Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Leadership For Learning: A New Faculty Development Model, Jane V. Nelson, Audrey M. Kleinsasser

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The authors provide examples of a model that develops faculty leaders for learning in all institutions that prize research. The examples come from seven university-wide initiatives, which were sponsored by the institutions faculty development center. The initiatives spanned a nearly ten-year period. Based on four conceptual groundings—scholarship of teaching and learning principles, educational renewal, the production of social capital through soft projects, and horizontal structures—the model has the power to transform faculty into leaders. Elements of the model include a call to participate, a diverse cohort of participants, commitment to providing resources, conference center planners, and peer review and assessment. …

Searching For Meaning On College Campuses: Creating Programs To Nurture The Spirit, Donna M. Qualters, Beverly Dolinsky, Michael Woodnick

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Discussing spirituality on a secular college campus can be risky. Yet faculty and students have expressed a need to explore meaning in their lives and work. This chapter describes one university’s year-long efforts to develop a social web of activities around spirituality and meaning in community members’ lives. We describe the process of determining needs and the resulting programs. But more important, we share lessons learned, including advice on creating the climate for spiritually oriented programming to gain acceptance and be viewed as an enhancement to campus life.

Lessons Learned From Developing A Learning–Focused Classroom Observation Form: Learning-Focused Observation Form, Steven K. Jones, Kenneth S. Sagendorf, D. Brent Morris, David Stockburger, Evelyn T. Patterson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

At the United States Air Force Academy, we are attempting to go through a cultural transformation, making an overt shift toward a more learning-focused paradigm. In this chapter, we describe the nature of this transformation, as well as why we have chosen to move in this direction. We also describe one specific initiative we have undertaken: the development of a new learning-focused classroom observation form. We conclude by sharing a baker’s dozen lessons we have learned about classroom observation, effective teaching, and faculty development in general as a result of having developed this form.

Reported Long–Term Value And Effects Of Teaching Center Consultations, Wayne Jacobson, Donald H. Wulff, Stacy Grooters, Phillip M. Edwards, Karen Freisem

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

We regularly ask clients for feedback on their recent consultations with Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) staff, but in the past we have not systematically assessed our longer-term contributions to the teaching of our clients. We recently surveyed faculty and teaching assistants who consulted with CIDR one to five years ago and found that many former clients highly valued CIDR’s contribution to the development of their teaching. However, some of the most highly valued benefits they identified were not limited to what they did each day in class. This chapter identifies benefits of consulting with a teaching center …

Promoting The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning At Community Colleges: Insights From Two Learning Communities, Stanford T. Goto, Andrei Cerqueira Davis

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a powerful vehicle for professional development. Faculty make their teaching public as they investigate phenomena in their classes. This process encourages sustained discussions of teaching. In conducting SoTL, community college faculty face substantial hurdles: heavy workloads, few institutional supports, no employment rewards, perceived irrelevance, and weak peer networks. Can these challenges be overcome within existing institutional structures? This chapter explores this question by examining how SoTL is pursued in two learning communities. Evidence from these institutional case studies suggests that SoTL programs are viable in community colleges, despite major challenges.

Starting And Sustaining Successful Faculty Development Programs At Small Colleges, Michael Reder, Kim M. Mooney, Richard A. Holgren, Paul J. Kuerbis

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter complements a recent chapter in To Improve the Academy by Mooney and Reder (2008) that discusses the distinctive features and challenges of faculty development at small and liberal arts colleges. As a continuation and expansion of that more conceptual discussion, we aim to convey practical strategies for relatively new faculty developers at small institutions with incipient programs. The suggestions offered in this chapter are grounded in our experiences as faculty developers at liberal arts colleges and developed through numerous national conference presentations and conversations with colleagues in the field over the past decade. Although our recommendations are particularly …

Establishing External, Blind Peer Review Of Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning Within The Disciplines, Cheryl A. Stevens, Erik Rosegard

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Colleges and universities face growing pressure to reward multiple forms of scholarship in order to align their missions with faculty roles and rewards. This chapter proposes that disciplinary societies develop templates, processes, and criteria for external, blind peer review of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in order to provide a reliable and valid way to judge the quality of faculty SoTL work. Although SoTL requires support from faculty development programs and other interdisciplinary SoTL forums, it will continue to be viewed as evidence of teaching excellence rather than scholarship until discipline-based external, blind peer-review processes are established.

When Mentoring Is The Medium: Lessons Learned From A Faculty Development Initiative, Jung H. Yun, Mary Deane Sorcinelli

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Campuses across the country are investing considerable time, effort, and expense to replenish their faculty ranks with a new generation of scholars. How can mentoring help these new faculty juggle the many demands of surviving and thriving in academia? And how can institutions frame mentoring as a broader faculty development initiative in which faculty at all stages of the academic career can teach and learn from each other? This chapter addresses these questions by sharing the goals, design, and lessons learned from the Mutual Mentoring Initiative at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Career Pathways And Demographic Profiles Of University Presidents In The U.S.: 2000-2008, Lourdes Sanchez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the career paths and profiles of contemporary university presidents. The study provided a broad perspective in terms of what institutions and governing boards are looking for when searching for a new president. It also helped to know the trends in those accepting these positions, namely education, career path, gender, and age. I I used the following questions to guide the focus of this study:

* RQ1. What are the demographic characteristics of current university presidents (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, and geography)?

