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The POD Network
Teaching Excellence Essay Series
2010-2011 Essays
Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
The Associates in Teaching Program: Graduate Student Development,
Faculty Renewal, and Curricular Innovation
Bill Rando, Yale University
Memo to Departments: Outcomes Assessment Really is a Good Idea
Wayne Jacobson, University of Iowa
Talking with Faculty About Cognitive Science & Learning
John Girash, Harvard University
Down with the SGID! Long Live the QCD!
Barbara J. Millis and Jose Vazquez, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Selecting the Right Technology Tool: Wikis, Discussion Boards, Journals, and Blogs
Tami J. Eggleston, McKendree University
Helping Future Faculty "Come Out" As Teachers
Mark R. Connolly, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mentoring Graduate Students
Mary C. Wright & Laura N. Schram, University of Michigan
Teaching Assessment by Modeling Different Assessment Techniques
Cynthia E. Tobery, Dartmouth College
2009-2010 Essays
Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group
Development and Dynamics
Kathy Takayama, Brown
University
Transparent Alignment and Integrated Course Design
David W.
Concepción, Ball State University
Multiple-Choice Questions You Wouldn't Put on a Test:
Promoting Deep Learning Using Clickers
Derek Bruff,
Vanderbilt University
Engaging Students, Assessing Learning-Just a Click Away
Linda C. Hodges, Loyola University Maryland
Research-Based Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity
Michele Di Pietro, Kennesaw State University
Using Undergraduate Students as Teaching Assistants
Joseph
"Mick" La Lopa, Purdue University
The Value of the Narrative Teaching Observation
Niki Young,
Western Oregon University
Deep/Surface Approaches To Learning In Higher Education: A
Research Update James
Rhem, Executive Editor, The National
Teaching & Learning FORUM
2008-2009 Essays on Teaching
Excellence(click
here to download all 8 essays)
A Whole New World, A New Fantastic Point of View
Ron Berk, The Johns Hopkins University
This essay describes and considers an approach to classroom
teaching evaluation that relies on multiple sources of
evidence based on multiple ratings. This approach provides
more complete evidence than any single source for formative
and summative decisions.
“How Did I Spend Two Hours Grading This Paper?!”: Responding
to Student Writing Without Losing Your Life
Eric LeMay, Harvard University
Faculty can lose hours trying to decipher the ideas in their
students’ writing. This essay uses research on expert and
novice learners to understand this problem and offer a
solution.
Orienting Students to an “Inside-Out Course”: Establishing a
Classroom Culture of Interactive, Cooperative, Learning
Karlene Ferrante, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Research suggests that millennial college students respond
well to opportunities for active learning. To meet this need,
the “inside-out course” incorporates an array of structures
that provide support and guidance for students to teach
themselves and other students. Isn’t it ironic that so many of
the same students who crave interactive learning experiences
should also be suspicious of professors’ attempts to
incorporate such activities into college courses? As the
“inside out course” has evolved, I have developed strategies
to persuade the students to utilize this approach and to
prepare them for the high level tasks they will be asked to
complete.
Non-science for Majors: Reforming Courses, Programs, and
Pedagogy
Jennifer Frederick, Yale University
This paper proposes that science departments modify courses,
programs, and pedagogies to promote broader social, cultural,
religious, and ethical awareness, thereby fostering deeper
understanding of science’s power and limitations.
It Takes Discipline: Learning in a World Without Boundaries
Stephen Healey, University of Bridgeport
Internet boundlessness is the major teaching and learning
polis of the twenty-first century. This essay explores how a
key task is to rethink the meaning of discipline within this
virtually unbounded terrain.
Anatomy of a Scientific Explanation
Cassandra Volpe Horii, Harvard University
What makes an effective scientific explanation? Why do
scientists leave out key components when teaching? An
“anatomy” of good scientific explanations can enhance student
learning of concepts, theories, and problems.
Making Sure That Peer Review of Teaching Works for You
Nancy Chism, Indiana
University
Stressing the importance of being proactive, this essay
outlines suggested practices for ensuring that peer review
of teaching provides helpful information for growth as well
as fair summative reviews.
Teaching Scientific Report Writing Using Rubrics
PJ Bennett, University of Colorado – Boulder
This essay explores how understanding the learning goals
associated with a scientific report helps students learn how
to write them. Disseminating these learning goals to
students is accomplished with a rubric.
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main page.
2007-2008 Essays Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based
Assignments Clearly
Tuesday L. Cooper, Empire State College
When assigned collaborative learning projects, students often
have difficulty determining appropriate contribution by each
group member. By providing clear instructions, faculty can
shape students’ appreciation of collaborative learning
opportunities.
Developing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Using
Faculty Learning Communities
Milton D. Cox, Miami University
Faculty learning communities have proven successful in
developing SoTL, including teaching projects, assessment of
student learning, presentations, and publication.
Beyond Writing: Integrative Learning and Teaching in
First-Year Seminars
David H. Krause, Dominican University
Balancing theory and practice, this essay helps instructors
become more reflective, intentional, and confident about
designing assignments that effectively cultivate authentic
integrative learning for first-year students.
Reflections on a Departmentally Based Graduate Course on
Teaching
Craig Nelson, Indiana University
Full credit graduate courses offered on teaching can be an
opportunity for powerful professional development. This essay
reflects on the pedagogical and content choices for these
courses.
