Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Misalignments: Challenges In Cultivating Science Faculty With Education Specialties In Your Department, Seth D. Bush, Nancy Pelaez, James A. Rudd Ii, Michael T. Stevens, Kimberly D. Tanner, Kathy S. Williams

PIBERG Publications

Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES) are increasingly being hired across the United States. However, little is known about the motivations for SFES hiring or the potential or actual impact of SFES. In the context of a recent national survey of US SFES, we investigated SFES perceptions about these issues. Strikingly, perceptions about reasons for hiring SFES were poorly aligned with perceptions about potential and actual contributions reported by SFES themselves, and the advice they extended to beginning SFES was varied. While preparation of future teachers and departmental teaching needs were common reasons offered for SFES hiring, the potential and …

Faculty Writing Circles: Freedom To Explore And Flourish, Ludwika Goodson, Martha Coussement, Shannon Johnson

Shannon F Johnson

Asked to launch a faculty writing circle, our Center joined faculty to shape its mission and give members a “safe space,” a “source of accountability” (Nole, Hart, Soled, 2010), and writing support. We will report on milestones, resulting publications and presentations, library collaboration, and university wide writing initiatives showing the circle's evolution into a community of practice and how it has “harnessed the multiplier effects of collaborative processes...building upon informal networks within entities” (Nagy & Burch, 2009). By comparing this circle to those at other universities, we also will explore strategies and conditions that stimulate scholarly writing and benefit stakeholders. …

Liberating Insight By Walking In Other People's Shoes, Gail Rathbun, Jane Leatherman, Rebecca Jensen

Rebecca S Jensen

The researchers framed this program evaluation project as an investigation of the influences on teaching practices of a teaching center program participants and non-participants. Changes in teaching practices and the motivations for these changes of fifteen randomly chosen faculty were studied. Session participants will develop and analyze brief case studies using abbreviated data sets and three of the methods that were used in the study. Through hands on analysis of data, session participants will enhance their ability to evaluate the conclusions drawn by the researchers and become familiar with useful analytical frameworks that they can use in their own research. …

Competencies For A Leadership Role In Educational Development, Kristi Jordan Verbeke

Wayne State University Dissertations

Because the field of educational development (also known as faculty development, academic development, and staff development) is relatively new, very little is known about the competencies required for those who work in the field. Additionally, there are no formal pathways or means of formal preparation for educational developers. This study utilized a mixed-methods research design to explore the competencies required for a leadership role in the field of educational development.

The first part of the study sought to identify these competencies by using the Delphi technique to survey experts in the field. The second part explored whether these competencies were …

Just Ask: Using Faculty Input To Inform Communication Strategies, Krista Hoffmann Longtin, Megan M. Palmer, Julie L. Welch, Emily C. Walvoord, Mary E. Dankoski

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty members today are bombarded with information, yet limited in time and attention. Managing communication with faculty is an increasingly important function of faculty development offices. This study explored how communication frameworks can be paired with web design principles and attention economics to increase the effectiveness of communication with faculty members. We developed and tested communication approaches designed to enhance faculty members’ identification and involvement with our programs. The advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of each model are presented. Ultimately, the study reframed our understanding of communication strategies, not as static tools, but rather as opportunities to engage faculty.

Developing Scholarly Teachers Through An Sotl Faculty Fellowship, Beth A. Fisher, Michelle D. Repice, Carolyn L. Dufault, Denise A. Leonard, Regina F. Frey

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The increasing interest in incorporating evidenced based teaching in higher education has created a pronounced need for faculty to learn the theory and practice of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). This article describes a program designed to prepare faculty to (a) draw on existing SoTL studies when designing and implementing evidenced based teaching methods, (b) design SoTL studies to test the effectiveness of those methods, and (c) integrate their new knowledge of SoTL into the practice of “scholarly teaching.” This program has proven to be a successful model for incorporating evidenced based teaching into undergraduate science, technology, engineering, …

Emotion In The Classroom: An Update, Janine Bowen

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Fourteen years ago, POD member Edward Vela drew attention to the role of emotion in learning. In particular he emphasized the need for faculty to express positive emotions in the classroom. Since then researchers continue to measure the effectiveness of positive emotion in student learning but the field of emotion in the classroom has expanded since Vela's essay. The purpose of this article is to not only update Vela's citations on emotion and learning but to provide a broader perspective on the topic and assist faculty developers. Ashkanasy's five level model frames the discussion.

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.