PTSP Task Forces - 1996
Each
President's Teaching Scholar is a member of one of the four currently
operating task forces, each representing a Presidential initiative
for the improvement of teaching and learning. Below are the titles
of the individual task forces followed by a list of their members
as well as a summary of a recent occasional paper prepared by each
task force:
- Examining
the Core Curriculum: Rex Burns (Chair), Jack Kelso, John
Taylor, Michael Grant, Leslie Burrows
Paper
summary: The task force prepared a list of topics concerning
the concept of a core curriculum that were worthy of debate.
Below are some of the issues raised in their paper:
-
If there is to be a core curriculum, should it be a system-wide,
a campus-wide, or a college-wide curriculum?
-
Should the stated aim of the core curriculum be the inculcation
of learning skills or the production of a "broadly educated
person"?
-
Should core courses introduce students to the history and
aims of a discipline or should they "demonstrate and
explore the discipline's method so that students can appreciate
the pertinence and general importance of that kind of approach
to knowledge"?
-
Concerning the scope of core courses, should they be a broad
introduction to a subject area (sciences, social sciences,
humanities) or concentrate on specific skill areas (computational
ability, writing, critical thinking)?
-
Should there be a mechanism for evaluating the performance
of the core curriculum, such as a general examination for
sophomores or conditional passing before attaining upper division
status?
-
What effect would a core curriculum have on freshman and transfer
student entrance requirements?
- First-Year
Seminars: Clayton Lewis (Chair), Dale Meyer, Anne Costain,
Jerry Flack, Lee Chambers-Schiller, Douglas Burger
Paper
summary: First-year seminars will be offered on the
Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver campuses starting in the
Fall 1992 semester. Teaching Scholars will teach some of the
Boulder seminars using guidelines worked out last year by a
group of Boulder scholars and influenced by the seminar taught
during Spring 1992 by Marty Bickman and Mary Ann Shea. Many
issues connected with these seminars need to be explored, including:
-
What are the goals of the first-year seminars and how will
the seminars address these goals?
-
Can these goals be met by other kinds of activities, such
as research apprenticeships?
-
How should seminars for first-year students differ from seminars
for other students?
-
Are there ways in which first-year seminars can contribute
to significant changes in the pattern of education?
-
Could the seminars be linked to residence as a way of promoting
intellectually oriented social groups?
- Faculty
Development Program for Assistant Professors: James Palmer
and Mary Ann Shea (Co-Chairs), Robert Averbach, William Krantz,
Robert Pois, Norton Steuben, Klaus Timmerhaus, Barbara Swaby,
Michael Cummings, Martin Bickman, Ronald Melicher, Richard VanDeWeghe,
and Frederick Coolidge.
Paper
summary: The projected program for in-coming new faculty
would have three long-term benefits: 1) to impress on new faculty
the importance of teaching in the university's operations; 2)
to offer pedagogical knowledge and skills to foster the participants'
ongoing development as teachers; and 3) to create among new
faculty a sense of community based on a discussion of teaching
and the need for collaborative efforts to make it truly excellent.
Also in the paper, the task force raised the following issues
for discussion:
-
Should the Faculty Development Program for Assistant Professors
be voluntary or mandatory?
-
Should a stipend/honorarium be paid to participants and presenters
in the Program?
-
Should there be a "New Faculty Retreat" each May
to serve as a "capstone experience" of faculty members'
first year as university instructors?
-
Should there be a series of ongoing symposia on teaching throughout
the academic year as support for new faculty?
-
Should departmental efforts to assist new faculty--such as
mentoring and team teaching--be incorporated into this program?
- Evaluation
and Compensation of Teaching: Laura Goodwin (Chair),
James Burkhart, John Mays, Ed Rivers, Clyde Tucker, Donald Warrick
Paper
summary: The task force issued a "general message"
saying, "We encourage innovativeness and flexibility in
the evaluation and compensation of teaching, and we need to
discipline ourselves (as a University community) to make the
evaluation process 'user-friendly.'" More specifically,
the task force made a number of recommendations in several areas
as part of a review of the entire process of evaluating and
compensating teaching. Some of their more innovative recommendations
were:
-
New teaching faculty should be required to attend "a
one-day seminar dealing with teaching methods, philosophy,
and excellence in teaching."
-
Each candidate for tenure and/or promotion should submit a
teaching portfolio.
-
Peer reviewers should be chosen based on "a demonstrated
commitment to teaching excellence and awareness of teaching
methodologies."
-
The university should establish endowed chairs for teaching
excellence as well as a program of "Distinguished Teaching
Professorships."
-
Search committees for administrators should give "strong
consideration" to candidates who have "demonstrated
a commitment to teaching."
-
Teaching and research should be equally valued and compensated.
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