THE DEPARTMENT-WIDE APPROACH TO IMPROVING FACULTY INSTRUCTION IN HIGHER-EDUCATION - A QUALITATIVE EVALUATION

This study applies qualitative methods to evaluate a model for the imp rovement of university teaching. According to this model, a department al instruction specialist comprehensively treats issues concerning the quality of instruction within the department. This specialist gets to personally know all faculty members in need of teaching improvement a nd initiates preventive measures prior to the development of severe pr oblems in instruction. Two years of implementation in the Physics Depa rtment at Tel Aviv University have shown an increase in quality of ins truction and in faculty motivation and attitudes toward both instructi on and students, suggesting that this approach has potential for depar tment-wide teaching improvement. This article illustrates the complexi ties of the processes underlying teaching improvement, the longitudina l effort required to comprehensively improve instruction, and the reas ons for failure and success in these efforts.