
What drives change in the classroom? This special report looks at how six institutions encourage innovation in teaching. To choose them, we talked with our colleagues on the teaching beat and sought nominations on social media and through The Chronicle’s newsletters. Our choices reflect several key trends in academe: One large research university has a campuswide program to make its courses more engaging to students, and has lots of data on what works and what doesn’t. But innovation doesn’t always require a large budget or take place on a large scale. Other colleges use incentives that involve gamification, online seminars for online instructors, and even an accelerator approach that’s likelier to be found in the tech sector.
Not everyone believes incentives are the answer. A psychology professor and former administrator who has experience with efforts to shake up the classroom argues that motivation for change comes from intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards.
Whatever may drive innovation, plenty of it is in evidence in today’s college classrooms.
Go to the Chronicle Store to buy copies of the full report.
-
News
This University’s ‘Accelerator’ Tests New Ideas for Teaching — and It’s Working
Ohio University supplies resources to put proposals for transformation to the test. -
News
Want More Students to Study Abroad? Get the Faculty Involved
Baldwin Wallace University’s decision to expand its study-abroad offerings has led to some rare faculty-development opportunities, as professors develop close ties with counterparts in Zambia. -
News
How Purdue Professors Are Building More Active and Engaged Classrooms
A campuswide program to encourage new forms of teaching is helping reshape the undergraduate experience. -
News
Rice Eliminates the Red Tape to Encourage Research on Teaching
Professors essentially apply to join a study that’s already in progress, avoiding the institutional-review-board process that is described as “onerous.” -
News
Faculty Members Can Build Relationships With Online Students. Here’s How.
When she was first asked to create an online curriculum, Dana Grossman Leeman said no way. Learning she could bring a personal touch to the virtual classroom made her a convert. -
News
How to Draw Faculty to Workshops? Make It Like a Game
Awards like badges can get instructors more interested in teaching workshops, some campuses have found. But they don’t work everywhere. -
News
Why Incentives for Innovation Don’t Work
What’s needed to produce real change is intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, motivation. -
News
Here’s What Today’s Students Want From College
Institutions that use online survey data to group students into segments can personalize campus services and put themselves on stronger financial footing. -
News
We Must Help First-Generation Students Master Academe’s ‘Hidden Curriculum’
An experimental course exposes first-generation students to the unwritten rules and unspoken expectations of an elite university. -
News
Teaching With an Index Card: the Benefits of Free, Open-Source Tools
If colleges want to make good on their promises to prepare students for the world beyond the classroom, they should use methods that teach digital skills safely and ethically. -
Special Reports
How to Make Your Residence Halls Work Year-Round
If you’re planning a new building, consider design features that will help bring in income beyond the school year.