College Teaching Needs to Get Better Now

The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 5, 2010. College Teaching Needs to Get Better Now, Educators Warn by David Glenn.

The author discusses the emphasis of the White House to increase the proportion of Americans who can earn college degrees and the impact this may have on higher education. This topic was the major focus of at the annual conferenc of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

As stated in this article, "Effective assessment is critical to ensure that our colleges and universities are delivering the kinds of educational experiences that we believe we can actually provide to the students, said Richard Crutcher, president of Wheaton College." I believe that is the nuts and bolts of higher education and assessment.

The author pointed out how colleges may sidestep obstacles and motivating faculty. I thought this was especially interesting. We hear about faculty buy in weekly during our presentations and it appears to be a continuous theme.

I would believe that faculty would continue to improve their teaching on a regular basis and not become complacent in their teaching. The author touched on this briefly and stated that faculty members should not wait for some drastic restructuring before they try to improve their teaching.
I believe this article is relevant to all colleges and universities. We must provide a quality education and well worth the cost.