This research describes a new method of peer evaluation for faculty who implement team learning in their course. It explored whether students preferred this method to other methods created by the course instructor. After creating a peer evaluation instrument using the Student-Driven Peer Evaluation Method in a team-based learning course and…

Virginia Tech has intentionally moved beyond the traditional policy-heavy approach to department head orientation to employ a robust leadership development program for new and aspiring academic leaders and faculty. The annual program begins with a full-day workshop in mid-August, and continues throughout the fall semester with a series of shorter…

This book has been structured to build a framework to guide the practitioner and to encourage their creation of tools that can be effective in guiding practice. It has been written and organized to prepare critically reflective teachers to take their place in society and to do that with the knowledge, personal framework and tools to be successful.…

Purpose: Although annual performance reviews and feedback are recommended for faculty development, best practices and faculty perceptions have not been documented. The authors sought to evaluate the process in one medical school department that established and has sustained an innovative review tradition for 25 years. Method: Content analysis of…

Manuscript rejection is a fact of life for academics, and should be seen as just one step in a process of revision and resubmission that typically results in publication. This manuscript is the second in a two-part series offering suggestions to help authors take action on their rejected manuscripts, including analyzing reviewer feedback, revising…

This study assesses an asset-based approach to international teaching assistant (ITA) training at a public research institution. The program is a peer mentorship-based learning community that facilitates ITAs' cultural awareness and pedagogic development. Survey results indicate the program positively impacted participants' teaching skills,…

A core question for educators at any stage of their career is often, "How do I improve my own teaching style, and how can I be the educator of the caliber I aspire to be?" In this series of reflective essays, the authors will offer strategies for developing an innovative and individual style that embraces core educational values.…

Manuscript rejection is a fact of life for academics, and should be seen as just one step in a process of revision and resubmission that typically results in publication. This two-part article offers suggestions to help authors take action on their rejected manuscripts, including analyzing reviewer feedback, revising judiciously, and making…

Technology is changing the landscape of higher education. As the editors of this special issue have noted, technology has been particularly useful when trying to solve problems. At Texas Christian University (TCU), we employed technology to create a tool that would help standardize the evaluation of teaching while still offering enough flexibility…

As the title suggests, this article offers the concept that assessing course outcomes does not have to be difficult. The authors believe that some adaptation of the process they have described in this article should provide students with an opportunity to provide meaningful feedback about what the course covered and what was required of them. The…

Project Engage (PE) was a 16-month teaching enhancement program offered at a large doctoral-granting university. Participants in this pilot program were full time faculty members who redesigned large enrollment introductory university courses to improve student engagement. To support their redesign projects, participants first received feedback…

This study explored the impact of a learner-centered, mid-semester course evaluation process called the small group instructional diagnosis (SGID) on student perceptions of dimensions of teaching that promote effective learning. Classes where instructors requested the SGID were randomly assigned to either traditional or learner-centered SGIDs and…

What do students think about the learning process? This article describes the patterns of what students think about their learning, gathered from 45 classes using mid-semester Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID). We learned that SDIGs provided insights into students' perceptions of how learning works that are not identified in the…

A common decision of journal editors when faced with promising papers is that the author revise-and-resubmit. Responding thoughtfully and strategically to this invitation improves the probability of eventual acceptance dramatically. However, in the rush-to-publish, early-career educational researchers may lack awareness and skill in managing the…

Demonstrating the impact of faculty development activities is difficult and infrequently attempted beyond assessing participant satisfaction. This study examines how faculty development activities affect instructional practices and the impact on student learning and motivation in accordance with Kirkpatrick's levels of evaluation. Ten instructors…