This chapter introduces a University of Iowa effort to enhance and support active learning pedagogies in technology-enhanced (TILE) classrooms and three elements that proved essential to the campus-wide adoption of those pedagogies. It then describes the impact of those professional development efforts on the curricula and cultures of three…

This chapter describes the results of an assessment project whose purpose was to improve the faculty-development program for instructors who teach in technology-infused TILE (Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage) classrooms at the University of Iowa. Qualitative research methods were critical for (1) learning about how students and instructors…

This chapter discusses how to improve validity in SoTL studies through generating appropriate measures and using designs that examine causality between an activity and students' performance. [Part II available at EJ1029365.]

This chapter suggests solutions to common practical problems in designing SoTL studies. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of different types of designs are discussed. [Part I available at EJ1029363.]

This chapter discusses ways that faculty development and teaching centers can foster the practice of SoTL and create a campus culture where SoTL is recognized as important scholarly work.

The advent of faculty development centers that focus on the improvement of teaching skills and better understanding of student learning concepts dates back to the 1960s. These centers were initiated from a realization that the effectiveness of a faculty member resulted from growth and maturity over time and that certain support systems were…

Improving teaching and learning in higher education became an important international endeavor in the 1960s and 1970s, corresponding to an influx of students coming in greater numbers than ever seen before, from a broader range of backgrounds, and with diverse expectations for attending colleges and universities. These same students were also more…

The authors are both teachers in the Economics Department at Fairfield University, where they share responsibility for the introductory and intermediate economics courses. Student's comment illustrates that they were apparently not reaching their students in ways that achieved their goals: developing students' abilities to understand economic…

The explosion of information and increasing complexity of the modern workplace have placed new burdens and demands on professional schools and programs. Professional schools, such as those in business, engineering, and the health professions, have come under increasing scrutiny as the required exit competencies for graduates have shifted from…

The disciplines contribute in a variety of ways to inquiry-based learning about teaching but they also can be seen as the beneficiaries of such pedagogical work.

This chapter considers whether there are grounds for believing that an inquiry-based approach to teaching and educational development will enhance practice. (Contains 1 table.)

Applying reading and writing theory to cases in composition, this chapter troubleshoots assignments that produced disappointing results and illustrates how the model of the "ill-structured problem" can help writing instructors craft assignments that foster the cognitive and affective maturation essential to college-level literacy. (Contains 2…

Outlines some basic components of effective learning processing and then suggests tasks or ways of presenting information during lecture that can induce such processing by students. (EV)

Asserts that the field of discourse processing offers some solutions to the challenge of promoting deep comprehension during learning. Sketches the salient components of discourse processing mechanisms and points out how such mechanisms can be recruited to improve deep comprehension. (EV)

Explores how higher education can focus more clearly on the development of successful intelligence--a kind of knowing that permits creative use of information, analysis of complex topics, and its application in a variety of settings. (EV)