Improving College Teaching: A Critical Review of Research

Abstract

Studies of interventions to improve college teaching cluster in five categories: grants for faculty projects, workshops and seminars, feedback from student ratings, practice-based feedback (microteaching and minicourses), and concept-based training (protocols). Seventy-one reports provide 97 analyses of dependent variables that are presumably affected by these interventions. Most comparisons (78%) support the intervention being studied, although the support rate in only those studies in which we have high confidence is considerably lower (62%). More exploratory qualitative studies as well as more rigorous experimental investigations, perhaps involving cross-campus collaboration, are needed. Despite methodological flaws, available research can guide the design of teaching improvement programs, particularly those using student ratings feedback and concept-based training.