Resources

Discusses the challenge that cultural diversity presents to the curriculum and how to engage faculty involvement. New constructs; Bringing cultures into the classroom; Resistance produced by change; Fear of what will happen when students are exposed to the knowledge of cultures that have suffered historical subordination; Innovations; More.

Discusses how university presidents and provosts across America have been re-examining various aspects of the faculty reward system--from the obligations faculty are expected to perform, to the ways teaching and service are evaluated, to the bases for promotion and advancement. What set off this re-examination; Observations into changing expectations; Changes in how faculty are evaluated; Shifts in faculty incentives and rewards.

Focuses on the role of faculty members in the career of students. Anxieties expressed by deans and presidents of schools on how faculty members should be trained; How the popularity of religious studies reshaped the training of theological faculty; Capabilities of most theological faculty.

Focuses on socializing future faculty to the values of undergraduate education. Values of hiring colleges and universities; Approaches to graduate preparation; Preparation of future faculty project; Initiatives and strategic benefits. INSET: More about support programs..

Contact the Ideas Center for a pdf. Techniques for observing the classroom behavior of teachers and students are examined. These techniques provide a framework for analyzing and understanding classroom interaction, for making decisions about what should be happening, and for changing instructional behavior when it is necessary. The observation methods allow collection, analysis, and presentation of accurate, objective, useful, and persuasive data. Persuasive data contain no value judgments. One method is the selective verbatim technique, which involves having the observer record what is actually said within the confines of a category previously specified by the teacher. Some common categories for selective verbatim include: teacher questions, teacher responses to student statements, teacher directions and assignments, teacher responses to questions, verbal mannerisms, teacher reward and praise statements, teacher criticism, student responses to teacher questions, student questions, and student initiated statements. Examples are presented as illustration. A seating chart can be the basis for several types of informal records about the teachers' and students' classroom behavior. It is primarily used to measure nonverbal behavior, but it is sometimes useful for measuring verbal behavior. The basic element is a diagram, examples of which are included. Seating charts are useful for analyzing "at task" behavior: data indicating whether or not individual students were engaged in the task or tasks the teacher indicated were appropriate. A verbal flow chart is one way of analyzing how classroom procedures inhibit, encourage, or allow students to participate in classroom interactions. A list of common teaching activities and a technique for recording them for analysis is included.

Journal Issue

Argues that if teachers wish to see greater recognition and reward attached to teaching they must change the status of teaching from private to community property. Need to reconnect teaching to the disciplines; The problem with student evaluation forms that are identical across the disciplines; More.