learning using emails to integrate psychiatry into general medical curriculum: Keep Psychiatry in Mind. Medical Teacher. Available: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/UGKGspQB4IrJgHUYQjRA/full
Gonzalez-Cabezas, C., Anderson, O.S., Wright, M.C., & Fontana, M. (2015). Exam questions developed by students lead to higher cognitive level of learning. Journal of Dental Education, (11): 1295-1304.
Wright, M.C., & Howard, J. (2015). Assessment for improvement: Two models for assessing a large quantitative reasoning requirement. Numeracy, 8(1). Available: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/numeracy/.