Role-Play: An Underused but Often Misused Active Learning
Strategy
Stephanie Nickerson, Independent Consultant
This essay describes different role-playing strategies based
on the learning objectives instructors have. Also outlined are
ways to make role-playing successful.
Teaching, Learning and Spirituality in the College Classroom
Allison Pingree, Vanderbilt University
Using data from a recent report on spirituality among college
students, this essay explores the implications of these
findings for pedagogical choices regarding classroom
practices.
The Useful, Sensible, No-Frills Departmental Assessment Plan
Barbara E. Walvoord, University of Notre Dame
This essay
suggests a simple, sustainable, and useful departmental
assessment plan that capitalizes on what departments are
already doing or know they should do to improve student
learning and meet the needs of accreditors.
Building Assignments that Teach
Mary Ann Winkelmes, University of Chicago
Assignments are a necessary
part of undergraduate education that we have come to take for
granted. The best assignments are intellectually stimulating
exercises that help students build and practice essential,
complex skills.
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2006-2007 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Motivating Generation Y in the Classroom
Jim Westerman, Appalachian State University
Generation Y students have
matured and developed in an artificial,
technologically-centered environment significantly different
from what prior generations have experienced. This essay
examines the impact of this environment on student classroom
expectations and provides suggestions for how faculty can
adapt their pedagogy to be successful.
Student
Plagiarism: How to Maintain Academic Integrity
Ludy Goodson, Georgia
Southern University
Plagiarism
detection tools undermine academic integrity when they ignore
student copyright protections, contribute to a vendor’s
unauthorized commercial gains, fail to detect many forms of
plagiarism, and require instructors to do the real detection.
By becoming aware of these realities and possibilities,
instructors can develop more effective strategies to reduce
plagiarism while simultaneously enhancing students’ academic
performance.
Incorporating Course-Level
Evidence of Student Learning into Program Assessment
Nancy Simpson, Texas A&M University
Laurel Willingham-McLain,
Duquesne University
Assessment works well
when it draws on faculty expertise and is integrated into
students' daily learning experiences. This essay argues for
course-embedded assessment and outlines sound practices,
practical steps, and examples.
Microteaching to
Maximize Feedback, Peer Engagement, and Teaching Enhancement
Barbara Millis,
Lesley Sheppard, and Gosia Samojlowicz, University of
Nevada-Reno
A proven, highly structured
microteaching model that goes beyond mere presentation skills
and "shooting-from-the-hip" group feedback has successfully
prepared both faculty and graduate students for their teaching
responsibilities. This approach uses a three-part process: (1)
presentation; (2) one-on-one feedback from mentor while the
group, using structured roles, prepares feedback; and (3)
group feedback that is both constructive and consensus-based.
Everything You Always Wanted to
Know about Writing (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Michael Reder, Connecticut College
What should all faculty know
about using and assigning writing inside and outside of the
classroom? This essay offers ideas for faculty to use
writing to help students learn material, strategies for
designing and sequencing formal written assignment, and a
well-tested (and time-saving) framework for offering students
feedback on their writing.
Information
Literacy: Imperatives for Faculty
Leora Baron, University of Nevada,
Las Vegas
With the burgeoning of
information, and especially the unfettered growth of online
information, long-held assumptions about students' access to
and interaction with information have to be re-evaluated.
Faculty play a key role in ensuring that information literacy
skills are acquired and practiced at all levels of
instruction.
Opening the Door: Creating
Institutions that Support Teachers and Learners
Richard Holmgren, Allegheny College
As faculty, we too often feel
overwhelmed by an excessive workload, an unfriendly
administration, and an unforgiving evaluation system. In this
essay, we explore initiatives we can reasonably expect to
implement to create an institutional environment in which we
can develop and flourish as teachers.
When Disability
Enters a Teachers’ Life, Must the Teacher Stop Teaching?
Laura L. B. Border,
University of Colorado at Boulder
Disabilities are usually discussed in academe in the context
of the undergraduate student population; nevertheless,
graduate students and faculty also represent a certain
percentage of persons with disabilities. This essay presents
a case study and an analysis of a consultation with a graduate
instructor, inviting us to examine the issues of disability in
the life of a teacher.
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2005-2006 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Danelle D. Stevens and Anitonia Levi, Portland State
University
Leveling the Field: Using Rubrics to Achieve Greater Equity
in Teaching and Grading
Rubrics can be used to assure greater consistency in grading
and as a teaching tool to promote greater equity, especially
with students who are first generation and /or non-native
speakers of English.
Ron Berk, Johns Hopkins University
LAUGHTER- PIECE Theatre: Humor as a Systematic Teaching
Tool
Humor can be used to bring students and deadly boring content
to life. It can hook your students, engage their emotions, and
focus their minds and eyeballs on learning.
Patricia Comeaux, University of North Carolina – Wilmington
Assessing Students Online Learning: Strategies and Resource
Explore key strategies used by experienced online instructors,
and learn about the wealth of resources for designing
assessment instruments integral to online learning.
Laura Border, University of Colorado at Boulder
Teaching Portfolios for Graduate Students: Process,
Content, Product, and Benefits
The graduate student teaching portfolio is an excellent tool
to guide graduate students in their development and success as
they begin to clarify who they are, what they want to teach,
and where they want to teach.
Marilla Svinicki, University of Texas at Austin
From Passive to Active Learning: Helping Students Make the
Shift
Being active and self-directed as a learner makes for better
learning and retention, but what does that mean for students
and for instruction?
