U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  P I T T S B U R G H

March, 2002 

The National Teaching and Learning Forum:
A Conversation About Teaching

In 1991, the National Teaching and Learning Forum (NTLF) teamed up with the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education with an innovative vision: to create a bimonthly newsletter that would offer educators an engaging mix of learning theory and practical advice on teaching. Founder and Executive Editor of the NTLF, James Rhem, says, “Teaching is taken seriously only when the conversation becomes more interesting, and faculty begin talking to each other about it. In a world of fast-food encounters and breathless busy-ness, the National Teaching and Learning Forum has managed to create a sustained and sustaining conversation about teaching and learning.” The critically acclaimed NTLF continues to explore a wide variety of cross-disciplinary topics, and currently provides educators at Pitt with an opportunity to join this ongoing conversation about teaching. Recent issues have featured the following articles:


The Future: The Changing World of Faculty Work

As college enrollments continue to increase, technological innovations become part of both teaching and research. As a result, cross-disciplinary collaboration gains more prominent focus while higher education enters a major transitional period. These changes will be deep and fundamental and will have a profound impact on the professional lives and work of faculty. Faculty and administrators are called upon to recognize, understand, and respond to the challenges facing the future of higher education.

Radical Course Revision: A Case Study

In order to more effectively motivate and engage students, drastic measures, such as rigorous, critical thinking and reflection about one’s own teaching, are sometimes needed. The steps of rebuilding a course from the ground up (rethinking course design entirely, and adapting principles of learning theory) can all lead to tremendous success in the classroom, both for the instructor and for the students.

The NTLF newsletter is available on the CIDDE Website at www.pitt.edu/~ntlforum.

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Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education
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