This article from the Chronicle for Higher Education was quite thought provoking since it illustrates an approach that we have encouraged in Wallenberg Hall. We view our classrooms as "laboratories for experimentation" and we provide faculty and instructors access to resources in instructional design and assessment to support any ideas or questions they would like to explore in their courses.
CLASSROOM RESEARCH: When published research on teaching doesn't
help you, why not use your own classroom as a laboratory?
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/03/2009033101c.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en