Education Commons^™

Introductory Courses, Student Ethos, And Living The Life Of The Mind, Marshall W. Gregory

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In considering how curriculum and teaching influence education, it is revealing to note that most faculty members treat curriculum the way bankers treat investments. They generally spend much time, planning, and careful thought on curricular matters--reasoning here, analyzing there, relying on experience, and carefully considering both the long-term and short-term dividends of knowledge--but when it comes to teaching, many faculty members operate less like bankers and more like barnstormers, flying by the seat of their pants and guiding themselves primarily by instinct or by repeating whatever worked yesterday. Few teachers feel that they have either the intellectual or professional grasp …