Changes in Colleges and University Instructional Practices, 1954-1979.

An instructional methods survey of full-time faculty at five midwestern colleges and universities was conducted during the fall of 1978 in an effort to provide both a description of current instructional practices and an historical perspective on their development over the last quarter century. The survey consists of a list of 42 method items including teaching methods, standards for evaluation of student performance, and 15 types of tasks. Results concerning methods of teaching and grading used by approximately 1,000 faculty are discussed in the context of institutional and disciplinary perspectives and are compared to the results of a similar survey of midwestern and southwestern institutions published in 1954. Results indicate that institutional size is not related to the rank order or frequency of use of the different teaching and grading methods. However, disciplinary affiliation was moderately influential on order and frequency of use of instructional practices. Discipline-associated trends involving the sciences and education faculty are discussed. Relationships between teaching methods and evaluation standards are also described. The most frequently used teaching methods in the current survey were similar to those indicated in the results of the 1954 survey. A comparative analysis of results from these two surveys is included. The survey methodology, results, and questionnaire are appended. (SF)