Ruth Federman Stein and Sandra Hurd, Syracuse University
Student Teams, Teaching, and Technology
Using student teams in the classroom actively involves
students in the learning process. This essay describes the
planning necessary for effective use of teams and the impact
of technology on the team learning environment.
Margaret Snooks, University of Houston at Clear Lake
Practice Tests as Innovative Teaching Method
Learn about the development, implementation and evaluation of
short daily practice tests. Student response is overwhelmingly
positive, and learning improvement is evidenced by higher
semester averages.
Mick La Lopa, Purdue University
Using Student-Centered Assessment Techniques to Facilitate
Greater Student Learning
Student-centered assessment allows students to participate in
their growth as learners and helps build valuable
self-assessment skills.
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2004-2005 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Kate Brinko,
Appalachian State University
Transitions: What's Love Got
to Do With It?
This essay addresses strategies for managing
the transition of new faculty into the academy in order to
avoid disenchantment and leaving the academy before tenure.
Peter Frederick,
Wabash College
The Power of Student Stories: Connections that
Enhance Learning
Telling and listening to student stories
connects our students' prior experiences and knowledge and
their hopes and fears with the core learning goals teachers
value and thereby furthers deeper learning.
Eugene Gallagher &
Michael Reder, Connecticut College
PowerPoint: What is the Point
This essay summarizes the literature on
PowerPoint as a tool for learning, addresses both its
potential problems as well as its possibilities, and offers
guidelines on its effective use in teaching.
Karey Harwood, North Carolina State
University
Teaching Bioethics through Participation and
Policy-Making
The teaching of bioethics calls for a balance
between conceptual analysis and the use of concrete cases in
order to further students' ability to reason critically and
develop the traits of engaged citizens.
Jennifer Franklin,
California State University-Dominguez Hills
Validity, Research, and Reality: Student
Ratings of Instruction at the Crossroads
This essay explores how student ratings of
instruction can address the rise of new paradigms of
instruction such as active learning strategies and web-based
delivery modes.
Michele Marincovich,
Stanford University & Jack Prostko, University of Maryland,
Baltimore County
Why Knowing About Disciplinary Differences Can
Mean More Effective Teaching
This essay explores some of the latest research
on how disciplinary differences affect faculty's teaching in
subtle and often unconscious ways.
Lois Reddick, New York
University & Wayne Jacobson & Angela Linse, University of
Washington
Teaching for Diversity and Inclusiveness in
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
This essay explores the challenges STEM faculty
face in recognizing, developing and implementing classroom
practices that support diverse students.
A. Tarr, Indiana
University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
A Roadmap for Part-time Faculty Success
This essay offers practical strategies to help
part-time faculty navigate the twists and turns of teaching
part-time, enhance their teaching effectiveness, and make
their roles more personally satisfying.
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2003-2004 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Chris Anson, North Carolina State
University
Student Plagiarism: Are Teachers Part of the Problem or
Part of the Solution?
This essay explores ways in which instructors can subvert
opportunities for plagiarism by rethinking limited models of
writing and engaging students more fully and authentically in
the assignments they present.
Virginia S. Lee, North Carolina State
University
Promoting Learning through Inquiry
Inquiry-guided learning promotes learning through students'
active, and increasingly independent, investigation of complex
questions, problems, and issues. This essay explores its
theoretical rationale and the varied classroom practices of
this exciting constellation of learning strategies.
George Loacker, Alverno College
Taking Self Assessment Seriously
This essay provides a framework for students to examine and
reflect upon their own performance as a demonstration of
learning. It further describes students' role in directing the
ongoing development of their own learning.
Anne Moore, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute
Great Expectations and Challenges for Learning Objects
Learning objects may be important building blocks in the
future of instruction in higher education. This essay explores
the importance of emerging standards and practices that invite
widespread use of relatively stable "chunks" of information.
Suzanne Burgoyne, University of
Missouri
Engaging the Whole Student: Interactive Theatre in the
Classroom
This essay explores how instructors can use techniques from
Augusto Boal's Theory of the Oppressed to guide student
exploration of ideas-particularly those associated with power
and social justice-through images and enactment.
Paul R. Hagner, University of
Hartford
Engaging Faculty in New Forms of Teaching and Learning
This essay explores the importance of the motivational state
of the faculty member in the success or failure of systematic
efforts to transform teaching and learning.
Mary Deane Sorcinelli, University of
Massachusetts-Amherst
Promoting Civility and Responding When It Fails in Large
Classes
This essay offers practical advice for promoting a positive
classroom community in large classes and specific ways to deal
with behaviors that affect negatively the teaching and
learning process.
Anita Woolfolk-Hoy, The Ohio State
University
Self-Efficacy in College Teaching
The essay describes self-efficacy (i.e., an instructor's
judgment about his or her capability to promote student
learning and motivation) and its application to college
teaching.
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2002-2003 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Milton Cox, Miami University
Achieving Teaching and Learning Excellence through Faculty
Learning Communities
The impressive learning outcomes of student learning
communities can be replicated for faculty learning communities
(FLCs). This essay describes FLCs and ways they enhance
faculty and student learning.
Devorah Lieberman, Portland State
University
Leading Culturally Sensitive Classroom Discussions Post
September 11
This essay focuses on strategies for facilitating successful
classroom discussion related to the events of 9/11. These
suggestions are based on strategies implemented on several
campuses across the country.
