Research and Papers
IDEA Papers
The following IDEA Papers may provide some useful ideas related to teaching and faculty evaluation. The PDFs can be viewed below or, if unavailable online, they can be ordered from The IDEA Center.
53 - Active Learning Strategies in Face-to-Face Courses
Barbara J. Millis, University of Texas at San Antonio
As numerous research studies suggest, teachers who desire increased student learning should adopt active learning. This article explores the research, defines active learning, discusses its value,...
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52 - Considerations in Online Course Design
Paul A. Creasman, Ph.D., Arizona Christian University
With distance and online learning becoming ubiquitous in higher education, the need for faculty to be able to create quality online courses is greater than ever. This article offers practical advice...
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51 - Using Graphic Organizers to Improve Teaching and Learning
Kenneth A. Kiewra, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Students often have difficulty learning from texts and lectures because information is commonly organized in blocks or lines that obscure important relationships among ideas. This article introduces...
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50 - Student Ratings of Teaching: A Summary of Research and Literature
Stephen L. Benton, The IDEA Center; William E. Cashin, Emeritus professor, Kansas State University
This IDEA Paper is an update of IDEA Paper No. 32 Student Ratings of Teaching: The Research Revisited (Cashin, 1995). Much of the content of IDEA Paper No. 32 is retained where no subsequently...
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49 - Effective Classroom Discussions
William E. Cashin, Professor Emeritus, Kansas State University
What is a discussion? No one seems to define it. Lowman (1995, p. 159) suggested: “(A) useful classroom discussion...consists of student comments separated by frequent probes and clarifications by...
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IDEA Paper No. 44
The Learning Portfolio: A Powerful Idea for Significant Learning, Zubizarreta
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IDEA Paper No. 43
The Technology Literate Professoriate: Are We There Yet?, Madigan: Online Resources
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IDEA Paper No. 42
Integrated Course Design, Fink- For additional information on this topic see Dee Fink's book "Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses" available...
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IDEA Paper No. 36
Appraising Teaching Effectiveness: Beyond Student Ratings, Hoyt and Pallett
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IDEA Paper No. 32
IDEA Paper 32 has been updated. Please see IDEA Paper 50, Student Ratings of Teaching: A Summary of Research and Literature.
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IDEA Paper No. 26
Improving Student Reading, Maleki and Heerman This paper is not available for download. Please contact The IDEA Center to request a hard copy.
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IDEA Paper No. 25
IDEA Paper 25, Improving Student Writing by David Smit has been updated. Please see IDEA Paper 48, Strategies to Improve Student Writing.
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IDEA Paper No. 18
Matching Instructional Objectives, Subject Matter, Tests, and Score Interpretations, Hanna and Cashin
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IDEA Paper No. 15
IDEA Paper 15, Improving Discussions by Bill Cashin and Philip McKnight has been updated. Please see IDEA Paper 49, Effective Classroom Discussions.
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IDEA Paper No. 14
IDEA Paper 14, Improving Lectures by Bill Cashin has been updated. Please see IDEA Paper 46, Effective Lecturing.
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IDEA Paper No. 8
Questioning in the College Classroom, Hyman This paper is not available for download. Please contact The IDEA Center to request a hard copy.
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IDEA Paper No. 4
Classroom Observation Techniques, Acheson This paper is not available for download. Please contact The IDEA Center to request a hard copy.