* RQ2. What academic and …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Michelle Mouton, Cate Weeks, Stephanie Strow

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Bringing "Abnormal" Discourse Into The Classroom, Virginia M. Tucker

English Faculty Publications

Assuming student discourse is prone to error, teachers have long implemented rules that ensure "safe" discourse, particularly in composition instruction. My fifth grade teacher taught me to place a comma in a sentence whenever I take a breath rather than teaching me the language of comma rules. To my dismay, many of my first-year composition students raise their hands in agreement that they too have been taught to place a comma wherever their lungs suggest. These students learn to call independent clauses a complete sentence, and to them an ellipsis is merely “dot, dot, dot.” In an attempt to reach …

Beyond Student Ratings: “A Whole New World, A New Fantastic Point Of View”, Ronald A. Berk

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Unfortunately, student ratings have dominated as the primary and, frequently, only measure of teaching performance at colleges and universities for the past four decades (Seldin, 2006). In fact, the evaluation of teaching has been in a metaphorical cul-de-sac with student ratings as the universal barometer. Only recently has there been a trend toward augmenting those ratings with other data sources to broaden and deepen the evidence base (Arreola, 2007; Berk, 2006b; Braskamp and Ory, 1994; Centra, 1993; Knapper and Cranton, 2001; Seldin, 2006).

Although much has been learned over the 60-year history of faculty evaluation and the 50-year his- tory …

Working With Disruptive Students, Ivan Harrell Ii Phd, Thomas Hollins Phd

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The authors discuss what educators can do to address disruptive student behavior in a way that not only will preserve the learning environment at our institutions by also may assist students in their growth and development.

Back Matter

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

No abstract provided.

Beliefs And Practices Of Expert Respiratory Care Faculty On Critical-Thinking Learning: A Case Study, James Leland Hulse

Dissertations

Problem. The development of critical-thinking skills during the professional training of respiratory therapists is imperative for good practice. Research evidence suggests that interactive instructional strategies are far more effective than traditional lectures. Missing from the literature are thick descriptions of how faculty organize the delivery of respiratory therapy curriculum to develop critical thinking. This case study describes the beliefs and practices of faculty members in an academically strong program in view of developing critical thinking.

Method. A qualitative, single case-study design was used to identify critical-thinking strategies and beliefs incorporated by the faculty. The program was nominated by expert members …

Scientific Inquiry In Agricultural Education Teacher Preparation: A Look At Teacher Educators’ Perceptions, Darla French, Mark Balschweid

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

The specific objectives of this study were to identify the attitudes of U.S. agricultural education teacher educators toward using scientific inquiry as an instructional method and to determine their level of comfort and awareness with new information and teaching methodologies in science. A mailed survey was sent to all agricultural education teacher preparation institutions in the United States. One-half of the respondents who indicated that they presented scientific inquiry to their pre-service teachers during the methods of teaching course indicated they were very comfortable with teaching technical agriculture content, while one in eight said they were very comfortable with teaching …

Supporting Teacher Education Through A Combined Model Of Philosophical, Collaborative And Experiential Learning, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper provides insights into teaching and learning based on the analysis of an accredited professional development program, entitled the Postgraduate Certificate in Third Level Learning and Teaching, aimed at lecturing staff/faculty in Irish higher education. The program has its theoretical basis in the Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1983), combined with principles of collaborative learning and a philosophical understanding of teaching in higher education. An action research study was conducted to investigate the lecturers’ perceptions of the program, with a particular focus on how support could be provided to them through a combined model of learning. As a core …

Thankful Learning: A Grounded Theory Study Of Relational Practice Between Master’S Students And Professors, Harriet L. Schwartz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

No abstract provided.

Quality Assurance Policies In The European Higher Education Area: A Comparative Case Study, Joanna Maria Jezierska

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

European tertiary education became an important topic of the main leaders of the world academia a decade ago, when 29 European countries voluntarily signed the Bologna Declaration of 1999. This intergovernmental European initiative of educational reform, known as the Bologna Process, defines a common framework for higher education systems, and encourages the development of quality assurance within and between institutions of higher education. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the implementation process of quality assurance policy, The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, in two European countries: the United Kingdom and Poland, including the quality …

Audit Of Social Care Student Numbers And Programme Providers In Ireland, Kevin Lalor

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Seton Hall University And The Attributes Of Organizational Adaptation Employed In Fashioning Its Catholic Identity And Mission In The Post-Vatican Ii Era (1966-2006), Nicholas F. Mazza

