Examines effects of the state-driven assessment and accountability movements on the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Depicts how reformers tried to give teaching and learning a more central role on college and university campuses. Concludes that such efforts have received only limited support by faculty and institutions, and…

By modulating course requirements, effective classroom management is able to sustain respectable academic standards while making flexible concessions to student petitions. The author's name is a pseudonynm. (MLW)

This article examines trends and criticisms of higher education and encourages universities to place a high priority on the quality of undergraduate teaching. Other suggestions include involving university faculty in improving public schools, improving the health care system, and providing support to the business community. (DB)

Seven liberal arts college students were recruited to seriously audit first year science courses, keeping a journal about how the class was structured, their reactions to the material, and the classroom culture. The students' experiences are discussed, and the implications for improvement of science education are examined. (MSE)

The Higher Education Research Program, 19 educational practitioners invited by The Pew Charitable Trusts to help take stock of higher education's strengths and weaknesses, its challenges and opportunities, is discussed. Three principal issues facing higher education include costs, the quality of teaching and learning, and making higher education…

If college faculty were encouraged by leadership to share their teaching experiences and insights, good teaching could flourish. Useful conversation topics include critical moments in teaching and learning; the human condition of teachers and learners; metaphors and images of the teaching process; and autobiographical reflection on great teachers.…

The issue of quality at regional state colleges and universities is discussed. While aspiring to become a major research institution is inappropriate for a regional state college or university, research and scholarly activities consistent with the norms of the faculty's disciplines are critical to the development of institutional quality. (MLW)

The experiences of some faculty members who were recently honored at the American Association for Higher Education's National Conference on Higher Education, where they participated in a Forum on Extraordinary Teaching, is described. To talk publicly about one's teaching was a unique experience for the participants. (MLW)

The following five common myths about college education are examined: (1) that institutional reputation reflects educational quality; (2) that traditional teaching methods are proven effective; (3) that good teachers are good researchers; (4) that faculty influence students only in class; and (5) that student academic and nonacademic experiences…

A discussion of college faculty productivity defines the term and looks at related issues, including ways of improving productivity; costs of academic work; "deadwood"; and productive behavior as it relates to research, grantsmanship, instructional quality, enrollment and class size, and teaching load. Incentives and persuasive arguments are seen…

Decline in quality of undergraduate instruction is due not to general decline in faculty values but to an active market for faculty in which prestige-seeking colleges and universities compete to build institutional excellence through the faculty they hire, at the expense of undergraduate teaching. (MSE)

Seven suggestions are offered for enhancing the quality of college and university instruction, based on British experience: (1) define excellent teaching; (2) distinguish competence from excellence; (3) weight teaching in balance with research and service; (4) increase teacher sophistication; (5) promote excellent teaching, not just excellent…

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's report on collegiate education, "College," is discussed by Ernest L. Boyer. The undergraduate experience and quality, college teaching, assessment, the quality of campus life, student development, and general education are discussed. (MLW)