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While educational development has long been aligned with organizational development in the literature (Berquist & Phillips, 1975; Gaffe, 1975), in practice this link has faded with time. Schroeder (2011) has recently asserted that given the broad-based changes in teaching and learning that are taking place at universities, it is important that educational developers take an organizational development role and lead institutional level changes in teaching and learning (p. 1-2). For many of us, it has not been apparent how to initiate or clarify a leadership role in organizational development. We share the story of how we came to recognize that our role in leading an institutional change initiative to re-envision classroom spaces was organizational development. We contextualize our experience in a way that makes it meaningful for practitioners seeking to clarify or enhance their own organizational development roles. From our experience, we have gleaned lessons that might be of use to colleagues in the field. First, organizational development should become part of a curriculum for educational developers. Second, we should move from intuition to intention in our organizational development efforts.

Designing physical learning environments that connect to indicators of effective educational practice reflects a university's pedagogical commitment to student success. This article describes an approach to teaching and learning space design based on research-informed pedagogical principles successfully implemented at our university. It then articulates and provides examples of how those principles can be translated into classroom design features. These principles have had an operational and conceptual impact on campus, providing a framework for diverse audiences to think about spaces in a way that reflects shared goals, language and values.

This paper explores the design of a Web-based tutorial for Activity Analysis offered within an undergraduate course of occupational therapy and how its design features influenced meaningful learning from the students' perspective. This tutorial, using a case-based format, offers a learner-directed approach to students and the application of Activity Analysis, a clinical practice tool. The design is based on principles of meaningful learning for on-line instruction (Jonassen, "Educational Technology," 35, 60-63, 1995) and instructional theories. Analysis of feedback from learners identifies the salient attributes of the tutorial on meaningful learning.

The authors' goal in working with university academics is to support an intellectual process of close examination of instructional decisions, making explicit the rationale and intentionality underlying those decisions. Subject matter understanding is the primary point of reference in this process. The focus of the research described here is the use of an unstructured form of concept mapping to support academics in the analysis of course content as the first step in a course design process. While some academics with whom the authors have worked have been initially skeptical about concept mapping, the large majority of them, in the end, report that they value the process and what they gained from it. The findings show that the concept mapping process provided an alternate means to rethink course content, one that highlighted relationships among concepts, encouraged a view of the course as an integrated whole, and frequently provided the occasion to make explicit the types of thinking required in the course. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.)

The authors of this article value the framework provided by the conceptions and approaches to teaching literature, yet have come to feel it does not fully represent the complexity of the relation between teacher thinking and action. Drawing on a socio-cognitive perspective, they studied lecturer interviews collected over a semester to examine how their thinking related to action. They identified four zones of thinking that represent a spectrum of specificity of thinking in relation to action. Each represents conceptually distinct thinking, having a particular characteristic and use, yet their boundaries are fluid. The authors propose that the zones encompass the space from conceptions through to action, which enables the reconceptualization of the relation between thinking and action, thus making a substantial contribution to the present understanding of this relationship. (Contains 2 tables.)

We describe an elaboration of an empirical cognitive model of reflection (McAlpine, Weston, Beauchamp, Wiseman, & Beauchamp, 1999). Specifically, we explain 2 fundamental constructs in the model that were previously less well understood: goal and type of reflection.

Presents a continuum of the development and growth toward a scholarship of teaching. Explores whether a scholar of teaching studies teaching as a discipline in itself or whether teaching is studied through another discipline. Suggests how the isolation of the scholarship of teaching from the primary work of the disciplines and of departments might be overcome. (EV)

Describes research on the reflection of six professors regarding their thinking about teaching. Topics include the model of the metacognitive process of reflection; the role of reflection in knowledge construction; the role of reflection in teaching development, including conceptual change; and the relationship between reflective teaching and student learning. (Author/LRW)

Describes the integrated approach to instructional consultation used at the Centre for University Teaching and Learning at McGill University (Canada). Emphasis is on teaching improvement as a conceptual change process, discipline-specific applications as situated learning, and development of a dispersed network of faculty consultants. Implications for faculty members and the institution are drawn. (DB)

Formative evaluation is a means of improving instructional materials through tryouts and revision. An investigation to determine the influence of learners and experts on the improvement of written instructional materials determined that revised versions incorporating learner feedback had the most impact on improving learning and that revisers have a far more powerful impact than was supposed. (PEN)

Describes and compares formative evaluation approaches: expert review, developmental testing, three-stage model, learner verification and revision, and general approach to formative evaluation. Discussion of differences among approaches related to duration of try-out/revision cycle and recommendations for effective acquisition of data are presented. Student-based formative evaluation is described in detail. (MBR)

A survey of instructional strategies for higher education is presented. The issue of selecting the most appropriate methods and materials is discussed in relation to the type and level of the expected student learning, special needs of the student group, and the practical constraints of the instructional setting. (Author/MLW)

Discusses the importance of involving experts and learners in the formative evaluation of instructional materials. A case study describing the evaluation of a filmstrip/audiotape program is presented, and the importance of gathering feedback from multiple sources before making revision decisions is emphasized. (Author/LRW)

Survey responses of over 200 graduates regarding the content of a teacher preparation program at a university in Ecuador indicated a significant gap between preparation and practice. Major problems identified included content emphasis and implementation. (Author/CB)

Describes study that compared the quantitative and qualitative nature of problems in instructional materials identified by undergraduate students via three methods of formative evaluation. An explanation of the process of Learner Verification and Revision (LVR) stresses assessment and improvement of the instructional effectiveness of materials in terms of the learner. (29 references) (LRW)

Discussion of the appropriate use of instruction and training for performance problems in developing countries highlights a case study of an unsuccessful instructional project in South America. The importance of front-end analysis and a needs assessment are emphasized, and the sociotechnical systems theory (STS) of organizational development is discussed. (nine references) (LRW)

While educational development has long been aligned with organizational development in the literature (Berquist & Phillips, 1975; Gaffe, 1975), in practice this link has faded with time. Schroeder (2011) has recently asserted that given the broad-based changes in teaching and learning that are taking place at universities, it is important that educational developers take an organizational development role and lead institutional level changes in teaching and learning (p. 1-2). For many of us, it has not been apparent how to initiate or clarify a leadership role in organizational development. We share the story of how we came to recognize that our role in leading an institutional change initiative to re-envision classroom spaces was organizational development. We contextualize our experience in a way that makes it meaningful for practitioners seeking to clarify or enhance their own organizational development roles. From our experience, we have gleaned lessons that might be of use to colleagues in the field. First, organizational development should become part of a curriculum for educational developers. Second, we should move from intuition to intention in our organizational development efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]