Virginia Lee, North Carolina State
University
Unlearning: A Critical Element in the Learning Process
Research has shown that prior knowledge is a critical
determinant in learning. This essay explores the role of
student misconceptions and how instructors should address them
during the learning process.
Mary Ann Cessna and Laurel Black,
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Teaching Circles: Making Inquiry Safe for Faculty
How can I improve my teaching? Pressured by a need for high
student ratings and administrative demands for excellence in
teaching, faculty find a haven and room to learn in teaching
circles.
Linda Nilson, Clemson University
Helping Students Help Each Other: Making Peer Feedback More
Valuable
Student peer feedback can be emotionally biased, misinformed,
and/or superficial. This essay discusses two types of feedback
that yield neutral, valid, and detailed information and
enhance students' audience awareness.
Gwynn Mettetal, Indiana University -
South Bend
Improving Teaching through Classroom Action Research
This essay discusses how to conduct small, in-class research
projects on student learning in order to document teaching
effectiveness and select appropriate teaching strategies.
Mary Jane Eisen, CT Technology
Council, and Elizabeth Tisdell, National-Louis University
Team Teaching: The Learning Side of the Teaching-Learning
Equation
Emphasizing shared ownership of teaching and learning through
collaboration, this essay explores the multi-directional
process of adult learning in different types of learning
situations including on-line education.
Kristi Arndt
Creating a Culture of Co-Learners with Problem-Based
Learning
Problem-based learning requires a significant shift in the
roles and responsibilities traditionally assigned to teachers
and students. This essay examines the challenge of truly
empowering students as self-directed learners.
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2001-2002
Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Edmund
Hansen, Emporia State University
From Cognitive
Dissonance to Self-Motivated Learning
Motivation is a multi-level change process we need to help
students embrace. It often starts with experiences of
cognitive dissonance and culminates in the definition of one's
learning purpose.
Pat Hutchings, Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching
Reflections on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Drawing on work by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching, this essay explores emergent understandings of
the scholarship of teaching and learning, faculty responses,
and likely impact.
Matthew
Kaplan, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
The
Multicultural Teaching Portfolio
This essay explores the rationale for building a multicultural
portfolio and offers strategies for documenting and reflecting
on multicultural teaching and learning.
Barbara
Lounsberry , University of Northern Iowa
Diversity
Begins at Home: One Gateway to Multiculturalism
Diversity studies can begin in our backyards. State and
regional studies can connect faculty in new ways and reveal
racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity - even in
locales considered homogenous.
Hittendra Pillay and Bob Elliott, Queensland University of
Technology
Imperatives for Reforming Pedagogy and
Curriculum
Traditional models of pedagogy and curriculum assume the world
is stable and internally consistent and rational. A new
pedagogy and curriculum model are proposed, which challenge
these assumptions.
Douglas Reimondo Robertson, Eastern Kentucky University
Teaching as an Educational Helping
Relationship
This essay offers a conceptualization of college teaching as
an educational helping relationship that challenges faculty to
integrate inherent conflicts in the teacher (helper) role.
Charles M. Spuches, SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and
Forestry
Teachers and Scholars as Designers: Helping people learn is
central to our faculty work.
Instructional design theory and practice can help us meet
increasing challenges, employ new knowledge and resources, and
create optimal learning environments.
Richard
Tiberius, University of Toronto
Teachers are Diverse,
too: Understanding Beliefs about Teaching and Learning
Teachers hold beliefs about teaching and learning that
influence their teaching strategies and their relationships
with students. These beliefs may limit what teachers do but
they need not limit their success.
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2000-2001
Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
John B.
Bennett, Quinnipiac College
Teaching with Hospitality
Fortunately, hospitality is practiced more than it is
preached. A cardinal academic virtue, hospitality is essential
in the classroom as well as in relationships with colleagues.
This essay looks at why this is so.
Jeffrey
Howard, University of Michigan
Academic
Service-Learning: Myths, Challenges, and Recommendations
This essay reviews the essential elements of curriculum-based
service-learning - meaningful community service, enhanced
student learning, and preparation for democratic citizenship -
as well as myths, challenges, and recommendations associated
with this pedagogy.
Christine
Stanley, Texas A & M University
Teaching in Action:
Multicultural Education as the Highest Form of Understanding
To enhance the multicultural understanding of students, this
essay offers conceptions and suggestions relating to course
and curricular change. We can indeed all practice
multicultural teaching!
Tom Angelo,
DePaul University
Classroom Assessment and
Classroom Research: Guidelines for Success
This essay defines and gives examples of Classroom Assessment
and Classroom Research and provides guidelines for faculty
based upon 15 years of research and practice.
Eddie Vela,
California State University-Chico
The Emotional
Classroom
Theories of cognition give little attention to the role of
emotion. Nevertheless, affect is intimately involved in
learning. As educators we must understand emotional aspects of
the learning environment.
Janet Gail
Donald, McGill University, and James Wilkinson, Harvard
University
Exploring Student Expectations
What do professors need to know about students to empower them
as learners? We explore the dimensions of understanding
students in terms of their goals, roles and the way they spend
their time.
Terry Doyle,
Ferris State University
Integrating "Learning how to
Learn" Strategies into your Content Teaching
Students often lack the strategies needed to effectively learn
course content. Integrating the teaching of "learning how to
learn" strategies into course content is the best way for
students to be successful.
Barbara J.
