We all know that classroom conflict is part of the teaching and learning process, but it is not often that we can find a window into the classrooms of others and get a sense of their experience. An article entitled “How Do Faculty Experience and Respond to Classroom Conflict?” in the open access International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2006, Volume 18, Number 3, 180-187) provides some insight.

The article (available as a pdf) was written by Steven A. Meyers, James Bender and Shantha Y. Thomas from Roosevelt University and their colleague Erin K. Hill from the Harvard Medical School. The authors present descriptive data about the nature and correlates of classroom conflict using a national sample of 226 psychology faculty members. They differentiated two different types of conflict, inattentive versus hostile, in the survey. Levels of conflict were not associated with instructors’ demographic traits or characteristics of their courses, but were related to professors’ choice of teaching methods, their demeanor, and how they responded to challenging situations. They also found that those conflict management techniques that address the relationship between faculty and students were most effective in reducing conflict.

Co-author Steven Meyers, Illinois Professor of the Year for 2007-2008, has also discussed some of his own approaches to managing classroom conflict in an earlier article in College Teaching. See: Meyers, S. A. (2003). Strategies to prevent and reduce conflict in college classrooms. College Teaching, 51, 94-98. 

Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge is a freely available book of essays by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. Published by MIT Press in Sept. of 2008. Get it here.

Faculty developing a new course or modifying an old one might want to have a look at the Phoebe project. The aim of the project  is to guide practitioners working in higher education in designing effective and pedagogically sound learning activities. The project, based at Oxford University, has developed a prototype online planning tool known as the Phoebe Pedagogic Planner that offers users both flexible and guided paths through the planning process and encourages them to explore new approaches and tools in their pedagogy. The design guidance is provided via a wiki-like tool that offers content and explanations that help structure the course development experience. 

I was very inspired and pleased with the turnout at the faculty conference, Three Things We Need to Talk About, last Friday, October 31. This event was co-hosted by The Office of the Provost, General Education Oversight Committee, and our office (the OTL). The fact that over 100 faculty turned out for this event to talk about important teaching and learning issues on our campus indicates that there is a desire to keep having these kinds of discussions. It’s always energizing to hear faculty and colleagues talk passionately about teaching and how we can keep working towards improvement. I look forward to many more of these discussions in the future. The group is planning on meeting again on December 11 (that’s WSU’s study day), so mark your calendars now!