Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Building Faculty Capacity For Better Teaching And Learning, L Dee Fink, Patricia A. Iannuzzi

Library Faculty Presentations

Enhancing faculty capacity for teaching in ways that promote greater levels of student engagement and significant learning is an essential part of all other institutional changes designed to advance higher quality student learning. In this session, participants will lay out a general strategy for campus leaders to cultivate that faculty capability and then identify specific actions needed to implement such a strategy. Participants will also identify key elements of effective teaching and learning centers and brainstorm ways to build a teaching- and learning-centered institutional culture.

Mapping Information Literacy Outcomes And Other Intellectual Skills Into Students' Educational Experiences, Patricia A. Iannuzzi, L Dee Fink

Library Faculty Presentations

The 2007 report, College Learning for the New Global Century, outlines a cluster of intellectual and practical skills that are critical components of a liberal education: inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; information literacy; and teamwork and problem solving. The learning outcomes associated with information literacy relate to and incorporate many of the learning outcomes in all of these skill clusters. Participants in this session will address how these information literacy and related learning outcomes can be mapped into student learning experiences at three levels: in an individual course, in an academic sequence …

Does Standardization Affect Creativity, Jenifer Picket, Lindsey Tatum

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Student Perceptions Of Digital Textbooks In A College Nursing Program, Alan D. Eno

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The purpose of this research was to study the use of digital textbooks in a small liberal arts college. The research was a mixed methods descriptive study using a pre and post survey to determine student perceptions of the technology. Findings indicated that students needed training in the installation and use of digital textbooks. Findings also indicated the need for further research into what students understand about using digital textbooks. Recommendations are for the college to institute training sessions to teach students how to use the digital textbooks.

Assessing The Effect Of Simulation Models On Systems Learning In An Introductory Environmental Science Course, Heather J. Skaza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence within the systems dynamics community supporting the use of systems simulations in the classroom to improve student understanding, there is little published, controlled, experimental research. This paper describes the results of a paired experiment testing the effect of using system dynamics simulations to increase systems understanding in an introductory environmental science course. We believed that the students using the systems simulations would demonstrate a greater systemic understanding of environmental issues than those who did not.

We conducted an experiment during the fall semester of 2009, with 304 students enrolled in four sections of …

Research Poster: Trends In Climate Change Education In Nevada's System Of Higher Education, Amy Northrup

2010 Annual Nevada NSF EPSCoR Climate Change Conference

Research poster

Using A Wiki For Collaboration And Learning In Helping Profession Education: A Pilot Study, Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, Richard J. Silvey

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Engaging Students, Assessing Learning: Just A Click Away, Linda C. Hodges

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Three ongoing challenges for those of us teaching today’s college students, especially in large lecture classes, are: getting students engaged in their learning, assessing what learning is actually taking place, and competing with students’ technology in keeping their attention. One teaching innovation that holds great promise for addressing these concerns is the use of personal response systems, also known as clickers. Clickers allow you to determine the level of student understanding at any given time with relatively little effort, and in the process encourage students to engage with class material by using the hook of technology. In this paper I …

Transparent Alignment And Integrated Course Design, David W. Concepción

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

This essay addresses ways of making learning goals, and ways of reaching those goals, more transparent to our students, through a process called ‘alignment.’ After defining key terms, I illustrate integrated course design with an example from my Introduction to Philosophy class.

Research-Based Strategies To Promote Academic Integrity, Michele Dipietro

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

A cursory glance at the literature on cheating paints a bleak picture. In the past decades, the prevalence of cheating has hovered at discouragingly high level, with about 75% of students admitting to some sort of cheating, and with peaks of over 90% in some prevalence studies. Given these figures, where does a wellintentioned instructor start? A good place to start untangling this complex problem is to understand it better. Academic dishonest behaviors vary in their frequency, seriousness, and motivations behind them, but they have been extensively researched, and we can abstract general principles to conceptualize this problem. Once we …

Deep/Surface Approaches To Learning In Higher Education: A Research Update, James Rhem

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Instead of looking at and trying to adjust to differences, the deep/surface researchers concentrated on observing commonalities. How did actual students actually study and what were the environmental cues that prompted them to take the approach (“deep” or “surface”) they chose? This research and renewed awareness of it here have had a powerful influence on thinking about teaching and learning in higher education in the United States especially with regard to assessment. Why? Because the research has found that students’ intention in studying/learning relates strongly to their perceptions of what they will be assessed on and how they will be …

Using Undergraduate Students As Teaching Assistants, Joseph "Mick" La Lopa

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Given the procedure for recruiting and selecting undergraduate students to be teaching assistants (TAs) and the pros and cons mentioned, there is every reason to continue using them to help administer my classes. I completely trust undergraduate TAs to keep an accurate record of attendance, grade assignments based on the rubric, and adhere to the course policies concerning attendance and assignment deadlines. Other educators should consider using the recruitment techniques suggested in this essay to select bright undergraduates to serve as a TA. They will reap many benefits from their work.

Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group Development And Dynamics, Kathy Takayama

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Facilitating discussions requires the ability to engage different perspectives and skills in response to the needs of the group. How well a group works together depends upon the dynamics among participants and the ability of the facilitator to gauge and respond to these dynamics. An effective facilitator works to create an inclusive learning environment while being prepared to set boundaries and rules when necessary. Yet, even experienced facilitators can be confronted with situations or individuals that prevent the group from functioning. Such situations are even more daunting for new faculty and graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs) who are new to …

The Value Of The Narrative Teaching Observation, Niki Young

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Narrative teaching observations allow educational developers to document a variety of teaching behaviors and, by framing these behaviors with the appropriate vocabulary, to highlight their pedagogical functions. We use the vocabulary not to obfuscate good teaching in educational jargon but to illuminate effective teaching behaviors using an agreed upon professional vocabulary and to make the teaching process more transparent (Hatzipanagos ND Lygo-Baker, 2006). Similarly, through its examples of narrative teaching observations, this essay adds to the literature by making our contribution as faculty developers more evident and making our professional practice more explicit.

Preface, Volume 28 (2010), Linda B. Nilson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Preface to volume 28 (2010) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Linda B. Nilson of Clemson University.

Acknowledgments, Volume 28 (2010), Linda B. Nilson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Acknowledgments for volume 28 (2010) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Linda B. Nilson of Clemson University.

Ethical Guidelines For Educational Developers

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Ethical guidelines for educational developers, prepared by Mintz, Smith, and Warren, January 1999. Revised March 1999, September 1999, and March 2000.

Developing Competency Models Of Faculty Developers: Using World Café To Foster Dialogue, Debra Dawson, Judy Britnell, Alicia Hitchcock

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Recent research by Chism (2007); Sorcinelli, Austin, Eddy, and Beach (2006); and Taylor (2005) speaks to the critical roles that faculty developers play in ensuring institutional success. Yet we have not as a profession identified the specific competencies necessary for success at different career stages. Our research generated these competencies for three faculty developer positions—entry-level, senior-level, and director—within a teaching and learning center. We used World Café, a collaborative discussion-based technique, to engage developers in building a matrix of competencies for each position and in determining how these competencies could be demonstrated.

A Conceptual Framework For Higher Education Faculty Mentoring, Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue, Steve Fifield

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

There is considerable variability in conceptions of faculty mentoring in higher education. Rather than view this diversity as a problem, we see it as a potential resource that can inform design, implementation, and evaluation of faculty mentoring. To learn from this diversity, we review the literature on facuity mentoring in higher education to create a conceptual framework of mentoring. The conceptual framework is a tool that program administrators, participants, and evaluators can use to adapt mentoring to the unique needs of particular faculty and institutions.

A Model For Putting A Teaching Center In Context: An Informal Comparison Of Teaching Centers At Larger State Universities, Wesley H. Dotson, Daniel J. Bernstein

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

An informal comparative analysis of teaching centers at larger state universities around the United States was conducted as part of a self-initiated ten-year review of our center. We compared centers along several dimensions, among them programs, resources, and size. This chapter offers our methods, results, and general impressions of the process as an example for others who might decide to conduct a similar analysis.

Promoting Dialogue And Action On Meta–Professional Skills, Roles, And Responsibilities, Michael Theall, Bonnie B. Mullinix, Raoul A. Arreola

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Collecting and using information about faculty skills can serve as an organizational development activity to guide faculty evaluation and professional development policy and practice with the goal of leading to improved teaching and learning. This chapter presents findings from a study with international, local, quantitative, and qualitative components. Readers are encouraged to explore data patterns and consider courses of action that these imply, and to reflect on the potential usefulness of the Meta-Profession model for furthering reflection, dialogue, and action on development and evaluation processes on their own campus.

Macgyvers, Medeas, And Bionic Women: Patterns Of Instructor Response To Negative Feedback, Allison P. Boye, Suzanne Tapp

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Few studies have examined instructor responses to negative feedback and their interplay with gender, but faculty developers must be cognizant of and sensitive to the needs of the instructors with whom they work. This chapter identifies six general patterns of response among male and female instructors to negative feedback from students and consultants, based on survey results, interviews, and observations. A combination of empathy, resources, and time is the key to understanding and responding to those patterns and meeting the needs of individual instructors. Further, comparisons across gender reveal interesting differences related to language use, internalization versus externalization of feedback, …

Conversations About Assessment And Learning: Educational Development Scholarship That Makes A Difference, Sue Fostaty Young, Susan Wilcox

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

To facilitate deeper understanding of teachers’ assessment practices, we undertook an educational development inquiry with college and university faculty. Our conversations with instructors about their assessment practices highlighted the complex relationship between teachers’ beliefs about teaching, their institutional contexts, and their experiences of teaching. The project gave us valuable opportunities to examine our interactions with faculty and enabled us to identify approaches to educational development that help postsecondary faculty understand and improve their practice.