Millis, United States Air Force Academy
Cooperative
Learning: May the Circle Be Unbroken
Fueled by new discoveries in cognitive development and the
thrust toward active learning in general, cooperative learning
in higher education is now widely accepted and widely
practiced.
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1999-2000 Essay Series
(click
here to download all 8 essays)
Graham
Gibbs, Open University, United Kingdom
Changing
Student Behavior Outside of Class
Shifting focus from teaching to Learning includes shifting
attention from in-class to out-of-class learning activity.
This essay offers strategies for understanding and controlling
students' outside learning activity.
Steven M.
Richardson, Winona State University
Living up to
Expectations
"Poor preparation" is often a symptom of mismatched
expectations. By communicating expectations early and with a
plan for offering help as needed, we can minimize these
problems.
Terrie
Nolinske, Lincoln Park Zoo
Creating an Inclusive
Learning Environment
Students bring differences relating to life experiences,
attitudes, age, religion, discipline, and learning styles into
the classroom. This essay offers strategies to promote
diversity awareness and an inclusive learning environment.
David
Halliburton, Stanford University
Perspectives on
Teaching and Learning: The Legacy of John Dewey
John Dewey's educational legacy embraces wide-ranging views on
the relation of teaching to learning and to other key issues
in education.
Gail
Goodyear Muir & Sally S. Blake, University of Texas at El Paso
Foundations of Collaboration
Specific ideologies are forwarded by learning,
socio-political, and religious theories using collaboration,
consensus, and cooperation. Examination of the foundations of
these processes reveals the values required of participants.
David L.
Graf, Nova Southeastern University
Helping Students
(Better) Evaluate and Validate WWW Resources
Faculty need strategies to assure that students can process
information from the WWW responsibly. Such strategies include
developing web-savvy assignments and requiring demonstration
of critical review of the material.
Lion
Gardiner, Rutgers University
Fostering Students' Moral
Development
The development of students' ethical behavior has been an aim
of college faculty for centuries. This essay reviews research
and ways of fostering principled ethical reasoning.
L. Dee Fink, University of Oklahoma
Higher Level Learning: A Taxonomy
for Identifying Different
Kinds of Significant Learning An in-depth look at strategies
for Higher Level Learning.
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1998-1999 Essay Series
William K. Jackson, The University of
Georgia
Are we going to Cyberspace, or is this just another
trip to Abilene?
Potential risks and rewards of internet
use in higher education.
Lee Warren, Harvard University
Class in the Classroom
Class as diversity issue in higher
education.
Karen J. Thoms, St. Cloud State
University
Critical Thinking Requires Critical Questioning
Assumptions,
misconceptions, and the role of the Socratic
Method in critical thinking and questioning.
Deborah DeZure, Eastern Michigan
University
Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Overview
and approaches to interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
Myra Wilhite and Liz Banset, University
of Nebraska-Lincoln
Learning Outside the Box:
Making Connections between Co-Curricular
Activities
and the Curriculum Teaching and learning outside
the classroom.
Elisa Carbone, University of Maryland
University College
Listening in the Classroom:A Two-Way Street
Strategies
for building the skill of
listening in the classroom.
Ronald A. Smith, Concordia University &
Richard G. Tiberius, University of Toronto
The Nature of
Expertise: Implication for Teachers and Teaching
Implications
of expertise for students and instructors.
Virginia S. Lee, The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Uses of Uncertainty in the
College Classroom Pedagogical
implications of uncertainty in
the classroom.
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to the Teaching Excellence main page.
1997-1998 Essay
Series (click here to download all 8 essays)
Virginia S.
Lee, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
"Relating Student Experience to Courses and the Curriculum"
This essay offers a rationale for incorporating students'
personal experience into the curriculum and techniques for
doing so to facilitate both cognitive and affective curricular
objectives.
Ronald
Teeples and Harvey Wichman, Claremont McKenna College
"The
Critical Match Between Motivation to Learn and Motivation to
Teach."
Student motives to learn cannot be effectively understood as
something independent of prevailing pedagogies, which are
shaped by motives to teach. The authors discuss bringing these
two aspects of motivation into closer congruence.
Nancy Van
Note Chism, The Ohio State University
"Developing a
Philosophy of Teaching Statement."
Suggestions are presented for preparing a statement about
one's philosophy of teaching in relationship to the
preparation of a teaching portfolio. Included are ideas on
developing several common components of such statements.
Judith and Calvin Kalman, Concordia University
"Writing to
Learn."
The authors explain a technique that discourages the viewing
of material as an agglomeration of disembodied facts and
fosters students' awareness of the concepts underlying the
topics being discussed.
Barbara Duch, Deborah Allen, and Hal White, University of Delaware
"Problem-based Learning: Preparing Students to Succeed in the
21st Century."
College graduates who can think critically, solve complex
problems, communicate clearly, and work effectively in teams
will be prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.
Problem-based learning (PBL) helps students develop these
crucial skills.
Nancy A. Diamond, University of Illinois
"Adding On-line
Computer Methods to Your Repertoire of Teaching Strategies."
On-line teaching methods offer interesting strategies for
teaching whatever you already want to teach. This essay
describes a broad range of on-line methods and details the
elements necessary for their optimal use.
Larry Michaelsen, University of Oklahoma
"Keys to Using
Learning Groups Effectively."
Irrespective of such factors as subject matter and class size,
small group work can produce positive motivational and
learning outcomes. The key is appropriately managing the
variables discussed in this essay.
