Education Commons^™

Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the sciences, but reliable evidence of sustained impacts of these programs is lacking. By definition, if a professional development program is effective then desired outcomes are sustained by participants after program completion. We tested the effectiveness of Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST IV), a professional development program for postdoctoral scholars, by conducting a study of program alumni. Expected outcomes of the FIRST project were that participants would adopt learner-centered beliefs about teaching, implement learner-centered courses, and use assessments that incorporated questions requiring higher-order …