Building the Faculty We Need


Book Description

This monograph discusses the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program, a new vision of doctoral education that seeks to broaden the traditional preparation of students who become faculty members. Chapter 1 reviews the four phases of the program, beginning with phase 1 (1993-96) to phase 4 (1999-2002). The program involves a group of cooperating colleges and universities that prepare faculty not only for research but also for teaching and service to the department and the campus. Chapter 2 details three critical elements of the programs: formation of clusters of new institutional partnerships; new forms of mentoring; and the centrality of faculty, both at the doctoral university and at partner institutions. Chapter 3 describes graduate student experiences with PFF programs, and offers results of surveys and reports from alumni on the effectiveness of the programs in the job market. Problems of participation in the programs, chiefly with time required and logistics, are also covered. Chapter 4 discusses future challenges, including sustaining the clusters, promoting inclusiveness, and changing the culture of faculty preparation. Chapter 5 suggests the program as a strategy for organizational change and offers some action recommendations. Appended are lists of participating institutions, as well as related readings and resources. (Contains 40 references.) (RH)




Taking College Teaching Seriously - Pedagogy Matters!


Book Description

“College teaching is not rocket science – it’s much, much harder.” Diana Laurillard, University of LondonCollege faculty, both adjunct and full-time, stand with their students at the coalface of learning, wishing for more to succeed and disappointed at how illusory academic success is for so many. Among the array of investments colleges are making to improve student outcomes, from predictive data analysis to enhanced advising, too little attention is paid to supporting faculty. Yet the impact of teacher and teaching on student learning is incontrovertible. Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! stands against the tide – celebrating the incredible work faculty members do each day and challenging them to expand their capacity to present their content expertise effectively. This book presents a model of embedded professional development, which capitalizes on the affordances of technology to enable groups of faculty to examine their practice in a non-evaluative context, but with a clear focus on improvement. The core of the work involves individual reflection and the design provides for an accessible way to “see” into the classrooms of discipline peers. Most importantly, the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience is not an intense one-shot, but rather a structured opportunity for a faculty member to examine and adapt practice over time and to assess the impact of changes on student learning. Faculty who have participated in the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience found it to be transformative:• English Professor, Kentucky: Participating in (the work) this year has helped me to be more reflective in every single action. I constantly analyze how each session went... (it) gave me the tools to think about every minute detail of a classroom.• Adjunct Math Professor, Mississippi: Speaking as an adjunct, I have valued the chance to share my teaching and get ideas from others. I can honestly say that this experience has been a lifeline of sorts this year. In a “magic wand” instructional setting, I’d wish for the kind of honest, respectful and professionally challenging discussions we have in Classroom Notebook* at weekly staff meetings.*Classroom Notebook is the Taking College Teaching Seriously online platform• Math Professor, NJ: I think the continual self-evaluation and reflection allowed us to work together to brainstorm improvements and positive tweaks to be more purposeful in our classrooms as opposed to just randomly reaching in the dark for ideas and techniques in HOPE of success.Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! breaks new ground in professional development. Each faculty member is at the center of the learning experience, stimulated and supported by peers working in similar contexts. They share a desire to see more students learn deeply and find that honing their skill at adapting to the learning needs of specific classes and students allows them to realize this goal. Uniquely, Taking College Teaching Seriously illuminates the link between faculty teaching expertise and improving student outcomes.The introduction to the book examines the challenges facing faculty in higher education today and reviews the literature on teaching and learning. Chapter 1 looks at the analytical foundations for all of the model’s elements, from adult learning theory to communities of practice, and Chapter 2 presents the model’s theory of change. Chapter 3 describes the model in detail and Chapters 4 and 5 concern the infrastructure of the faculty collaborative community, focusing on both its interpersonal and technological dimensions. The book concludes in Chapter 6 with an assessment of the value of this approach to professional development and a call to action for faculty member engagement in this important work, so essential to both professional passion and mandate.




Building Faculty Learning Communities


Book Description

Changing our colleges and universities into learning institutions has become increasingly important at the same time it has become more difficult. Faculty learning communities have proven to be effective for addressing institutional challenges, from preparing the faculty of the future and reinvigorating senior faculty, to implementing new courses, curricula, and campus initiatives on diversity and technology. The results of faculty learning community programs parallel for faculty members the results of student learning communities for students, such as retention, deeper learning, respect for other cultures, and greater civic participation. The chapters in this issue of New Directions for Teaching and Learning describe from a practitioner's perspective the history, development, implementation, and results of faculty learning communities across a wide range of institutions and purposes. Institutions are invited to use this volume to initiate faculty learning communities on their campuses. This is the 97th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Teaching and Learning.




