It is argued in this book that postsecondary instructors have to improve their performance in the classroom not only by achieving a better understanding of how teachers teach, but also of how learners learn. Most postsecondary teachers are well trained in their disciplines, but few have received formal training in how to teach or have acquired an…

The clinic process might best be characterized as a systematic interchange between an outside observer (a teaching consultant) and a faculty client for the purpose of identifying and improving teaching strengths and weaknesses. This guide to the clinic process presents materials grouped according to the stage of the teaching improvement process in…

Presents 16 steps to improve instructional quality at the university level. There are steps for teaching fellows, junior faculty, senior faculty, and building incentives to sustain good teaching. The article notes each step alone will not make a great impact, but together they can alter the campus environment. (SM)

Critical evaluation of teaching and the devices through which teachers try to increase their self-critical abilities and to improve their work are addressed. Focus is on videotaping technologies that enable teachers to act, step back and observe, and then analyze their work. (JMD)

The Professional Development Plan of Lansing Community College for 1977-78 begins with a statement of goals and objectives for college development activities, followed by general program proposals. Specific plans are then presented for the professional development laboratory and office, and the divisions of applied arts and sciences, arts and…

The document presents a point-based faculty professional development plan initiated by Alvin Community College (Texas). A list of activities and their respective point values are utilized by faculty members to document professional growth and development, with a thirty point minimum for the academic year necessary for advancement to the next…

Effective teacher evaluation rests on the discovery of the essence of teaching excellence. It is important to evaluate the essence of great teaching from as many perspectives as possible. Incompetent administrators make an effective teaching program impossible. To improve the teacher evaluation process, first look at the administrator evaluation…

The clinic process for teaching improvement is a systematic process based on the needs of individual faculty participants. It includes the identification of specific instructional strengths and problem areas. In addition to using consultation with a teaching specialist, the process uses a student questionnaire called Teaching Analysis By Students…

Professional development is an essential part of effective organizations, challenging policymakers and educators to create conditions conducive to student and teacher learning in each school. Tennessee's State Board of Education adopted a policy, consistent with the Education Improvement Act, pertaining to professional development which provides a…

The guide focuses on short-term faculty development programs for allied health faculty located in health care facilities and academic institutions. The instructional improvement program may be conducted for faculty from one allied health discipline or from across a number of disciplines. The guide (1) provides the philosophical framework for…

This conference presentation describes study groups as a mechanism for changing teacher behavior. The history of study groups is discussed, beginning with the first American study groups organized by Benjamin Franklin; the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle; the waning of study groups in the early 20th century as college enrollment…

This handbook documents efforts to promote the professional development school (PDS) concept at Western Michigan University (WMU) and examines how a university might initiate the restructuring process for teacher education and collabaorate with a local school district through the establishment of a PDS. It discusses the underlying principles of…

The contents of this guide, adopted for a one-year pilot study, include: standard operating procedures for the faculty development/effectiveness document (performance and evaluation contract); instructions and forms for evaluating effectiveness in teaching, administrative duties, and professional activities; and a faculty…

The Southern Regional Education Board administered a three-year Faculty Development in Nursing Education Project. Its three objectives were (1) to provide opportunities for faculty to improve their abilities to identify learning problems; study alternative learning strategies; present instruction appropriate to the learning types of students; and…