Class Size: Is Less More For Significant Learning?, John Zubizarreta

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Mixed as it might be, educational research suggests that engaged students are more effectively stimulated and fulfilled in the small class. Of course, students can thrive in large classes if discipline, course level, teacher characteristics, goals, methods, assessment strategies, and outcomes work together to inspire and produce significant learning. The small class environment does not by itself necessarily ensure higher level learning, but studies indicate that if faculty and institutions want to promote and support the active learning pedagogies, mentoring, reflection, feedback, and personal relationships that result in deep and lasting learning, then less is more.

Weaving Promising Practices For Inclusive Excellence Into The Higher Education Classroom, María Del Carmen Salazar, Amanda Stone Norton, Franklin A. Tuitt

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Higher education is faced with an increasingly diverse student body and historic opportunities to foster inclusive excellence, meaning a purposeful embodiment of inclusive practices toward multiple student identity groups. Although the benefits of inclusive excellence are well established, college faculty often cite barriers to promoting it in classrooms, and this creates an opening for faculty developers to support them in weaving promising practices for inclusive excellence into their teaching. This chapter highlights the practices of inclusive faculty and the methods faculty developers can use to promote inclusive excellence along five dimensions: (1) intrapersonal awareness, (2) interpersonal awareness, (3) curricular transformation, …

Communication Climate, Comfort, And Cold Calling: An Analysis Of Discussion-Based Courses At Multiple Universities, Tasha J. Souza, Elise J. Dallimore, Eric Aoki, Brian C. Pilling

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

One of the challenges in discussion facilitation is creating a climate that allows multiple voices to be heard. Although the practice of calling on students whose hands are not raised has been used to engage the entire class in discussions, many believe that cold calling sabotages the communication climate and makes students extremely uncomfortable. This study examines the impact of cold calling on student comfort and communication climate. The results suggest that when instructors choose to cold-call, they must create a supportive communication climate to ensure student comfort. This study challenges the assumption that cold calling makes students uncomfortable.

Theoretical Frameworks For Academic Dishonesty: A Comparative Review, Michele Dipietro

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Academic dishonesty has so far been understood using theoretical frameworks derived from criminology literature. These frameworks contribute pieces of the puzzle and even enjoy some empirical support, but conceptualizing students as delinquents is problematic and ultimately ineffective. This chapter reviews the current frameworks, including their theoretical underpinnings, empirical support, and strategies they suggest, and goes on to analyze their limitations and suggest alternative frameworks.

Engaging Faculty In Conversations About Teaching Through A Research Proposal Workshop, Susanna Calkins, Denise Drane

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty who consider themselves primarily researchers can be difficult to engage in faculty development activities. However, as agencies such as the National Science Foundation now require educational activities in research grants, proposal writing may represent a new avenue for engaging research faculty in their teaching. In this chapter, we outline an innovative workshop on writing the pedagogical component of a grant proposal that was developed for faculty at Northwestern University. During the workshop, while learning how to structure an education plan for their grant, faculty engaged in a lively discussion about formulating learning objectives and aligning them with pedagogical methods …

Developing And Renewing Department Chair Leadership: The Role Of A Teaching Center In Administrative Training, Mary C. Wright, Constance E. Cook, Chris O'Neal

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Most faculty development centers offer limited resources for leadership development, and most existing programs focus on training the new chair. The key questions we address are: What role do teaching centers play in administrative professional development? How can we develop programs that assist new chairs with their immediate questions, while also promoting continued growth in institutional leadership? We present one model at the University of Michigan, initiated by the provost and organized by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, which involves an extensive needs assessment process, a developmentally oriented leadership training program, and an evaluation.

Survivor Academe: Assessing Reflective Practice, Laurel Johnson Black, Terry Ray, Judith Villa

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Reflective practice is a goal for many academic professional development programs. What do faculty participants gain from a reflective practice program, and how much reflection do they actually practice? Using interviews and grounded theory, we identified three crucial needs being met by such a program at our university. In addition, we compared participants’ comments to the elements of reflection established by Dewey and Rodgers to determine the extent of their reflection. The results call for more assessment to better align the structures of reflective practice programs with participant needs as well as further research on the effects of reflective practice …