The higher education community in several countries, together with private foundations and enterprises, has also launched several initiatives focused on improving teaching and learning.
In the United States, the Council for Aid to Education launched the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) in 2000.
By directly measuring student learning outcomes, the CLA aims to provide a continuous improvement model for higher education teaching and learning with focus on skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving.
CLA Education, launched in 2009, provides programmes to empower faculty in this respect.
As a disciplinary initiative, the American Sociological Association launched Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology (TRAILS) in 2010 in the form of an electronic database to create and disseminate peer-reviewed teaching resources.
In the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Academy aims at supporting “the best possible learning experience for all students”.
Its many activities include providing bid-based grants for innovations in teaching and learning, supporting evidencebased research and disseminating the best practices in student learning.
In Germany, Stiftung Mercator and the Volkswagen Foundations launched a nation-wide Bologna – The Future of Teaching grant-initiative in 2009 to support future university teaching through curriculum development and pooling of teaching expertise.
In addition, the charitable arm of the multinational Hewlett Packard (HP) has supported innovation in higher education teaching and learning through its HP Catalyst Initiative focusing on science,technology, engineering and mathematics education and the 21st century skills, for example.