Traditional ideas about improving teaching should be augmented by new understandings of faculty self-perception and motivation. At the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, professors have been interviewed to determine if faculty hold beliefs about an institution that influence their behavior. (MLW)

A faculty committee at Michigan Technological University (MTU) developed a university-wide policy and procedure to encourage improvement of instruction and ensure that teaching effectiveness plays a significant role in personnel decisions. The experiences at MTU are described to help others seeking to establish similar policy on this sensitive…

Reviews research relating to field experience in teacher education programs. Concludes that while such experiences have the potential of being the critical catalyst that converts college students into good teachers, they are currently lacking in many areas. (FL)

Interesting teaching techniques that geography teachers at the college and university level can use in their lectures and in their seminars and tutorials are presented. (RM)

A realistic and comprehensive program of faculty development must address key career decisions faced by faculty. Faculty "renewal" may be stimulated by changes in opportunities, in responsibilities, in location. Three decision points and some consequences of positive and negative answers to each question are discussed. (MLW)

This book describes how to use adult learning strategies in planning faculty development. Chapter 1 addresses concerns about success, demonstrating how to use an adult learning model to help faculty developers succeed. Chapter 2 presents the Adult Learning Model for Faculty Development, which has four stages grounded in adult learning and program…

Research into teaching and learning in higher education has been actively pursued in Poland, with the aim of achieving efficient expansion and improving individual institutions. This paper gives an account of research and publication activities, analyses the research methods used, and problem areas covered, and describes the development of staff…

Greater emphasis should be placed on the planning of learning, rather than on classroom performance, as the most important function of a teacher. (HS)

A well-integrated undergraduate curriculum that meets the needs of the social welfare worker in the field, the client and the agency is proved by experience of graduates in the field. (Author)

This essay identifies several things teachers can learn from students or from the sheer act of teaching: about their own personalities; about ways to improve their teaching; and about subject matter, through simplifying and organizing it for presentation, through student questions, and through the natural flow of ideas. (Author/SJL)

Considers the current state of on-line course design and delivery. Discusses several advantages and disadvantages of on-line instruction. Concludes that teachers seeking professional development opportunities should give careful consideration to on-line possibilities. (SG)

Reviews efforts to create and introduce measures to quantify the quality and scholarship of teaching by faculty in veterinary medicine. (EV)

Deplores the widespread practice of having graduate students with no teaching experience teach composition classes. Advocates (1) having tenured faculty teach one composition class per year, and (2) requiring graduate students to take a course in teaching composition before teaching it. (SR)

Teachers in the Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools can earn the Advanced Professional Certificate, honored as the equivalent of a master's degree, without having to leave the school system. The certificate allows teachers to earn the same salary as teachers with a master's degree. (MLF)

One university incorporated preparation of teaching portfolios into preservice teacher education, providing a link between the portfolio assignment and the development of students' abilities to reflect on their teaching. The paper notes students' reactions to the assignment, explaining how teaching portfolios can become the first stage in…