Education Commons^™

Weekly Quizzes And Examination Performance In Intermediate Accounting, Joseph Matoney

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

For years I have noticed how hard my students work on my course during examination weeks and have toyed with the idea of giving weekly quizzes as a means of motivating them to work that hard more consistently. The material which Intermediate Accounting covers is extensive and technical. Students can ill-afford to fall behind. When they do, they're likely to find it much more difficult to catch up than they expect. Perhaps as important, class meetings can be woefully lackluster and nonproductive when significant numbers of students don't know what's going on.

Satisfactions And Concerns Of New University Teachers, Mary Deane Sorcinelli

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Design of the Study

Findings

Sources of Satisfaction

Sources of Stress

Discussion

Annual Competitions

Programs and Opportunities

Future Challenges

Conclusion

References

Editorial Matter 1988

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Foreword

Contents

Cumulative Title Index

Cumulative Author Index

Undergraduate Students' Use Of Time: A Classroom Investigation, Barbara E. Brittingham

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Questions of the Study

Method

Results and Discussion

Conclusion

References

Author Notes

Helping Faculty Meet New Pressures For Scholarly Writing, Robert Boice

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Methods

Subjects

Enlisting Participants

Self-Report Forms

Tracking Participants

Results and Discussion

Practicality and Reliability of the Methodology

Do Librarians Have Less Time for Scholarly Writing?

Complexities in the Search for Sufficient Time

The Initial Attempt at Facilitating Writing in the Midst of Busy Schedules

Short-Term Results: Did Faculty and Librarians Make Use of Available Time?

Why Most Faculty Members and Librarians Didn't Write Productively in the Short Run

Signs of Success in the Longer Run

References

Alternatives For Evaluating The Death Education Student, J. Eugene Knott

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Although grading in postsecondary education, according to Eison and Pollio (1987), dates back about 200 years, the formal pursuit of learning focused on human mortality per se has been a part of higher education for only about thirty years. In that brief period, however, has come a rapidly growing concern with issues of evaluating and grading, paired with concern about motivation for enrollment in such courses in the first place. I've been very interested for some years in self-assessment as it bears on evaluation for grading, especially in courses where the content and approach encourage a great deal of self-disclosure …

Practices Used By Excellent Department Chairs To Enhance The Growth And Development Of Faculty, Myra Wilhite, Anita Leininger

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Research Questions

Method

Participants

Instrument

Procedure

Results

Preliminary Information about Chairpersons

Job Satisfaction

Reported Preparation for Chair Role

Conditions Influencing Chairperson Behaviors

Behaviors and Practices Used for Faculty Development

Implications and Recommendations

Bibliography

Developing Management Skills Of Academic Professionals, Len Ainsworth

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Initiation

Program Design

Content

Results

Lessons Learned

References

Notes On A Classroom Research Program, Bette Lasere Erickson, Glenn R. Erickson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Sometimes, when you least expect it, a good idea stands up, introduces itself, and asks to be recognized. So it happened two years ago at the AAHE meetings. Pat Cross was urging us all to take teaching seriously -- not a particularly novel idea for POD folks -- but we sat up and took notice when she proposed.

Art Essays And Computer Letters, Wendy Holmes

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Essay 1

Essay 2

The Problem

Method

Description of Comments

Problems of Implementation

Results

Discussion

Appendix

Samples of Computer Letters

Part I Classroom Research

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

At the 1987 POD meeting, Pat Cross challenged us to discover what could be learned by encouraging faculty to become researchers in their own classrooms, answering their own questions empirically, whether through formal or informal investigations. Classroom research is not new to POD members as previous editions of this volume attest. In characteristic POD fashion, several of our members stepped up their efforts in response to Cross's challenge. The results of their inquiries are presented here.

Part Ii Fostering Student Inquiry

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The world has no shortage of reform advocates exhorting teachers to promote "active student involvement in learning." Most teachers would love to have active, involved students. But student reticence in class is notorious and figuring out how to overcome it (or bypass it altogether) is a nontrivial task. The two articles in this section suggest very different approaches to the task.

Part Iv Emerging Contexts For Development

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

As interest in teaching excellence grows, POD members find themselves called upon to assist in the training and support of academic professionals in a variety of roles. Here we report on three areas of practice that are relatively new in the field.

