Page 288 - Crisis in Higher Education

Reshaping Faculty’s Role • 259

12.1 TEACHING TEACHERS HOW TO TEACH
In a knowledge-intensive world, it is essential to have efficient, produc-
tive, and high-quality methods to deliver the best ideas, techniques,
critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and other knowhow.
The methods must include the elements described earlier: curriculum
content, pedagogy, and assessment. PhD programs deliver content effec-
tively, but the time spent on pedagogy and assessment is typically mini-
mal to none. Contractual faculty and graduate teaching assistants are
usually deficient in pedagogy and assessment unless they have teaching
experience.
The following sections describe a process for training full-time faculty,
who may be tenured, contractual faculty who may be full- or part-time,
and graduate teaching assistants. Before moving to these sections, there
are at four points that are common for all types of faculty.

1. Evaluations: Faculty members should be subject to evaluation by
students as described in Chapter 7. When problems are identified in
this or any other way, they would be confirmed by master teachers
who work with the faculty to prepare an improvement plan. A mas-
ter teacher is a senior faculty member who has been recognized for
high-quality teaching.
2. Center for teaching: Universities must have such institutes that work
with faculty and support continuous instructional improvement.
3. Teaching seminars: Newly hired faculty with limited teaching expe-
rience must participate in seminars led by master teachers who
describe teaching expectations and practices. Existing faculty, who
are identified as having difficulty teaching, would use these services
as well.
4. Teaching improvement funds: To improve teaching, faculty should
have access to funds to attend seminars, acquire technologies, and
learn new instructional methods.

12.1.1 Supporting Full-Time, Tenured Faculty
to Become Better Teachers
Efforts to help tenure-track faculty improve their teaching should begin
in PhD programs and continue until the end of their careers. There are