This article defines classroom research and classroom assessment within the higher education context. Classroom research is the study of learning by disciplinary faculty in their classrooms, whereas classroom assessment is one approach to classroom research using feedback from students. (MSE)

Rio Hondo Community College (California) combined elements of cooperative learning and classroom research to meet needs of a culturally diverse population. The effort is based on four principles: (1) creating a curriculum supporting diversity; (2) treating students as inexperienced adult learners; (3) promoting cooperative learning; and (4) using…

By carefully watching and listening to his students explain how they solved simple physics problems, one college instructor gained insight into how students visualize problems and developed techniques to help students change perspective more easily. Student metacognitive skills, student confidence, and student-teacher communication have also…

By combining modest stipends, contracts, well-structured training, instructional videotapes, individual consultations, written reports, and public recognition for faculty participants, the College of Marin (California) program in faculty classroom research has thrived. Although improved academic achievement has not been substantiated, several…

In one state university, an administrator, working closely with a small group of faculty, established a classroom research group which built on the successes and visibility of an existing campuswide faculty development program. The group won colleague acceptance by fostering interaction and cooperation across disciplines and following a patient…

The potential contribution of classroom research as a tool in the training of teaching assistants is explored. By collecting data on what students are learning in their classrooms, teachers can assess the effectiveness of their own teaching. (MLW)

Classroom research addresses the why and how of learning, encouraging teachers to use their classrooms as laboratories for the study of learning. At its best it involves students as collaborators rather than as subjects. Classroom research has the potential for creating teaching and learning communities with the shared goal of understanding…

Winthrop University (South Carolina) has linked classroom research with program accountability in its Learning Research Project, which focuses on general education. The pilot and implementation phases of the project are described, noting problems, frustrations, and rewards in each. The experiment has convinced administration and faculty that…

Research on group performance and student teaming is summarized, and a new classroom assessment technique for guiding and monitoring student teams is described. The model provides for early, midway, and summative assessment of collective effort and accounts for a range of social functions in the team environment. Results of this technique's use…

Adopting an inquiry approach to teaching by learning the techniques of classroom assessment can give an instructor a much clearer picture of how his teaching affects student learning. This chapter describes the approach and how it is being used in a variety of classrooms. (Author/MLW)

One educator's experience suggests that having graduate teaching assistants use classroom assessment techniques (CATs) in structured assignments is a good way to develop teaching assistants' ability to look beyond their classroom survival concerns in that it provides a safe way for them to engage students in dialogs about learning. Examples of…

Classroom assessment and classroom research in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is traced to 1989 when the terms entered the community-college faculty-development vocabulary. They are now household words among the 500 faculty participating regularly in faculty development. Problems encountered and positive results are…

Understanding the link between classroom assessment techniques (CATs) and cognitive learning theory not only allows college teachers to choose and design CATs that fit particular classroom needs, but helps them explicate to students the potential applications of CATs to study strategies in general. Once students make this leap, the effects of a…

A faculty development program that encourages faculty from different disciplines to engage in research on student cognition, motivation, and self-regulated learning in their own classrooms teaches theory as well as practice. The program has been well received by faculty and has also produced useful results for academic departments and the…