Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) are a ubiquitous tool in higher education. Though they are not effective means of evaluating teaching ability, they are useful in formative teaching development of a teaching career. We characterise the current formative use of and attitudes towards SETs by instructors across all disciplines (STEM and…

Abstract Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Created and led by faculty members and educational developers, EnLITE is designed to engage participants in the principles, practice and theory of teaching and learning in higher education and to promote…

Post-secondary institutions, especially those with a research focus, face a challenge in ensuring consistent and high-quality teaching, in part because many members of the teaching faculty have backgrounds in research instead of teaching. A common part of meeting this challenge is the presence of Centres for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) on…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a better understanding of how to provide learning opportunities to improve teaching practices for the increasing numbers of academics who are choosing to work online from remote offices, sometimes called e-academics, remote workers, or teleworkers. The objectives of the study were twofold: (1) to…

This paper recounts the author's experience with giving a Needs Assessment for improvement by university teachers. Subjects were from the University of Lethbridge and the 2008 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) conference session. Teachers at the University (n = 77) indicated they could spend 5-15 hours in teaching…

An increasing number of higher education institutions are offering courses designed to improve the quality of teaching. Examples in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Australia are cited.

A university's Teaching Methods Unit collected information from course participants at the end of the course and again four months later. Tabulation of questionnaire results indicated the extent to which and in what areas participants felt the course did have significant impact on their teaching behaviors. (Editor/LBH)

Considerations for establishing purposes of evaluation are described in view of controversies that focus on justification and use of ratings of instructors as well as attempts to meet demands and ward off pressures for accountability. General models are proposed to serve as guidelines for further development and specification of purposes.…

Fifty-eight U.S. and 10 Canadian dental schools responded to a questionnaire concerning whether they had operational Faculty Practice Plans (FPPs) and to describe their plan's characteristics. Results revealed FPPs had little impact on the school's teaching and research functions and a less than harmonious relationship with the practicing dental…

Thirty-one probationary faculty from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology (Ontario, Canada) participated in a research study that examined their individual and collective professional development needs. The study was conducted in the fall of 1991. Probationary faculty completed a survey instrument that was comprised of three parts. Part 1…

Two methods of teacher evaluation, summative evaluation and formative evaluation, are examined. The summative theory calls for an assessment of teaching competence on the basis of which judgments may be made on matters pertaining to promotion, tenure, merit salary increments, or dismissal. Summative evaluation is strongly supported because it…

A review and bibliography of staff development in higher education in several countries is presented. Contents are as follows: Australia by Geoff Foster and Ernest Roe; Britain universities by John Nisbet and Ray McAleese; Britain polytechnics by Harriet Greenaway and Derek Mortimer; Canada by Bruce M. Shore; Denmark by John Conrad; The Federal…

The training of teachers of second languages and linguistics in universities located in the Province of Quebec, Canada, is examined in this article. University degree programs in English, French, modern languages, linguistics, and teaching methods or education are outlined, including general program requirements for the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.…

This volume contains 15 papers on strategies for improving teaching in higher education with a focus on perceptions of current practices particularly in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Canada. The papers are: "Teaching Improvement Practices: International Perspectives" (W. Alan Wright and M. Carol O'Neil);…