40 Years Later: Have Faculty Perspectives on Teaching Changed?

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Emotions, Attitudes, and Practices: Investigating Faculty Teaching

Abstract

Based on a large-scale survey of faculty at the University of Nebraska, Cross (1976) reported that higher education would be unlikely to see changes in teaching practices due to prevailing faculty perceptions that teaching “is already quite good” (p. 12). Using a Type II replication research design, we ask: was Cross’s prediction accurate? And, are there differences between research versus teaching focused universities? Parallel surveys of faculty at a research university (N=514) and a teaching university (N=178) reveal that faculty today continue to hold eerily similar perspectives as Cross reported in 1976. However, several differences have emerged between faculty at teaching versus research institutions regarding their perceived primary academic roles, particular ways of improving teaching, and motivations for teaching improvement.

Authors

• Erika Elizabeth Smith, Mount Royal University

• Heather A. Kanuka, University of Alberta

• Robert Luth, University of Alberta