An undergraduate student and a college faculty member describe the benefits and challenges of working together on a textbook. Although some of the consequences of their collaboration were anticipated, several of the most valuable aspects surprised them both. They both concluded that the challenges of an undergraduate student research assistantship…

The collaborative effort of a professor of human development with expertise in group process and a general education professor with expertise in Greek mythology and culture uses a case study format to apply theoretical models of group dynamics to the travel and learning experience of study abroad. Implications for course design and group process…

A three-year joint project of the Community College of Philadelphia and Beaver College (Pennsylvania) sought to raise transfer aspirations and improve the related skills of minority and low-income students, through a five-week residential program including two interdisciplinary courses co-taught by faculty from both institutions. Most powerful…

North Country Community College (New York) implemented a model of general education specifying competencies to be achieved in liberal arts courses. Introductory psychology students were pre- and posttested on competencies of knowledge (objective and subjective), critical thinking, and writing, using an objective test and essay. Significant gains…

The staff in a teaching excellence program at the University of Colorado at Boulder analyzed research on new faculty needs and designed a program to support newly-hired, tenure-track faculty in improving their teaching. The approach used in the program, responses of participating faculty, and areas for future analysis are described. (Author/MSE)

A limited approach to team teaching at the college level is described and assessed. Two instructors with solo assignments collaborated to teach a single instructional unit across separate sections of an interdisciplinary course. The experience demonstrated that small-scale joint teaching can have significant advantages while avoiding the practical…

A study investigated how advantages of collaborative learning can be extended and deepened when team teachers consciously model collaborative behaviors and values they seek to encourage in students. Specific behaviors modeled are described and classroom results discussed. Evidence indicated that students observed teachers closely and were affected…

To help State University of New York at Buffalo faculty prepare for new science courses, summer workshops allowed faculty to try new material and methods on 16 students hired as professional critics. Students and faculty praised the experience. It was concluded that students should be included in faculty development workshops as critics and…

Discusses use of two central forms of argument, analogy and inference to the best explanation, in teaching college science. It is argued that science makes sense if the underlying reasoning makes sense, and this must be explicitly addressed in instruction. Therefore, forms of argument that link evidence to hypotheses or theories, and criteria for…

Although teaching portfolios are now used widely in North American colleges and universities, origins can be traced to an initiative of the Canadian Association of University Teachers in the 1970s. Reasons for development of the teaching dossier are outlined, and the evolution of the concept is chronicled. Some unresolved issues in their use to…

Questions raised frequently by college and university faculty about use of portfolios to document effective teaching are answered. The questions address such issues as how the portfolio is organized, what it should reflect, how and by whom it is used, preparation time, the mentor's role, reliability, subjectivity, maintaining the portfolio's…

Based on the idea that the skills needed to mentor a college faculty member in development of a reflective teaching portfolio are similar to those a composition teacher uses for student consultation, the process and guiding principles used by one mentor are described. Issues of portfolio organization and sources for objective feedback are also…

Drawing on experiences of a Concordia University (Ontario, Canada) task force in considering the teaching portfolio as an instructional evaluation tool, several issues are discussed: the place of teaching in an academic culture; how teaching is and should be evaluated; and possibilities for changing the status quo. Issues in implementation and…

Circumstances leading to 1992 adoption of teaching portfolios for faculty evaluation at the University of Kentucky are outlined, the implementation process is described, and results of a faculty survey following the first round of portfolio development are reported. Despite some obvious difficulties, responses to the portfolio approach were more…

The three-year Miami University (Ohio) project to develop teaching portfolios is described. The department-based approach acknowledges that departments and disciplines have different cultures, and that departments are where rewards are determined. Issues in portfolio development and use, including benefits and problems, are discussed and…