Provides an annotated bibliography of seven ERIC documents on teacher effectiveness, including documents that profile teacher excellence, describe faculty development efforts, and act as forums for the discussion of teaching and learning. (MAB)

Provides a review of the literature on learning resources center (LRC) involvement in bibliographic instruction, developmental education, subject-oriented instruction, computer literacy, computer-assisted instruction, telecourses, and instructional support and development. (DMM)

Reviews documents from the ERIC junior colleges collection dealing with the predominant interdisciplinary teaching methods used in community colleges, and the application of interdisciplinary approaches to general, vocational, and developmental education. Suggests that interdisciplinary studies enhance the quality of community college education.…

This report examines the importance of learning communities within institutions of higher education. It identifies two important dimensions of learning communities: (1) primary membership, which differentiates based on the characteristic that group members hold in common; these include learning organizations, faculty learning communities, and…

The relationship between cognitive development and problem-solving skills is discussed. One approach for improving students' problem-solving skills rests in the application of cognitive development theories to instruction. Instructional strategies that facilitate cognitive development can be categorized into two groups: instruction that challenges…

This Digest focuses on the teaching of Spanish to U.S. Hispanic bilinguals at the university level. Traditionally, Spanish has been taught as a second or foreign language in the United States, and little attention has been given to developing and coordinating well designed and carefully articulated programs for Hispanic bilingual students of…

Based on a longer report with the same title, this digest summarizes what college faculty can do to improve their teaching. It maintains that faculty need to stop viewing college teaching as "covering the content" and start viewing it as "helping students learn." To help faculty achieve such an instructional transformation,…

Efforts in higher education to use students as teachers (peer teaching), thus providing them with the benefits traditionally enjoyed by professors are described. Four sections focus on the following: (1) peer teaching and the psychological basis for its benefits (cognitive level, affective level, and peer learning); (2) types of peer teaching used…

Communications technologies have the potential to transform the educational process. In the community college context, these technologies have the power to change the the roles of faculty. On one hand, these changes might mean a reduction in the number and status of teachers. On the other hand, communications technologies may afford teachers…

Courses designed to teach problem-solving and creativity, which are relatively new additions to college curricula, are discussed, along with their intellectual foundations and research on these two processes. The teaching of these processes involves the following course goals: teaching a specific subject, generally useful skills, and professional…

This digest discusses the use of teaching portfolios in higher education, in light of recent criticisms of faculty teaching productivity and the reward structure of universities. Teaching portfolios can be defined as vehicles for documenting teaching (with an emphasis on demonstrating excellence), empowering professors to gain dominion over their…

This report presents a collection of teaching models to help college faculty improve their teaching. Six categories of teaching models are presented: (1) assessment and feedback models, including the Classroom Assessment model created by Angelo and Cross and already widely used among community college faculty; (2) discussion and sharing models,…

This ERIC digest looks at how college faculty can use cooperative learning principles to ensure that students actively create their own knowledge and work together to achieve shared learning goals. The first section describes cooperative learning and recommends training professors to apply an overall system to build cooperative activities,…

Successful college instruction programs have two features that are associated with increased grade point averages and retention: (1) they are comprehensive and meet student needs, and (2) they are better institutionalized into the academic mainstream of the college or university. Several program characteristics are crucial to learning improvement,…

The literature on college instruction reached a peak in 1996, one reason being that this topic relates to the larger discussion about the changing role of higher education and to faculty members' changing priorities. Trends identified include the integration of technology into instruction; an emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching and learning;…