IMPROVING TEACHING AND LEARNING RELATIONSHIPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION WITH THE JUDICIOUS PROFESSOR

• Published in: International journal of university teaching and faculty development 2012-01, Vol.3 (1), p.1
• Main Authors: Gathercoal, Paul, Gathercoal, rest
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Classrooms; Core curriculum; Educational Practices; Educational psychology; Language Acquisition; Learning; Learning Processes; Philosophy; Physiology; Science; Students; Teaching
• ISSN: 1949-4947; 2374-1015

This self-study employed a quasi-experimental design and utilized in-tact course groupings of students. The design employed a pretest, treatment, and posttest. The treatment consisted of establishing mutual goals and expectations prior to conducting workshops and university courses and using a learner-centered philosophy for teaching and learning in higher education as articulated in the book, The Judicious Professor (2007). The pretest and posttest measured the dependent variable levels of social development using a questionnaire developed by the South Australian Department of Education (1980). The findings suggest that when professors and students begin courses establishing mutual expectations and goals they do much to weave a cultural fabric that favorably contributes to students' social development; and, the professor guides students toward the autonomous level of social development, better preparing them for living and learning in a classroom where the professor, guided by a learner-centered philosophy, establishes better teaching and learning relationships with students.