Roger
G. Baldwin, College of William and Mary
"Academic
Civility Begins in the Classroom."
Values and traditions supporting academic civility are learned
in the classroom. This essay discusses the role of the college
professor in promoting civil discourse and nurturing overall
academic civility.
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to the Teaching Excellence main page.
1996-1997 Essay
Series (click here to download all 8 essays)
Edward
Neal,
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
"Leading the
Seminar: Graduate and Undergraduate."
This essay provides a framework for planning and leading
effective seminars and addresses the differences between
graduate and undergraduate seminar instruction.
G. Roger
Sell, University of Northern Iowa
"Challenges in Using
Technology for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education."
We may believe that access to more information will improve
undergraduate education, but students conceptual foundations
and critical thinking skills are essential for using
information technologies and constructing knowledge.
Susan
Holton, Bridgewater State College
"Cracks in the Ivory
Tower: Conflict Management in the Classroom... and Beyond."
The very nature of the classroom with its power imbalance and
differing expectations can engender conflict. What are the
warning signs, and what might we do manage the inevitable
conflict?
Mary Ann Bowman, Western Michigan University
"Metaphors We
Teach By: Understanding Ourselves as Teachers and Learners."
Our metaphors of teaching and learning express our views of
the roles of teachers and students. Becoming conscious of our
own metaphors is an important first step to self-awareness and
positive change.
Kathleen
McGrory, Society for Values in Higher Education
"Teaching and Values: What Values Will We Take into the 21st
Century."
Our values drive our decision-making about a range of everyday
concerns as professionals. This essay identifies some current
values being addressed in scholarly inquiry and attempts to
predict the role of values inquiry in curriculum and teaching
in the 21st century.
Frank Gillespie, The University of Georgia
"The Phenomenon
of Large Classes and Practical Suggestions for Teaching Them."
Large classes are a phenomenon of higher education today.
However, "large" does not preclude providing an effective
teaching and learning environment. The environment can be
analyzed, good teaching can be modeled, and practical
strategies offered.
Laura L.B.
Border, The University of Colorado at Boulder
"Simulating, Experiencing, and Changing Biased Teaching
Behaviors."
Increased awareness of biased teaching behaviors and effects
on students can motivate instructors to become conscious of
and change their own biased teaching patterns. Nonbiased
teaching is subsequently reinforced and students performance
enhanced.
Ronald D. Simpson, The University of Georgia
"The American
Professoriate in Transition."
After a brief review of the history of the American
professoriate, major trends for the future, the lives and work
of today's faculty members will be discussed in terms of
forces influencing the direction of higher education in our
society.
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Ed Neal,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Active
Learning Beyond the Classroom."
Our goal should be to devise out-of-class assignments that
promote collaboration and active involvement in learning so
that students can find their academic work at least as
interesting as late-night bull sessions in the dorms.
David J. Walsh & Mary Jo Maffei, Miami University
"Never in a
Class by Themselves: An Examination of Behaviors Affecting the
Student-Professor Relationship."
The student-professor relationship is important not only for
its own sake, but also because it is closely linked to
learning.
Laurie
Richlin & Brenda Manning, University of Pittsburgh
"Honoring the Process for Honoring Teaching."
Developing an evaluation-of-teaching system takes time and the
willingness to do private reflection prior to taking part in
academic unit discussions.
Anne
Bezuidenhout, University of South Carolina
"Integrating Research and the Teaching of Undergraduates."
Although successfully integrating teaching and research may
require drastically restructuring the undergraduate
curriculum, there are some activities that can help bring the
introductory student closer to faculty's research interests.
Anthony
Grasha, University of Cincinnati
"Teaching With
Style."
The selection of styles as instructors should be embedded in a
conceptual context that includes principles of both teaching
and learning.
Donna
Glee Williams, Western Carolina University
"Transactional
Analysis of the Creative Process."
TA provides an excellent paradigm for teaching college
students about the appropriate interaction of creativity,
technique, and self-criticism in creative endeavors such as
writing.
Barbara
Watters, SUNY Oswego
"Attacking Ideas, Not People:
Using Structured Controversy in the College Classroom."
This technique helps students learn the material in a more
enduring manner while they learn to resolve their conflicts
constructively.
Anthony L. Truog, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
"Students'
Reactions to Performance-Based vs. Traditional Objective
Assessment."
What happens when we move beyond the numerical indices
generated by objective testing to find the "real world"
performance aspects of learning?
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Deanna
Martin, Robert Blanc, and David Arendale, University of
Missouri-Kansas City
"Mentorship in the classroom: Making
the implicit explicit."
Supplemental Instruction, an academic support system that is
based in the content courses rather than presented separately,
has been very successful in helping students succeed in high
risk courses.
Richard Schoenwald, Carnegie-Mellon University
"What did I do
right in one freshman seminar? What did I do wrong in another?
What will I do next time?"
Every instructor has had the experience of one really great
class, followed by one disaster. Somehow we manage to carry on
in spite of it.
Rita
Rodabaugh, Florida International University
"In the
Name of the Student . . . What is fairness in college
teaching?"
It is the one characteristic the lack of which our students
refuse to forgive. Rita Rodabaugh provides some common
practice that might be labeled "unfair."
Marilla
Svinicki, University of Texas
"I'd like to use essay
tests, but . . ."
You can only go so far in improving your essay questions.
Sooner or later you have to get the students to improve their
answers. This article suggests three areas where they might
start.
