Rethinking Teaching in Higher Education: From a Course Design Workshop to a Faculty Development Framework

by Saroyan, Alenoush; Amundsen, Cheryl

• ISBN13: 9781579220471
• ISBN10: 1579220479
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Stylus Pub Llc

Summary

This book is intended for faculty and faculty developers, as well as for deans, chairs, and directors responsible for promoting teaching and learning in higher education. Intentionally non-technical, it engages readers reflectively with a process for developing teaching and details the planning necessary to apply this process to teaching within disciplines. The book centers on McGill University's week-long Course Design and Teaching Workshop that the contributors have offered together for more than ten years. It follows the five day format of the workshop'covering the analysis of course content, conceptions of learning, the selection of appropriate teaching strategies, the evaluation of student learning, and evaluation of teaching'in a way that reflects the spontaneity of the debates it has engendered and the workshop's evolutionary changes. The structure shows faculty members conceptualizing new courses or re-examining their teaching of existing courses, and translating the insights gained from the workshop to specific disciplinary content and learning outcomes. In addition four previous participants of the workshop write about its influence on their personal thinking about the practice of teaching. The final two chapters describe the structure and evolving role of McGill's Centre for University Teaching and Learning. The authors describe its objectives in fostering an evidence-based teaching culture and providing a practical support structure with limited resources. They highlight achievements in disseminating teaching expertise across their campus, and their vision for the future role of faculty development. This book provides faculty developers and administrators with valuable non-prescriptive models and challenging ideas that promote faculty development in general and university teaching in particular. It engages faculty members in the process of course design in a way that is learning centered and can lead to deep student learning.

Author Biography

Cheryl Amundsen is associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia Susan Cowan is the Teaching Improvement Counsellor at the McGill Centre for University Teaching and Learning Janet Donald is professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University Myron Frankman, although an economist by training and academic appointment, is a committed interdisciplinarian. He has been affiliated with McGill's Centre for Developing Area Studies since 1967 Terry Gandell is assistant professor at the Centre for University Teaching and Learning and Associate Member in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University Dik Harris has been a professor in the Physics Department at McGill for more than thirty years Ralph Harris is professor of Engineering in the Department of Mining, Metals and Materials and has been at McGill since 1981 Richard Janda is associate professor at the Faculty of Law of McGill University Lynn McAlpine is professor of Education and presently the Director of CUTL Alenoush Saroyan is associate professor of educational psychology and member of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning at McGill University Cynthia Weston is professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and a member of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning at McGill Laura R. Winer spent three years at CUTL as assistant professor and is currently Senior Educational Technologist in the Office of the Deputy Provost and CIO at McGill University

Table of Contents

TABLES	v
FIGURES	vii
PREFACE	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xiii
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKSHOP	1	(30)
1. THE COURSE DESIGN AND TEACHING WORKSHOP: WHY AND WHAT?	3	(12)
Alenoush Saroyan, Cheryl Amundsen, Cynthia Weston, Lynn McAlpine, Laura Winer Susan Cowan, and Terry Gandell
2. ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES	15	(16)
Alenoush Saroyan, Cheryl Amundsen, Lynn McAlpine, Cynthia Weston, Laura Winer, and Terry Gandell
PART II: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE WORKSHOP	31	(100)
3. ANALYSIS OF COURSE CONTENT	33	(20)
Cheryl Amundsen, Alenoush Saroyan, and Janet Donald
4. CLARIFYING LEARNING	53	(18)
Janet Donald
5. DESIGNING TEACHING FOR STUDENT LEARNING	71	(24)
Cheryl Amundsen, Laura Winer, and Terry Gandell
6. EVALUATING STUDENT LEARNING	95	(20)
Cynthia Weston and Lynn McAlpine
7. THE FINAL STEP: EVALUATION OF TEACHING	115	(16)
Alenoush Saroyan, Cynthia Weston, Lynn McAlpine, and Susan Cowan
PART III: REFLECTIONS OF FOUR WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS	131	(74)
8. IMPACT OF THE COURSE DESIGN AND TEACHING WORKSHOP	133	(20)
Ralph Harris
9. THE DEVELOPERS' APPRENTICES	153	(16)
Myron J. Frankman
10. THE CHALLENGE TO UNLEARN TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE	169	(18)
Richard (dik) Harris
11. TEACHING BETWEEN THE CRACKS	187	(18)
Richard Janda
PART IV: FACULTY DEVELOPMENT: THE BROADER PICTURE	205	(46)
12. TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT	207	(26)
Lynn McAlpine and Alenoush Saroyan
13. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES: CASE DESCRIPTIONS FROM MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING	233	(18)
Lynn McAlpine, Alenoush Saroyan, and Laura Winer
APPENDICES	251	(12)
INDEX	263	(6)
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS	269