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Faculty Development Home l
Case Study Home l
List of TLT Cases l
Discussion Guide l
Criteria for
New Cases An
assistant professor has redesigned a course. A
typical class meeting now consists of lots of work on
projects, and lots of small group discussion. The
professor's lectures are brief. During the class meetings,
the professor spends much of his time wandering around the
room, providing coaching. If there are technical problems,
or if a new resource is needed unexpectedly, the professor
sometimes has to leave the classroom for a while to deal
with the problem. As the term
near its end, the professor is extremely happy with what the
students have learned. The problems were challenging, the
discussions vigorous, and the products are (almost) as good
as had been hoped.
But then something
disturbing, perhaps disastrous, occurs.
Previously this assistant professor has relied mainly on
lecture, and is accustomed to getting high ratings on the
end-of-term student rating form. But this term the
ratings fall substantially, jeopardizing chances for tenure
and promotion. Some students didn't believe the faculty
member was working hard enough: he wasn't lecturing, just
standing around, and sometimes he wasn't in the room.
That wasn't the way the professor saw his "guide on the
side" role, but...
For more on someone who faced this problem,
and how he responded,
click here. |
