Many observers find it baffling that faculty in higher education have been slow to adopt open educational resources (OER). The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a private foundation that makes grants to expand access to learning materials, defines OER as: Teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been…

Although not everyone needs textbooks, they still actively serve four audiences within the discipline. The four audiences that benefit from textbooks are students, instructors, the textbook sales force, and the textbook authors themselves. With a growing number of online classes where students have less and less, or even no, face time with their…

This essay regards the licensing of digital content in universities. The author states that the academic community has overwhelmingly adopted course-management software systems such as Blackboard to distribute electronic course materials to students. She argues that such use presents a significant problem: the absence of any institutional…

Gives a target population description which could be used in designing instructional materials for university faculty members. Included is a list of 32 characteristics which profile the population. (JEG)

The Classroom Guidelines for the Copyright Act of 1976, meant to help educators in photocopying, have been widely ignored. Educators who continue to produce and distribute custom-made anthologies are inviting publisher litigation. However, the guidelines could be renegotiated to benefit both educators and publishers. (Author/MSE)

The use of case studies as a teaching method--that is, presenting students with realistic problems to solve as part of the curriculum--is examined. Emphasis is on instructional materials, interdisciplinarity, and the complex relationships within the university and among faculty that help or hinder the method. (MSE)

Presents standards for assessing language-learning software and Web sites in three different contexts: (1) teachers considering whether and how to integrate computer-mediated materials into their instruction; (2) specialists writing reviews of software or Web sites for professional journals; and (3) college administrators evaluating the quality of…

Provisions and interpretations of federal copyright law directly relevant to photocopying for classroom or library reserve use and related issues are examined, along with a case study of use of scientific articles in a college classroom, approaches to the issue of multiple copying, and fair use. (MSE)

Discusses the traditional academic award system in which faculty productivity is measured by the quantifiable criterion of published research and suggests alternative, teaching-oriented considerations, such as contributions to curriculum and instructional materials development, problem-solving capacity, and the ability to nurture good…

This paper discusses seven ways in which college faculty can become actively engaged in scholarship about teaching. The seven principle components of teaching are as follows: (1) subject matter expertise; (2) organized presentation of subject matter; (3) concern for curricular relevance and coherence; (4) informing the curricular change process;…

This two-part collection presents 59 short essays by a cross-section of college instructors nationwide in response to four questions about writing students and five questions about writing teachers. Part I presents the responses to the following student-oriented questions: What are the common and special needs of writing students (including…

Peer review of college faculty is discussed from the perspective of an administrator who reviews promotion and tenure documents at the central university level. Attention is directed to: the rationale for peer review, qualities of an effective teacher, sources of information available to colleagues, an example of a peer review system at The Ohio…

A discussion of the new era of legal education in Russia examines the general structure of the legal system and related careers, legal education within and outside the universities, costs, and curriculum design. A more detailed look at the St. Petersburg State University law school examines the curriculum, teaching methods, testing, instructional…

Discusses the causes for the recent decline in higher education quality in sub-Saharan Africa and possible strategies for improvement, including selective admission to the universities, teacher training programs for faculty, student evaluation of faculty, faculty participation in instructional materials development, improvement of graduate study,…

This monograph explores the concept and practice of college and university outreach through faculty professional service, in which faculty help both meet societal needs and fulfill their institution's mission through work based on their scholarly expertise. It points out that professional service by faculty can become a source of innovation and…