Introduction k . pat ri c ia c ro s s
Remarkable changes have taken place in higher education since I began my lifelong career in education at Illinois State some 50 years ago. But two especially interesting changes have occurred within recent decades. This collection of studies by faculty at Illinois State University represents the leading edge of both of those changes. The first big change across the entire spectrum of higher education, from community colleges to research universities, is the emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning. Several lively streams merge to form that flowing river of change. First, the Carnegie Foundation (cfat), under the direction of Lee Shulman, provided worldwide leadership in making effective teaching a recognized form of scholarship. Second, the accrediting associations, under pressure from the public, are requiring evidence of student learning. Third, research on how students learn—and therefore what constitutes effective teaching—has made notable advances in fields as diverse as cognitive science, motivation, and lifelong learning. The second major change that is reflected in the scholarship of these papers is increasing faculty collegiality and collaboration across academic disciplines and geographic boundaries. The electronic age makes it easy and natural to communicate classroom practices and experiences to widely dispersed faculty who share a scholarly interest in teaching. The professional organization, pod (www.podnetwork.org), has more than 1,800 members, primarily in the United States and Canada but including faculty from 25 countries who maintain a very active listserve for sharing experiences and resources around issues of college teaching. The list enables individual faculty to 7