College Teaching at its Best:Recognizing Good Practice and

Supporting Your FacultyDavid Langley, Director

Center for Teaching and LearningUniversity of Minnesota

Purpose of the Presentation

Instructional Level: recognize solid teaching practices in your

faculty in relation to the best collegeteachers in the United States

Administrative Level: examine the value of informational and

transformational professional developmentas levers for change in your department

The Power ofInstructional Habits

Our preferred way of teaching can becomea “rut” or deeply engrained habit that maybe difficult to change.

Building New Habits

Research on expert teachers providesguidelines that can help all professorsdevelop new teaching habits

Teacher Knowledge The best college teachers know their

content deeply; they also optimize the roleof examples to strengthen a student’sunderstanding of difficult concepts

Student Learning

Expert teachers view the outcome of studentlearning as the ability to perform in a settingthat matters –being able to solve problems in“real life” settings.

Course Design

Expert teachers design their course arounda small number of key, significantquestions or tasks.

Examples of Key Questions

BIOL 2002 Foundations of BiologyHow does evolution serve as a centralunifying concept in biology?

ANTH 1005 Introduction to CulturalDiversityHow can diversity be understood through thelens of “culture”?

PHIL 1005 Scientific ReasoningWhat tools of scientific reasoning can be usedto evaluate the validity of informationpresented through popular media?

Core Ideas on Expectations forStudents

Expert teachers have ambitious, highstandards for students but also provideinstructional support to help studentssucceed.

Core Ideas on Conducting Class The best college teachers:

use a conversational tone of voice

are clear and organized as speakers

Conducting Class Expert teachers do not believe one teaching method is

superior to others, but all methods must capturestudents’ attention and engage them.

Examples of Active StudentEngagement During Class

PERFORMING skills needed to be asuccessful professional, such as:

1. taping an ankle sprain in an athletictraining lab course

2. performing a piano recital in a musiceducation course

3. analyzing soil samples in a plant biologycourse

4. writing a literary analysis of a text in a worldliterature course

5. solving an equation in a calculus course

Discussion Break #1

Challenges facing department chairson teaching (handout)

Teacher/Student Relationships

The best college teachers have deep trustin each student’s ability to learn.

The best college teachers are invested in thelives, careers, and development of theirstudents.

What Do Students Value inTheir Teachers?

Credibility—the teacher has knowledge and wisdomthat will benefit the student significantly

Authenticity—the teacher is trustworthy, open, andhonest in helping students learn

Informational andTransformational Professional

Development in Your Dept.

Informational ProfessionalDevelopment

Goal--improve the pedagogical skills andcapabilities of faculty

Transformational ProfessionalDevelopment

Goal—long term impact on the beliefs,values, and attitudes of faculty toward theirteaching practice

Effective TransformationalPD Programs

Build on the existing belief systems of faculty Help faculty develop an explicit rationale for

practice by uncovering assumptions

The Power of Insight forFacilitating Change

Significant changes in neural networks and in behavioroccur when we focus attention on “moments ofinsight” that we have generated.

Discussion Break #2

What is the smallest change you can make in yourdepartment that will have a noticeable effect onimproving faculty teaching?