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Teacher Education and Professional Development

Higher education

Series

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

An Exploration Of Trauma-Inclusive Pedagogy And Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success, R. Jason Lynch, Krista Wojdak Oct 2023

An Exploration Of Trauma-Inclusive Pedagogy And Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success, R. Jason Lynch, Krista Wojdak

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

While trauma-inclusive approaches to student learning have been well documented in K–12 contexts, postsecondary education has done little to incorporate trauma-inclusive pedagogy into college classrooms. Using a sample (n = 529) of graduate and undergraduate students at a public rural-serving regional serving university, this study aims to explore differences in students’ perception of academic success in courses where trauma-inclusive practices were used and courses where these practices were not. Findings provide evidence that students felt more successful in courses where trauma-inclusive practices were used. Additionally, researchers were able to demonstrate that differences in perceptions of success were more pronounced …


Evidencing The Value Of Educational Development: Charting A Course On The Waves And Winds Of Change, Jovan Groen, Carolyn Hoessler, Carolyn Ives, Veronica Bamber, Corinne Laverty, Klodiana Kolomitro Oct 2023

Evidencing The Value Of Educational Development: Charting A Course On The Waves And Winds Of Change, Jovan Groen, Carolyn Hoessler, Carolyn Ives, Veronica Bamber, Corinne Laverty, Klodiana Kolomitro

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Across higher education, educational developers and their supporting campus communities are being called upon to scale up evidence-informed practices, to enhance student experiences, and to document the changes. This article builds on the work of scholars who have taken up this evaluative challenge, by examining varied aspects of the evidencing process using an adaptation of Saunders’s (2000) RUFDATA framework for evidencing value. Reflections on emerging patterns and tensions in the evidencing of educational development are subsequently discussed. We argue for making evidencing value a purposeful and intentional process, and we chart a path forward for creating and implementing a vision …


The Value Of Process In Racial Equity Work: Reflections From A Faculty Learning Community, Emily R. Shamash, Julie Berrett-Abebe, Latasha Smith, Stephanie Storms, Michael Regan, Jocelyn Novella, Laurie L. Grupp, Emily Smith, Alyson Martin Apr 2023

The Value Of Process In Racial Equity Work: Reflections From A Faculty Learning Community, Emily R. Shamash, Julie Berrett-Abebe, Latasha Smith, Stephanie Storms, Michael Regan, Jocelyn Novella, Laurie L. Grupp, Emily Smith, Alyson Martin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article explores how one higher education faculty learning community engaged in reflective practices in pursuit of their commitment to the inclusion of anti-racist content and pedagogy across their multidisciplinary curriculums. As a key initial step in engaging in this collaborative, cross-disciplinary work, they set out to consider collective definitions of key terms that are deemed critical to anti-racist pedagogy. This group engaged in a collaborative exploratory process to explore definitions and understanding of the following terms: whiteness, racism, race, racial equity, racial injustice/inequity, white supremacy, and anti-racism and document the reflective process by which the determination took place. Themes …


Reflections On Pedagogical Practice And Development Through Multidisciplinary Triadic Peer Mentorship, Nicole Charles, Nathalie Moon, Andrew P. Dicks Oct 2022

Reflections On Pedagogical Practice And Development Through Multidisciplinary Triadic Peer Mentorship, Nicole Charles, Nathalie Moon, Andrew P. Dicks

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article presents a critical reflection on the experiences of three university instructors (two teaching stream and one tenure stream) within a 6-month peer-to-peer mentoring for teaching community of practice (P2P CoP). As part of the P2P CoP, the authors (who were previously unknown to one another) formed a “teaching triad” at a tri-campus, research-intensive Canadian university. They regularly met in person for 1 hour on a weekly basis throughout the Winter 2019 semester to discuss teaching-related matters, undertook classroom visits to observe one another teach, and participated in pedagogical workshops with other P2P CoP members. In this article, the …


Toward Institutionalizing Successful Innovations In The Academy, Sarah B. Wise, Courtney Ngai, Joel Christopher Corbo, Mark A. Gammon, Jaclyn K. Rivard, Clara E. Smith Apr 2022

Toward Institutionalizing Successful Innovations In The Academy, Sarah B. Wise, Courtney Ngai, Joel Christopher Corbo, Mark A. Gammon, Jaclyn K. Rivard, Clara E. Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Due to the “wicked problem” of the Academy’s resistance to innovation, new teaching and learning programs struggle to become integrated into the fabric of the Academy, which slows the uptake of evidence-based practices. This wicked problem is rooted in the lack of slow, intentional mechanisms for cultural change in the Academy. In this article, we analyze the institutionalization journey of the Departmental Action Team (DAT) project, which is a model for slow, intentional change. Over the last four years, partnering with two campus centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) allowed the DAT project to make institutionalization progress.

This analysis is …


What's The Problem Now?, Randall Bass Apr 2020

What's The Problem Now?, Randall Bass

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Revisiting an essay from 1999, this article explores the current conditions in higher education, and society more broadly, that help shape the roles for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and educational development. By seeing the current “crises” of higher education not only as “problems” to be investigated but as a “wicked problem,” we might be able to elevate and complicate the role that inquiry into teaching and learning might play in institutional change and the expansion of higher education. The article argues for the necessity, even urgency, of seeing educational development as a lever for change, fully engaged …


Measuring Transparency: A Learning-Focused Assignment Rubric, Michael S. Palmer, Emily O. Gravett, Jennifer Lafleur Jan 2018

Measuring Transparency: A Learning-Focused Assignment Rubric, Michael S. Palmer, Emily O. Gravett, Jennifer Lafleur

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

By combining recommendations for effective assignment design with principles of transparency and the value-expectancy theory of achievement motivation, we developed a rubric capable of for assessing the quality and guiding the design of assignment descriptions. This rubric defines criteria characteristic of well-designed assignments; breaks the criteria down into concrete, measurable components; and suggests what evidence for each component might look like. While the full rubric is valid for major, signature assignments, it can accommodate a diverse range. It can also provide summative, quantitative information to educational developers for research and formative, qualitative feedback to instructors for gauging the quality of …


Designing An Evaluation Of Instructional Consultation In A Higher Education Context, Karen Elizabeth Brinkley Etzkorn, David Schumann, Beth White, Tiffany Smith Jan 2016

Designing An Evaluation Of Instructional Consultation In A Higher Education Context, Karen Elizabeth Brinkley Etzkorn, David Schumann, Beth White, Tiffany Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Individual instructor consultation is a common service provided by centers focused on educational development in higher education. The importance of this service has been reflected in its history, increasing demand, and strong anecdotal evidence to its effectiveness. However, the extant literature reveals that comprehensive assessment of consultation effectiveness has proved challenging. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to (a) provide an overview of consultation and summarize the relevant work evaluating this service, and (b) propose a comprehensive process for evaluating consultation services that was piloted at one large research intense university. The goal is to provide a systematic method …


Peer Collaboration: Improving Teaching Through Comprehensive Peer Review, Shelley L. Smith Jan 2014

Peer Collaboration: Improving Teaching Through Comprehensive Peer Review, Shelley L. Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article includes a brief rationale and review of the literature on peer review of teaching (PRT). Based on that literature review, it offers a proposal for an optimal formative review process that results in a teaching portfolio that would reflect a faculty member’s efforts and successes in a critically reflective PRT process, and contributes to ongoing teaching improvement. It then looks at potential areas of faculty resistance and concern and offers a discussion of potential strategies to overcome those concerns.