Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Value Of The Narrative Teaching Observation To Document Teaching Behaviors, Niki Young

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

A central mission of teaching and learning centers is to help faculty members improve their teaching. The teaching observation is an established tool to support this effort. Although educational developers have created general guides and forms for conducting teaching observations, the literature contains few examples of observation narratives. This chapter offers detailed examples of these narratives, deconstructing the process and demonstrating the value of narrative to document teaching behaviors. This chapter extends and develops the literature, showing how—and making explicit why—we do what we do, in the interest of making our work transparent and replicable.

Dysfunctional Illusions Of Rigor: Lessons From The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning, Craig E. Nelson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

My initial teaching practices were based on nine “dysfunctional illusions of rigor.” Overcoming them required revision of my ideas on the value of “hard” courses, the effectiveness of traditional methods, grade inflation, what students should be able to do initially, the fairness of traditional approaches, the importance of fixed deadlines, the importance of content coverage, the accessibility of critical thinking, and the appropriate bases for revising courses and curricula. I present the initial illusions and some more realistic views. These more realistic views are framed in terms of key research findings and some readily accessible models for improved practices.

Rx For Academic Medicine: Building A Comprehensive Faculty Development Program, Megan M. Palmer, Mary E. Dankoski, Randy R. Brutkiewicz, Lia S. Logio, Stephen P. Bogdewic

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty in academic medical centers are under tremendous stress and report low satisfaction. The need for faculty development in medical schools is great, yet it remains largely unmet across the United States. To ensure ongoing success in academic medicine, medical schools must institute comprehensive faculty development programs. In this chapter, we describe the development of an office for faculty affairs and professional development at the Indiana University School of Medicine, including key collaborations, budget trends and infrastructure development, strategic planning, ongoing assessment planning, goal setting, and early patterns of participation.

The Case For Excellence In Diversity: Lessons From An Assessment Of An Early Career Faculty Program, Dorothe J. Bach, Mary Deane Sorcinelli

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Many colleges and universities have come to understand the added educational value of having a more diverse faculty, and some have created specific programs to enhance recruitment, development, and retention of underrepresented faculty. How do these programs help underrepresented faculty start a successful career? How can they help a diverse faculty build thriving, long-term careers in academia? This chapter addresses these questions by sharing the findings and lessons learned from an internal and external assessment of the Excellence in Diversity Fellows Program at the University of Virginia.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 21, Number 1, Fall 2009, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: A Reflection of a Different Light - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors - Jeanne Albert, Donna Qualters, and Naomi Migliacci

New England Faculty Development Consortium Fall 2009 Conference, November 13, 2009, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States; theme: When Questioning is the Answer: Reflective Practice for College Faculty; keynote presentation by Stephen Brookfield, University of St. Thomas

Excerpt from Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, Jossey-Bass, 1995 by Stephen Brookfield

NEFDC Fall 2009 Conference Agenda

Connecting with others

Contemplative and Transformative Pedagogy - Arthur Zajonc, Amherst College

SAVE the date! NEFDC 2010 Spring …

Pathways To The Aviation Professoriate: An Investigation Into The Attributes And Backgrounds Of Professional Pilot Education Faculty, David Carl Ison

Applied Aerospace Science

"The purpose of this study was to identify the pathways professional pilot program faculty take to reach their positions. Data were collected through a survey that was distributed via the internet using Survey Monkey. Pathways were defined by investigations into the occupational and educational histories of the faculty. Also, demographic attributes of the faculty were collected to create a comprehensive picture of the faculty. Statistical analysis of the survey data was conducted using SPSS Graduate Pack software. The findings of the study indicate that professional pilot faculty take a range of occupational and educational pathways to reach their positions in …

Enhanced Student Learning And Public Health Awareness Through Capstone Projects, Jane M. Gervasio, Carriann E. Richey, Bruce G. Hancock, Iftekhar Kalsekar, Julie M. Koehler, Mary H. Andritz

Scholarship and Professional Work – COPHS

Abstract from the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Boston, MA, July 18-22, 2009.

Western Guide To Curriculum Review, Margaret Mcnay

Purple Guides

The Curriculum Review guide offers ideas about how to get started on the review process—questions to ask at the beginning of and during the process, suggestions about information to be gathered and how, issues to think about as you decide what to include in the curriculum, and ideas about how to teach the curriculum involving new and alternative pedagogies.