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis is the first fully developed and published study of Seton Hall University. It specifically examines the organizational structures of Seton Hall University over a forty year period in light of the tumultuous changes in the Catholic Church and Catholic academia post-Vatican 11. Of particular importance is change that influenced the Catholic identity and mission of the university. The author examines the central problems arising from the changes influenced by the actions of the Vatican Council as well as the concerns expressed by Catholic academic, namely, academic freedom and the issues of higher education governance. These two factors spearheaded …

A Comparison Of Face-To-Face And Online Learning Environments To Prepare Teachers To Use Technology, Ashley Janel Addis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated the similarities and differences in the implementation of face-to-face and online versions of an undergraduate educational technology course for elementary teacher candidates. A common course project, the Innovations Mini-teach , was the focus of the investigation. Twenty-four students participated in the face-to-face section, 22 were enrolled in the online section, and the instructor was the same for both classes. Through this investigation, similarities and differences were identified in the nature of the learning experience as well as student outcomes. Similarities included how the project was introduced, structured, and facilitated. Key differences pertained to the nature of collaboration …

Defeating The Developer's Dilemma: An Online Tool For Individual Consultations, Michele Dipietro, Susan A. Ambrose, Michael Bridges, Anne Fay, Marsha C. Lovett, Mari Kamala Norman

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter introduces an online consultation tool that helps resolve the tension that developers often experience in consultations between offering quick fixes and providing in-depth but time-consuming conceptual understanding. The tool that the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence has developed provides instructors with concrete teaching strategies to address common teaching problems, while also educating them about the pedagogical principles informing those strategies. The tool can be used to enhance traditional face-to-face consultations or, by itself, to reach a wider faculty audience, including adjunct and off site faculty.

Learning–Centered Evaluation Of Teaching, Trav D. Johnson

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Over the past decade, institutions of higher education have placed increased emphasis on promoting student learning. This emphasis has influenced thinking about teaching, course design, and faculty development, but it has had little effect on the evaluation of teaching. In other words, the evaluation of teaching remains focused on instruction (that is, teacher performance and course characteristics) rather than on student learning. Learning-centered evaluation of teaching provides a viable way to emphasize student learning in the evaluation process. This approach uses principles of program evaluation and emphasizes learning goals, learning activities, learning assessments, and learning outcomes in the evaluation of …

Preparing Advocates For Faculty Development: Expanding The Meaning Of “Growing Our Own”, Deborah S. Meizlish, Mary C. Wright

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Discussions about preparing newcomers for faculty development focus almost exclusively on the staffing needs of teaching centers. Unfortunately, this emphasis significantly narrows what it means to prepare people for the field. Instead, we suggest that successful preparation has two elements: preparation of talented individuals for formal positions in the field and preparation of knowledgeable advocates or allies. As evidence, we present results from a survey of our center’s graduate teaching consultants, documenting how their work shaped their future connections to faculty development. Our results challenge centers to consider how their programming can “grow” both professionals in and advocates for faculty …

Meeting New Faculty At The Intersection: Personal And Professional Support Points The Way, Ann Riley

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty developers can play a significant role in increasing the retention of new faculty. This chapter presents a study conducted at a public research university that reveals that first-year faculty need personal, relational, and professional support. However, the importance of each type of support shifts during this first year, suggesting that faculty development efforts aimed toward new faculty should adjust accordingly. This study uses a sequential mixed-method design and is grounded in adult development theory, which views new faculty as adult learners in a career-life transition and faculty developers as adult educators.

Teaching Learning Processes—To Students And Teachers, Pamela E. Barnett, Linda C. Hodges

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Our teaching and learning center serves faculty and graduate students as teachers and undergraduates as learners. Here we share the experiences of graduate student facilitators whom we trained to lead problem-solving skills workshops for undergraduates. Our aim was to help these graduate students see themselves as teachers of disciplinary thinking as much as of disciplinary content. However, they also began to reexamine their teaching beliefs and practices, recognize and respond to the needs of novice learners, and become more conscious of the demands of learning their disciplines. We offer this program as a model for developing future facuity.

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.

Magicians Of The Golden State: The Csu Center Director Disappearing Acts, Cynthia Desrochers

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The California State University (CSU) Teaching and Learning Center directors perform daily feats of magic, often culminating in one particularly dramatic trick at the end of the academic year—their own disappearing acts. This chapter traces the history of the center director position in the CSU system, reports where directors go when they leave the position after only a few years, and proposes how frequent turnover might be reversed through organizational factors aimed at promoting retention of these Magicians of the Golden State.

Determinants Of Academic Achievement And Intention To Complete The Program Among Pga Golf Management Students, Brian James Soule

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students enrolled in PGA Golf Management programs at five public universities were surveyed to determine what contributed to their academic achievement, i.e., grades, and their intention to successfully complete their academic program. The Eccles expectancy-value model of activity behaviors was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The results of regression analyses indicated that the students' perceptions that their parents and peers believed that they could successfully complete their degree requirements, as well as their own self-efficacy beliefs, predicted their academic achievement, but not their intention to complete the program. The results of regression analyses indicated also that the …