Advancing the Culture of Teaching on Campus

Written by the director and staff of the first, and one of the largest, teaching centers in American higher education the University of Michigans Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) this book offers a unique perspective on the strategies for making a teaching center integral to an institutions educational mission. It presents a comprehensive vision for running a wide range of related programs, and provides faculty developers elsewhere with ideas and material to prompt reflection on the management and practices of their centers whatever their size and on how best to create a culture of teaching on their campuses. Given that only about a fifth of all U.S. postsecondary institutions have a teaching center, this book also offers a wealth of ideas and models for those administrators who are considering the development of new centers on their campuses.

Constance Cook has served as Executive Director of CRLT since 1993. She was named Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs in 2006. Prior to becoming the Director of CRLT, Connie was the executive assistant to the president of the University of Michigan and, from 1987-1990, Connie was coordinator of the FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) Comprehensive Program at the U.S. Department of Education. Before going to Washington, Connie was an associate professor at Albion College, where she chaired the political science department. At CRLT, her focus is on institutional transformation (i.e., creating a culture of teaching at a research university), a topic on which she has been writing and lecturing for more than a decade. Her scholarship concerns strategies for pedagogical improvement (e.g., action research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, curricular reform, and multicultural teaching and learning). As Executive Director, Connie coordinates new initiatives at CRLT and represents both CRLT and the broader University community on issues of teaching and learning. She also coordinates professional development programs for international higher education leaders. Connie is Clinical Professor of Higher Education at the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, as well as adjunct associate professor of political science. She received her B.A. from Barnard College, her M.A. from The Pennsylvania State University, and her Ph.D. from Boston University-all in political science. Her two books concern American political interest groups: Lobbying for Higher Education: How Colleges and Universities Influence Federal Policy (Vanderbilt University Press, 1998), and Nuclear Power and Legal Advocacy: The Environmentalists and the Courts (D.C. Heath/Lexington Books, 1980). Matthew Kaplan Kaplan is CRLT's managing director. He focuses on university-wide initiatives (e.g., Provost's Seminars on Teaching, assessment and re-accredi

FOREWORD Lester P. Monts INTRODUCTION CRLT and Its Role at the University of Michigan Constance E. Cook PART ONE. LEADERSHIP AND CORE FUNCTIONS 1. LEADING A TEACHING CENTER Constance E. Cook 2. MEASURING A TEACHING CENTER'S EFFECTIVENESS Mary C. Wright 3. FORGING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FACULTY AND ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATORS Constance E. Cook and Deborah S. Meizlish 4. CONSULTATIONS ON TEACHING Using Student Feedback for Instructional Improvement Cynthia J. Finelli, Tershia Pinder-Grover, and Mary C. Wright 5. GRADUATE PEER TEACHING CONSULTANTS Expanding the Center's Reach Tershia Pinder-Grover, Mary C. Wright, and Deborah S. Meizlish 6. APPROACHES TO PREPARING FUTURE FACULTY FOR TEACHING Chad Hershock, Christopher R. Groscurth, and Stiliana Milkova PART TWO. SPECIAL EMPHASES AT CRLT 7. THE ROLE OF A TEACHING CENTER IN CURRICULAR REFORM AND ASSESSMENT Constance E. Cook, Deborah S. Meizlish, and Mary C. Wright 8. STRENGTHENING DIVERSITY THROUGH FACULTY DEVELOPMENT Crisca Bierwert 9. ENGAGING FACULTY IN EFFECTIVE USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY Erping Zhu, Matthew Kaplan, and Charles Dershimer 10. ACTION RESEARCH FOR INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT Chad Hershock, Constance E. Cook, Mary C. Wright, and Christopher O'Neal 11. ROLE-PLAY AND BEYOND Strategies for Incorporating Theatre Into Faculty Development Matthew Kaplan and Jeffrey Steiger CONCLUSION Responding to Challenges Faced by Teaching Centers at Research Universities Matthew Kaplan with contributions from. Terry Aladjem, Lori Breslow, Susanna Calkins, Deborah DeZure, Robyn Dunbar, Jean C. Florman, Marne Helgesen, Alan Kalish, David Langley, Gregory Light, Angela Linse, Michele Marincovich, Joan Middendorf, Allison Pingree, William C. Rando, Mary Deane Sorcinelli, Kathy Takayama, Pratibha Varma-Nelson, Suzanne Weinstein, and Mary-Ann Winkelmes REFERENCES ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS INDEX