The Washington Center: A Grass Roots Approach To Faculty Development And Curricular Reform, Barbara Leigh Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Origins of the Washington Center

The Center's Structure and Administration

Crucial Features of the Model: Structural Reform

Crucial Features of the Model: Faculty Exchanges as a Vehicle for Curricular Transformation

Exchanges as a Vehicle for Inter-Institutional Community

Implications for Faculty Development

A Grass Roots Model for Reform

References

Evaluating Structured Group Activities For The Large Class, John Stevenson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

I teach a 500-student introductory course in a large lecture hall with a microphone and an overhead projector. For many students this is a first semester course; often it is taken to fulfill a requirement although there is usually some interest in the subject matter (psychology). I am not a particularly charismatic speaker. From the back of the classroom I look antsize, and my voice rattles, disembodied, from the loudspeakers. Despite this, I want to use class time effectively to give students not only exposure to concepts but practice in using them. I believe memorized factual material will be of …

Using Field Methods As An Instructional Tool, Donald H. Wulff, Jody D. Nyquist

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Defining Field Methods as an Instructional Tool

Using Field Methods in a Speech Communication Course

Advantages of Using Field Methods as an Instructional Strategy

Guidelines

Objectives

Course Content

Other Instructional Strategies

Logistics

Methodology

Student Roles

Teacher Role

Summary

References

Additional Sources on Field Methods

Project Learn: Encouraging Innovation And Professional Growth Through Classroom Research, Kate Brooks

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Introduction

Origin and Design of Project Learn

Phase I. Pilot Study (Spring and Fall 1986)

Procedures and Results: First Semester

Procedures and Results: Second Semester

Conclusions from Phase I

Phase II. Data Collection in Additional Courses and Design of Classroom Research Process (Spring 1987)

Additional Data Collection

The Five-Step Research Process

Phase III. Implementation of Seven Faculty Projects (Fall 1987)

Interpretation of Results

Effectiveness of Specific Strategies

Effectiveness in Encouraging Faculty Development

Future Development of Classroom Research

References

Notes

Collaborating With Departmental Ta Coordinators: The Next Step?, Nancy Chism

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The Disadvantages of Sole Reliance on a TA Orientation Program

The Next Step

The Problems

Making It Work

References

Student Styles And Learning In Two College Of Business Courses, Blair Lord

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In teaching junior and senior finance and insurance courses, courses which must be applied in their emphasis, I think it important to concentrate on developing problem solving skills. Sometimes this means solving straight-forward, technical problems. At other times I focus on more open-ended managerial or public policy problems. While not wanting to foster a "technical school" mentality, the career orientation of business disciplines makes it appropriate to focus on developing the students' ability to apply course material. An ancillary benefit from this orientation is that it nurtures problem solving and analytical skills generally.

Part Iii Academic Life: Realities And Possibilities

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The first two articles in this section report results of intensive interview studies with dozens of faculty. Hageseth and Atkins note connections between the institutional context and the quality of faculty life. Sorcinelli documents the joys and frustrations of new faculty, and describes programs at her institution to support faculty during their first few years on campus.

Topics In Question: Active Learning Through Inquiry, Susan Lundvall Brodie

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Why are so many students poor questioners -- why do they lack habits and skills in so fundamental a human activity as inquiry? And why, if it is true that the best teaching capitalizes on students' natural curiosity, do so many students appear to lack the very gift we wish to tap?

Improving Teaching By Reflecting On Practice, Ronald Smith, Fred Schwartz

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Step 1. Identifying a Difficult Situation

Step 2. Generating Data

Step 3. Building the Diagnosis

Step 3a. Making Reasoning Explicit

Step 3b. Organizing the Reasoning

Step 4. Developing and Expanding the Diagnosis with K.

Step 5. Moving from Diagnosis to Action

Step 6. Surfacing Underlying Values

Step 7. Reframing the Situation

Our Reflections on Our Actions

Notes

Bibliography

Assessing Faculty Quality Of Life, Jon A. Hageseth, Sally S. Atkins

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Method

Results and Discussion

Institutional Mission

The Paradox of Teaching

Faculty Needs

Academic Leadership

Departmental Issues

Human Development Issues

Recommendations

Conclusion

References

On Being A Faculty Member Or Things Your Dissertation Adviser Never Told You, Richard W. Thompson, Jim Turner, Robert Boice

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Out of the Nest

Coping by Taking Charge

In Service to the Academy and Yourself

Students-The Pleasure of Their Company

The Power of the Professor

Sex and the College Professor

The Staff of Life

Relationship to the Department Chair

Potpourri

Is There Life After Office Hours?

A Postscript

References

Notes