An annual publication of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, this 25th anniversary edition of To Improve the Academy focuses on contributing to and expanding the scholarship of educational development. Each chapter of this volume provides context and strategies for faculty and organizational development that advances student learning.
To Improve the Academy, Volume 25, offers a resource for innovating and meeting new challenges in higher education to faculty and instructional development staff, department chairs, deans, student services staff, chief academic officers, and educational consultants. Divided into five sections, the book covers topics such as
POD's ethical guidelines for educational developers
Educational development and sociological imagination, or the ability to connect individual experience to social structure
Paradigms for readers to consider, including critical theory and chaos theory
Educational development and the scholarship of teaching and learning
Specific practices and issues related to improving curriculum and instruction
Faculty development, vitality, and reward at different stages of the faculty career
The aim of the book—and POD as an organization—is to instill in educational developers a sense of responsibility for improving the quality of teaching and learning. This anniversary edition not only celebrates this value but also guides readers to a workable understanding of how to contribute to improvements in higher education.
Associate editor: Linda B. Nilson