Teaching in U.S. Higher Education

At the most basic level, teaching can be understood as the set of instructional practices and strategies educators use toward student learning. There are many ways to conceptualize teaching in higher education. For example, one might envision a professor lecturing to a large group of students, facilitating an intimate Socratic seminar, or even coaching students through a lab experiment. There are also many factors that affect faculty decision-making regarding pedagogy. Research shows that teachers use a wide variety of affective, cognitive, political, and sociological tools to inform their teaching practice. This breadth makes teaching an exciting yet complex phenomenon to study. This entry discusses research on teaching in higher education, teacher qualifications and roles, and professional development and other efforts to strengthen teaching practices, with ...