Intrinsic to experiential learning is the challenge of empowering students to both reflectively engage with and inquire into ethical issues, while facing time, task, social, and other daily pressures. As designated "learners" in a professional setting, experiential education students typically see themselves as having little authority within the…

One of the most important elements in achieving significant curricular and pedagogical innovation is creating a climate that promotes and acknowledges the contributions of those who engage in these efforts. It is critical that this climate be systemic, existing at the department, college, and university levels. In the past few years, the view that…

Institutional approaches to alternative dispute resolution can offer students and faculty a safe, non-judgmental environment for addressing disputes and promoting campus civility. Issues discussed include ways to promote an institutional atmosphere of civility; creation of structures for conflict resolution and alternative dispute resolution; use…

In contrast with most academic departments, interdisciplinary programs lack automatic identity, clear space, or curricular territory, and motivation is closely linked to program success. This includes motivation of students in class and outside of class, of contributing faculty, of administrators, and of societal peer groups, such as professional…

Discusses two approaches for evaluating distance education. One collects six categories of evaluation information (measures): activity, efficiency, outcomes, program aims, policy, and organization. The other identifies key questions needed for effective evaluation and methods for determining outcomes in five areas: accountability, effectiveness,…

Examines issues in the management of information and support services for distance education, including identification of instructional objectives and strategies and desired outcomes; nature, scope, and locus of organizational responsibility; quality standards; competing service values; logistics of service provision; costs and benefits; and…

Establishing a program to help teaching assistants (TAs) become better teachers is discussed, including advantages/disadvantages of five possible organizational locations: individual course instructors, departments, colleges of education, other individual colleges, and a central administrative office. A mix of locations and criteria for assessing…

Cultural and language barriers facing foreign teaching assistants are discussed. Universities may test the spoken English ability of foreign graduate students and train currently employed foreign teaching assistants through lectures, tapes, and demonstration of teaching skills; information on American campus life; and English practice. Follow-up…

Approaches to developing teaching assistant programs are discussed, based on the organizational change literature. Five models are identified: rational planning, social interaction, human problem solving, political models, and a research and development approach. Political processes often can be blended with social interaction and problem-solving…

Resources pertinent to teaching assistants at colleges are identified. The listing includes general books on teaching, handbooks designed for the TA, discipline-centered materials, videotapes and other materials for use in workshops, and organizations that can provide workshops and other opportunities to contact resource persons. (Author/SW)

This journal presents a collection a essays that offer several new perspectives on teaching practice; give descriptive and narrative accounts of curricular and teaching innovations; and discusses a range of shared learnings obtained from public university, community college, and private college multicultural change processes. Chapters and their…

This article describes examples of five orientation programs for new college faculty (presemester centralized, presemester mandatory, during semester decentralized, during semester centralized, and adjunct faculty). A summary of results and costs considers attendance, value for individual faculty members, and value for the institution. (DB)

The traditional college classroom has a distinct culture to which educators have been blind, assuming that the classroom is culturally neutral. It often constrains the success of students from other cultural backgrounds. The alternate cultures of white women and men and women of color have implications for improvement of instructional design.…

In instructional design for higher education, it is important to the success of all students to take into account the differences in individual learning styles. Research indicates that different student populations have characteristically different approaches to learning and that teachers can use patterns of effective practice to foster success…

Creation of a college classroom environment that is genuinely culturally inclusive requires leadership of faculty willing to make major changes in an entrenched, traditional academic culture, including a teaching approach combining personal caring with high expectations, incorporation of new knowledge into the curriculum, and authentic response to…