Scientific Literacy In Central Appalachia Through Contextually Relevant Experiences: The “Reading The River” Project, April D. Haight, Wilson J. Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Despite the best intentions of the United States educational system, implementing science reform efforts equitably and consistently throughout the nation is still a long-term goal. The light of scientific literacy has yet to shine brightly in many rural, isolated and economically depressed regions. Using Appalachia as a case in point, this paper provides a synopsis of the challenges of quality rural science education in the United States and the hope of new contextual and culturally relevant pedagogies aimed at engaging science students in inquiry research using their environmental surroundings as cognitive scaffoldings. The program Reading the River is showcased as …

"More Real And Less Factual:" Teacher Decision-Making About Place-Based Topics In Rural Secondary Classrooms, Timothy G. Thomas

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

In an age of accountability and tenuous school funding, rural schools are particularly challenged to maintain the institution, contribute to the wider community, and imbue students with local pride. One promising instructional approach is place-based education, students studying the setting in which they live and learn. Participants in this qualitative study were 5 Kentucky teachers who covered issues of regional resource management with students. Participants recognized that curricular mandates affected their planning and deprived students of certain skills for success in school and the real world. In the results of the study, the essential nature of interaction between school and …

Western Guide To Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures, Nanda Dimitrov

Purple Guides

The Western Guide to Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures is a handbook for graduate supervisors who work with students from cultures around the world. The guide addresses the most frequently occurring challenges in supervision across cultures and includes concrete mentoring strategies and case studies to help supervisors promote independence and initiative in their mentees, bridge power differences in the relationship, set boundaries, communicate effectively and support their students in the transition to Canadian academia.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 20, Number 1, Spring 2009, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: Where We've Been, Where We're Going - Judy Miller, Clark University

From the editors - Jeanne Albert, Donna Qualters, and Naomi Magliacci

NEFDC 2009 Spring Conference, Friday, May 29, 2009; theme: Connecting the .edus: Using Technology to Connect with Our Students; keynote speaker: Peter Doolittle, Virginia Tech

Online Teaching: Field-Tested Principles of Pedagogy and Practice - Peter Doolittle, Virginia Tech; Krista Terry, Radford University, and Stephanie Scheer, University of Virginia

Spring 2009 Conference Agenda, Friday, May 29, 2009, Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, New England Institute of Technology, and University of Connecticut

Connecting …

The Impact Of On-Line Training On College Faculty Attitudes And Knowledge Of Students With Disabilities, Wayne M. Pollock

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Due to legislation, advances in technology, and hopefully, a more positive social acceptance, students with disabilities are entering college at a faster rate than has ever been experienced. Data reveal that the largest increase in identified disabilities of incoming college freshmen are in the area of learning disabilities. However, many students with disabilities do not complete their college education, partly due to faculty members' lack of knowledge about various disabilities, less than accepting attitudes, and the lack of accommodations made for them. Using the Scale of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (SADP) and the Disability Knowledge Questionnaire, the impact of an …

Rescuing Reading At The Community College, Thomas Long Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This article describes the results of a two-year reading project begun in 2005 at Thomas Nelson Community College.

It Takes Discipline: Learning In A World Without Boundaries, Stephen Healey

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

As Plato suggested, pedagogy is inextricably related to the polis. The learner and teacher are constituted by social, political, and economic bounds, and yet the twenty-first century polis is increasingly a world without boundaries. This is a perilous and exciting time to teach and learn. As agents of terror have shown, political boundaries are uncomfortably permeable. Economically, culturally, and religiously, globalization has reduced the power of nation-states and threatened erasure of their boundaries. Isolated identities—nationalistic, religious, linguistic, sexual— are under siege. Nothing is immune from alteration by these large-scale forces. Plato’s insight is that the pressures and possibilities, which determine …

Anatomy Of A Scientific Explanation, Cassandra Volpe Horii

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

“If I’m going to explain this theory, the question is, are you going to understand it? Will you understand the theory?” - -Richard Feynman, 1979 Douglas Robb Memorial Lectures

In this way, Richard Feynman, recipient of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics and renowned teacher, author, and bongo player, introduced scientific explanation as an interesting problem with understanding as its testable outcome. Making quantum mechanics understandable to an audience of non-specialists is no easy task. Feynman had his audience in stitches, on this occasion, after noting that advanced graduate students in physics often “do not understand it either, and that’s …

Non-Science For Majors: Reforming Courses, Programs, And Pedagogy, Jennifer Frederick

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Scientific advances fill news headlines and find audiences in popular movies, legislative bodies, and courtrooms, suggesting that society is broadly engaged by scientific issues. Science students typically learn concepts and methods that ignore the social and cultural foreground as well as religious and ethical implications of science practice. These excluded factors often reappear in scientific developments such as genetic engineering of herbicide-resistant plants, environmental effects of chemical and biological waste management strategies, and medical and health implications of sequencing the human genome. Though today’s science professors are already burdened by expanded content from introductory to advanced courses, now more than …

Making Sure That Peer Review Of Teaching Works For You, Nancy Van Note Chism

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Peer review of teaching: A hastily arranged visit to the classroom of a faculty member in desperate need of quick testimony on teaching effectiveness, resulting in a bland letter stating that the class is interesting and students seem engaged.

