Resources

Editorial. Explores the implications of mega-university for higher education in United States. Issues on higher education crisis; Propositions regarding higher education systems in United States; Discussion of technology strategy.

Discusses the importance of teacher's character in learning and teaching. Reasons for doubting the validity of widespread assertions of faculty members' malfeasance and neglect of their students; Three dimensions of teaching; Qualities that make for effective teaching; Initiative coming from the individual faculty members themselves and not from the administration.

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..

Opinion. Presents the author's view on his passion for teaching which is beyond the technicalities of teaching. Integrity and identity as the requirements of good teaching; Importance of holding on when a teacher loses heart; Diversity of techniques among individual teachers.

Provides information on the availability of data on teaching, learning and technology. Details on the study questions posed by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which focused on results; Role of technology in the quality and cost of lower-division composition courses of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); Disadvantages of the IUPUI composition students; Effect of technology use on costs.

Surveyed preservice teachers, following their final portfolio conference, to determine their views on the efficacy of using portfolio evaluation. The portfolio process helped students gain self-confidence, better relationships with instructors, organizational skills, professional attitudes, job interviewing skills, knowledge about teaching, and a knowledge base for teaching. Students expressed concerns about various aspects of portfolio evaluations.

Four theories of teaching are presented based on faculty definitions of teaching: knowledge transfer; shaping students to a predetermined mold; exploratory; and developmental. These theories are related to student attitudes about learning and are offered as a means of resolving misunderstandings among teachers and between teachers and students.