ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a recent effort to infuse the Total Quality Improvement (TQI) approach, popularized by Deming and others, into an upper division, junior-senior economics course at the University of WisconsinMadison. The process of infusing TQI into instruction has received relatively little attention. Most efforts to bring TQI into higher education focus on improving administrative operations and establishing courses and programmes for students to learn how to apply it in their future jobs. Though these activities are commendable, the challenge lies in applying TQI to help students realize their potential for learning in traditional courses. This presentation is necessarily autobiographical. No manuals or road maps existed to guide in developing and testing this application of TQI. No doubt much can be done to improve on my initial efforts. As experience accumulates on attempts to infuse TQI into instruction, some generalizations and perhaps even principles will emerge to guide faculty members interested in improving their teaching and increasing what students learn in their college courses. Based on my limited experience, it is obvious that TQI embodies an array of techniques for encouraging and facilitating student learning. What may be unique about TQI is the more encompassing framework it provides for combining these techniques and devices, monitoring their effectiveness and stressing continuous improvement.