Given this prevailing practice in peer review of teaching, no wonder most faculty members fail to see its inherent usefulness. To many, this limited view and practice have rendered it a necessary evil, only to be used under duress. This essay seeks to expand both definition and practice. Let’s begin with another definition:

Peer review of teaching: Collegial efforts to understand …

Orienting Students To An “Inside-Out Course”: Establishing A Classroom Culture Of Interactive, Cooperative Learning, Karlene Ferrante

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

I have developed a course in communication theories that foregrounds active learning, with structured opportunities for support. The result is an “Inside-Out Course” in which students are required to turn in a “ticket” for entry to class— usually a concept map of the reading. Since the first exposure to material is through homework, class time is used for quick overviews and learning activities designed by student teaching teams. Students are motivated to create good concept maps for tickets, since they are allowed to use those maps for the case study exams, taken with open notes. Assessments require students to select …

Geology Field Trips As Performance Evaluations, Callan Bentley

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The author details his experience in using geology field trips to provide hands-on learning for his students and opportunities to assess student learning of key course concepts.

"How Did I Spend Two Hours Grading This Paper?!" Responding To Student Writing Without Losing Your Life, Eric Lemay

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

The specific critical moves and writing conventions of your discipline probably differ from mine, but your discipline certainly has them and when teaching them to students becomes your aim, your responses to their writing will take less time and be more effective. No longer will you have to transform novice papers into expert ideas. Instead, you can focus on the novices themselves. You can use their writing to teach them the next thing they need to know as novice historians, philosophers, or anthropologists. Given that they’re novices and you’re an expert, that thing is almost always obvious to you, although …

Empowering Faculty Through Assessment, Katherine Simpson Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This article explains how faculty and administrators at Lord Fairfax Community College have made assessment a vital practice across campus.

The Influence Of Learning Communities On The Interaction Levels Of English Students, Elizabeth Wilmer Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

This study investigates whether learning communities significantly increase the level of interaction of community-college students enrolled in developmental English.

Are New Faculty Prepared To Teach Diverse Learners?, Audrey Lail Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The author examines the preparation of community-college faculty, especially those recently hired, to teach the varied students our institutions enroll.

Front Matter

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Cover art: “Running Fields” by Kreela Moore, a student at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Examining The Impact Of A Comprehensive Approach To Student Orientation, Thomas Hollins

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The author presents research on the benefits of providing students with more than one form of orientation to college.

Using Rubrics To Teach Science Writing, Paul E. Bennett Jr.

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

An often-stated goal of education in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields is to teach students to communicate like professionals. In the STEM fields, the single most important thing we can do to teach our students better communication skills is to teach them how to write a lab report. The reason a lab report is so important is not just because it is the end product of a research project, but because each section of a lab report has a particular function that often correlates with different types of communication that a STEM professional needs to use. For …

Constructing Rural Geographies In Publication, Verdie Craig, Matthew Kurtz

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The paper compares American and British scholarship in rural geography. It argues that, among other reasons for the difference in “rural geography” between the two countries, their distinct publication strategies offer insights for potential interventions. To sketch how the field has been differently construed on opposite sides of the Atlantic, the article first examines several sub-disciplinary literature reviews. It then adds a materialist account to a performative perspective of subdisciplinary formation by exploring how the publication industry helped shape distinct relationships between rural geography and theory. We suggest that rural geographers in the US might use new publication strategies to …

Preface, Volume 27 (2009), Linda B. Nilson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Preface to volume 27 (2009) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Linda B. Nilson of Clemson University.

Essential Faculty Development Programs For Teaching And Learning Centers In Research–Extensive Universities, Larissa Pchenitchnaia, Bryan R. Cole

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This research highlights the imperative nature of designing programs to address the full range of faculty develapment needs. It presents a framework for essential faculty development programs for teaching and learning centers in research-extensive universities for introducing, enhancing, and improving faculty develapment offerings. The nationwide Delphi study of faculty development programs identified eighteen currently essential and twenty-eight future essential faculty development programs for teaching and learning centers in research-extensive universities. This list of programs may serve as a baseline for evaluating existing faculty development programming and guiding the expansion of established programs and the planning of new ones.