Harriet C.
Edwards, CSU-Fullerton
"Mistakes and Other Classroom
Techniques."
Taking advantage of mistakes in the classroom can promote
student involvement with the material. Techniques derived from
social learning theory illuminate the real, everyday
experience of study and scholarship.
Milton D.
Cox, Miami University
"Emerging Trends in College
Teaching for the 21st Century."
Changes in communication practices highlight the growing
realization and acceptance by faculty of the complexity of
college teaching and learning. Looking forward to the new
century, Cox highlights changes in communication paths,
levels, and methods between faculty and faculty, faculty and
students, and students and students.
Bette LeSere
Erickson, University of Rhode Island
"Helping
First-Year Students Study, Part I."
Understanding how freshman students spend their time is an
important guide to aiding their studying. Erickson provides
two strategies: Diagnostic Learning Logs and a Survey of Study
Activities.
Bette LeSere
Erickson, University of Rhode Island
"Helping
First-Year Students Study, Part II."
Setting the stage for new study practices, teaching students
how to take notes, developing assignments to actively engage
students in study activities and helping to form study groups
are important methods for getting students to spend their
study time more productively.
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Barbara J. Duch
and Mary K. Norton, The University of Delaware
"Teaching for Cognitive Growth"
Using the Perry Model and Kolb Learning Styles, this essay
explores methods to enhance classroom learning.
Anastasia
Hagen, University of Texas
"Learning a Lot vs. Looking
Good: A Source of Anxiety for Students."
Sometimes the best students are the most anxious about their
performance. This article discusses current theory and
research on what kinds of motivations are affecting students
and what faculty can do about them.
Robert
Diamond, Syracuse University
"Changing Priorities in
Higher Education: Promotion and Tenure."
This discussion summarizes a recent study about what
constitutes an effective reward system that can recognize all
aspects of faculty work.
Marilla
Svinicki, University of Texas
"What they don't know
can hurt them: The role of prior knowledge in learning."
Students don't come to the classroom as blank slates on which
the instructor writes. Their success at learning new
information is dependent on the kind of prior knowledge, good
or bad, that they bring to the classroom.
David
Hoekema, Calvin College
"If you can fake that . . . A
reflection on the morality of teaching."
What are the traits of a professor who is genuinely open and
honest in the classroom and deserves the respect of students?
David Hoekema offers seven candidates.
Mary Norton,
University of Delaware
"Of Gurus, Gatekeepers and Guides:
Metaphors of College Teaching."
How we name our roles can have an impact on how we carry them
out. This article describes some common ways we think about
teaching and the impact each might have.
Thomas Angelo, Boston College
"Teaching Goals, Assessment,
Academic Freedom and Higher Learning."
Thomas Angelo attempts to convince the reader that a careful
examination of oneÕs teaching goals is the first step on the
role to effectiveness and even excellence in teaching.
Richard Tiberius, University of Toronto
"The Why of
Teacher/Student Relationships."
"Yeah, she has a good relationship with her students, but can
she teach?" Richard Tiberius makes a case for the educational
value of and indivisible nature of student/teacher
relationships and learning.
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Linc. Fisch,
Independent Consultant, Lexington, KY
"Power in the
Classroom."
Teachers carry a lot of power to influence students in both
good and bad ways. An awareness of this fact is a blessing and
a curse.
Ron Smith,
Concordia University
"Competence: What Does It Mean In
Teaching and Learning?"
What does it mean to be competent in a field? Our definition
of competence influences the way we teach and what we expect
from students.
Charles Bonwell, Southeast Missouri State University
"Risky
Business: Making Active Learning a Reality."
Much has been said about the power of active learning as an
instructional model. But moving from theory to practice may
need some careful thought and timely advice.
Sheila Tobias, The Research Corporation, Tucson, AZ
"Disciplinary Cultures and General Education."
Is there an unspoken culture that pervades the teaching in a
discipline? How does an intelligent outsider recognize its
assumptions and mores?
Carol A. Weiss, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
"But How Do We Get Them To Think?"
We hear this question constantly from faculty these days. This
article will describe strategies for motivating and teaching
students skills in this area.
Suzanne Cherrin, University of Delaware
"Teaching
Controversial Issues."
There are many topics in our curriculum which are relevant to
students lives, affect students personally, and frequently
produce emotional responses in the classroom. This article
makes suggestions for managing controversy and maximizing the
opportunity for active learning.
Fred Hudson,
The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara
"Ten Qualities of
Self-Renewing Faculty."
Keeping ourselves alive and motivated is a never-ending
struggle for faculty, who often feel overwhelmed. This author
provides some insights into specific ways to keep the creative
spirit flourishing.
Bill Bergquist
"The Four Cultures of the Academy."
How do the cultures of the academy affect the teaching and
learning which is so central to its mission?
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J. Dennis
Huston, Rice University
"Teaching Students to Trust Their Ideas."
This national award winner shares his thoughts about
encouraging students to think for themselves.
Peter Seldin,
Pace University and Linda Annis, Ball State University
"The Teaching Portfolio."
One of the best ideas about the evaluation of teaching to come
along in recent years is the teaching portfolio, which allows
the individual instructor to create a well-documented history
of his or her own teaching efforts and the thinking which
undergirds them.
Parker
J. Palmer, Independent Consultant, Madison, WI
"Living
the Mystery of Teaching."
