April 2010 - Improving Teaching and Learning

In this issue we focus on some of the empirical evidence that suggests that, in general, postsecondary institutions need to improve the quality of teaching. With more emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning and other forms of leadership in this field, universities are moving away from traditional forms of teaching.

Podcasts - Changing Teaching Practice

An podcast interview with Dr. Christopher Knapper by Dr. Maureen Wideman

Play it / hear it - MP3 - 16 minutes

Factors Contributing to Improved Teaching Performance
by Whitney Ransom McGowan and Charles R. Graham

This article discusses what more than 200 faculty members at one university had done over a three-year period to make improvements in their teaching. The top three factors include: active learning, teacher/student interactions, and clear learning outcomes.

Available from the UOIT Library.

The Search for Authentic Practice Across the Disciplinary Divide
by Greg Knotts, Lynette Henderson, Ronald A. Davidson and John D. Swain

This article focusses on the work completed by four first-year university faculty members as they evaluated their teaching philosophies, strategies and roles as educators and researchers. They identified four elements of authentic teaching and learning that crossed disciplinary boundaries.

Available from the UOIT Library.

Learning about university teaching: reflections on a research study investigating influences for change
by Angela M. Pickering

This article reflects on a study into the process of change in teaching practices. It found that the lecturers' own experiences "disturb" core beliefs and provide a basis for adjustments in their sense of what is possible, plausible and desirable.

Available from the UOIT Library.

Other Resources:

Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, edited by Julia Christensen Hughes and Joy Mighty. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010.

What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004.

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Contact is produced by the Office of the Associate Provost,Academic, University of Ontario Institute of Technology.