This thesis focuses on how new college faculty learn to teach. It is a qualitative study involving four first year Ball State University college professors from different departments. The past research explores faculty beliefs, skills, and styles as well as graduate preparation for teaching. The literature also covers faculty development programs, university and administrator influence, and the future of college teaching. The researcher used observations and interviews in the research design and analyzed the data by coding it into themes. The findings are discussed within the following topics: teaching techniques, professor experience, faculty development, graduate preparation and teaching assistantships, formation of teaching style, and professors' personal theories. The conclusion includes a discussion of how past experiences have taught professors how to reflect on their teaching to make modifications and how there is a lack of emphasis placed on teaching in the graduate schools. The substitution of teaching techniques for a teaching style, as well as, the amount of training professors have in college student development is also explored. The discussion also includes how new professors form personal theories of teaching. There is also a section on some specific findings for Ball State University, as well as recommendations for future research. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and report the relationship between teaching and research as experienced by twelve faculty members at a medium sized, doctoral granting, state assisted university in the Midwest. Research review revealed that the relationship between research and teaching in higher education was supportive, conflicting, or neutral (Marsh & Hattie, 1996).Twelve faculty members from five different departments at Teachers College participated in this study. Evidence was gathered using semi-structured interviews. Analysis of evidence revealed several findings.Faculty members in this study described activities needed to produce publishable research, which included participating in professional meetings (conferences, workshops, and seminars), contributing to professional associations, reading publications, and writing activities. Faculty members engaged in research projects, and worked with students on their dissertations and research papers. Many of faculty members' research ideas came from their reading and their participation in learning activities needed to produce quality teaching.In this study, faculty members reported that research and teaching were intertwined activities that produced two different products. Faculty members reported that some of the activities in both teaching and research were similar and overlapping. They found ways to make progress in both activities at the same time. The activities used to produce quality teaching were influenced by the demands of producing publishable research and vice versa.For faculty members, many of their activities as scholars produced both research and teaching. While teaching was identified as the highest form of scholarship, research was considered also an important form of scholarship. Scholarship includes discovery of new knowledge, looking for connections, and building bridges between theory and practice. Teaching is scholarship applied. / Department of Educational Leadership