Good teaching cannot be equated with technique. It comes from
the integrity of the teacher, from his or her relation to the
subject or the student, from the capricious chemistry of it
all. The author muses about how to give voice to the questions
the students won't ask but which probably lie on the cutting
edge of their learning.
Blythe Clinchy, Wellesley College
"Tales Told Out of School:
Women's Reflections on Their Undergraduate Experiences."
Where does learning really occur? In the classroom? Or out of
it? The answer may be different for different learners and
that has implications for our ways of teaching.
Jack H. Schuster, The Claremont Graduate School
"Whatever
Happened to 'THE' Faculty?"
Once assumed to be an enclave of like-minded scholars, the
academy is becoming more and more segmented. The demographics
of the students are changing as are those of the faculty. What
will be the impact of those changes on the face of the academy
in the next decade and beyond?
Maurianne Adams, University of Massachusetts
"Academic Culture:
The Hidden Curriculum."
There is an unspoken, unacknowledged set of cultural norms
which govern the conduct of the players in the academy. When
non-traditional students enter the academy, they may
inadvertently run afoul of those norms. By recognizing them
ourselves, we may be able to make the experience of these
students a better one.
Laurie Richlin, Visiting Scholar, Antioch College
"The Market
for Teaching Scholars."
To what extent will the hiring institutions accept a candidate
whose devotion is to teaching? The answer depends greatly on
the type of institution.
Karron G. Lewis, University of Texas
"Making Sense (and use) of
Written Student Comments."
Student evaluations of teaching are more and more common. Many
include a baffling array of student comments along with scaled
items. To get the most out of these rich data requires some
planning and careful analysis. .
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Russell
Edgerton, American Association for Higher Education
"Forward to Aristotle: Teaching as the Highest Form of
Understanding."
There is more to teaching than a mere grasp of content. The
act of teaching itself is a complex and fascinating experience
which goes beyond simply knowing the subject and talking about
it.
Robert Boice,
SUNY-Stony Brook
"Countering Common Misbeliefs About
Student Evaluation of Teaching."
In spite of all evidence to the contrary some people continue
to believe that student evaluation of teaching is "nothing but
a popularity contest." How much more useful it is to recognize
what the students have to offer in the way of feedback on
teaching.
Jean MacGregor, The Evergreen State College
"Collaborative
Learning: Reframing the Classroom."
The method of collaborative learning goes far beyond a change
in teaching
methodology. It is a change in the whole relationship between
learners and the environment.
Barbara Solomon, USC-Los Angles
"Impediments to Teaching a
Culturally Diverse Undergraduate Population."
There are many societal factors within and outside the academy
with which we must contend to help each student reach his or
her potential. Most of all we must learn to recognize when the
differences we see arise from the student, his cultural
background, or the fact that he is, after all, a human being
with much in common with all human beings.
Ohmer Milton,
University of Tennessee
"Course Tests: Integral Features
of Instruction."
The tests we give in class are one powerful means of
communicating our intentions to the students. They should be
recognized and respected as such.
Robert Menges, Northwestern University
"Teaching: Beliefs and
Behaviors."
Our beliefs about learning shape the behaviors of our
teaching. We need to be aware of what they are and how they
influence our actions.
John Boehrer,
Harvard University
"Spectators and Gladiators:
Reconnecting the Students with the Problem."
Learning does not take place when the instructor does all the
work. It is necessary for the students to get back into the
game and do some of the grappling as they do in the case
method of teaching.
Marilla Svinicki, University of Texas
"So Much Content; So
Little Time."
The universal complaint of faculty is that there is too much
content to cover in the time allotted. Rather than
complaining, perhaps we should re- examine how we go about
choosing the content to include in a course. We might find we
have more than we really need.
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to the Teaching Excellence main page.
1989-90 Essay Series (click here to download all 8 essays)
Joanne
Kurfiss, Santa Clara University
"Critical Thinking by Design."
This essay offers guidelines for increasing the critical
thinking potential of courses in the disciplines.
Marilla
Svinicki, University of Texas-Austin
"If Learning Involves Risk-taking, Teaching Involves
Trust-building."
Learning will flourish in an atmosphere in which the learner
is willing to take risks, and it is the task of the
instructor to create such an atmosphere.
K. Patricia
Cross, University of California-Berkeley
"Reforming Undergraduate Education One Class at a Time."
The purpose of classroom research is to help teachers
evaluate their effectiveness and to foster professional
renewal through reflection on their instruction.
Gene Rice,
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
"Rethinking What It Means to Be a Scholar."
A broader and more accurate definition of scholarship also
includes the integration of knowledge, the application of
knowledge, and the representation and dissemination of
knowledge-teaching.
Ronald
Smith, Concordia University and Fred Schwartz, Vanier
College
"Teaching in Action: Criteria for Effective Practice."
This essay describes ways through which teachers enhance
their teaching art within the process of teaching itself.
Delivee
Wright, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
"The Challenge of Teaching the Introductory-level Course."
Introductory-level courses usually offer many more and
greater challenges than do advanced courses, and it is
appropriate that they be delivered by the most effective
instructors.
James Eison,
SE Missouri State University
"The Meaning of College Grades."
The often confusing and inconsistent character of academic
grades can be greatly reduced by suggestions offered in this
essay.
Loren
Ekroth, University of Hawaii at Manoa
"Why Professors Don't Change."
Even if professors wanted to change their teaching methods,
the ways they define themselves and stabilizing aspects of
their academic situations often resist their attempts to
change.
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