Faculty Development in the Age of Evidence


Book Description

The first decade of the 21st century brought major challenges to higher education, all of which have implications for and impact the future of faculty professional development. This volume provides the field with an important snapshot of faculty development structures, priorities and practices in a period of change, and uses the collective wisdom of those engaged with teaching, learning, and faculty development centers and programs to identify important new directions for practice. Building on their previous study of a decade ago, published under the title of Creating the Future of Faculty Development, the authors explore questions of professional preparation and pathways, programmatic priorities, collaboration, and assessment. Since the publication of this earlier study, the pressures on faculty development have only escalated—demands for greater accountability from regional and disciplinary accreditors, fiscal constraints, increasing diversity in types of faculty appointments, and expansion of new technologies for research and teaching. Centers have been asked to address a wider range of institutional issues and priorities based on these challenges. How have they responded and what strategies should centers be considering? These are the questions this book addresses.For this new study the authors re-surveyed faculty developers on perceived priorities for the field as well as practices and services offered. They also examined more deeply than the earlier study the organization of faculty development, including characteristics of directors; operating budgets and staffing levels of centers; and patterns of collaboration, re-organization and consolidation. In doing so they elicited information on centers’ “signature programs,” and the ways that they assess the impact of their programs on teaching and learning and other key outcomes. What emerges from the findings are what the authors term a new Age of Evidence, influenced by heightened stakeholder interest in the outcomes of undergraduate education and characterized by a focus on assessing the impact of instruction on student learning, of academic programs on student success, and of faculty development in institutional mission priorities. Faculty developers are responding to institutional needs for assessment, at the same time as they are being asked to address a wider range of institutional priorities in areas such as blended and online teaching, diversity, and the scale-up of evidence-based practices. They face the need to broaden their audiences, and address the needs of part-time, non-tenure-track, and graduate student instructors as well as of pre-tenure and post-tenure faculty. They are also feeling increased pressure to demonstrate the “return on investment” of their programs.This book describes how these faculty development and institutional needs and priorities are being addressed through linkages, collaborations, and networks across institutional units; and highlights the increasing role of faculty development professionals as organizational “change agents” at the department and institutional levels, serving as experts on the needs of faculty in larger organizational discussions.




Building the Responsive Campus


Book Description

As we enter the 21st century, colleges and universities are in great flux. Fiscal shortfalls, a suspicious public, a more consumer-driven market, and a host of other concerns demand that postsecondary institutions restructure themselves. Building the Responsive Campus offers a critique of modern academia, as well as a proposal for making campuses more effective -- that is, better at meeting clients and customers′ needs. Author William G. Tierney addresses the problems that many academic institutions have today in clinging to the practices and organization of the past. He argues that institutions of higher learning are in demand of dramatic organizational changes. The chapters look at key critical issues -- faculty roles and rewards, presidential leadership, strategic planning, assessment, and evaluation-utilizing the latest ideas to bring about structural reform and high performance. The timely volume takes a data-driven approach, using research derived from ethnographies, case studies, and interviews carried out over the past 15 years. By outlining many of the organizational problems that colleges and universities face today, Tierney reveals workable solutions.




Faculty Development in the Health Professions


Book Description

This volume addresses all facets of faculty development, including academic and career development, teaching improvement, research capacity building, and leadership development. In addition, it describes a multitude of ways, ranging from workshops to the workplace, in which health professionals can develop their knowledge and skills. By providing an informed and scholarly overview of faculty development, and by describing original content that has not been previously published, this book helps to ensure that research and evidence inform practice, moves the scholarly agenda forward, and promotes dialogue and debate in this evolving field. It will prove an invaluable resource for faculty development program planning, implementation and evaluation, and will help to sustain faculty members’ vitality and commitment to excellence. Kelley M. Skeff, M.D., Ph.D., May 2013: In this text, Steinert and her colleagues have provided a significant contribution to the future of faculty development. In an academic and comprehensive way, the authors have both documented past efforts in faculty development as well as provided guidance and stimuli for the future. The scholarly and well-referenced chapters provide a compendium of methods previously used while emphasizing the expanding areas deserving work. Moreover, the writers consistently elucidate the faculty development process by highlighting the theoretical underpinnings of faculty development and the research conducted. Thus, the book provides an important resource for two major groups, current providers and researchers in faculty development as well as those desiring to enter the field. Both groups of readers can benefit from a reading of the entire book or by delving into their major area of interest and passion. In so doing, they will better understand our successes and our limitations in this emerging field. Faculty development in the health professions has now received attention for 6 decades. Yet, dedicated faculty members trying to address the challenges in medical education and the health care delivery system do not have all the assistance they need to achieve their goals. This book provides a valuable resource towards that end.




Paths to the Professoriate


Book Description

Publisher Description




Research on University Teaching and Faculty Development


Book Description

This book builds on the tradition of concern for university innovation that has characterized higher education throughout the world. It recognizes the university needs for continuous development of students and faculty. It involves recommendations applicable to classroom teaching, thus providing a bridge between research and practice. It helps readers meet some university challenges and build effective universities for present times. For all those reasons, we believe that this book is right. The need for renewed focus on innovation in higher education stems from several sources. First, some social and educational agencies are expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the general higher education system. Although we do not agree with the criticism, many universities around the world assume their responsibility for launching research projects, and programs for promoting quality in teaching and learning within their faculty and community. Second, the world in which universities operate is changing noticeably. Colleges and universities are experiencing basic changes in student admission and placement. In the nearest future the student body will be over 25 years of age. Students will need methodologies to access learning materials and participate in online actions and communications over the Internet at their own convenience. The third reason for a special attention on university innovations comprises market competition in society. Students are annually evaluating the value of any university degree based upon their perceptions on quality in flexible teaching, resources and new educational technologies, campus and classroom learning environments, services and fees. Students are demanding more than a piece of paper as a premium placed on a college degree. They envisage universities must provide the major guide and best way for finding jobs and career progress. Fourth, colleges and universities are encouraging the development of long-distance education and massive open online courses. Government agencies foster competition among institutions, in order to provide powerful mental tools to help students to master tough subjects. Besides, private higher education institutions are emerging and competing for students with those of the public sector. Finally, some books outline improvement processes needed by faculty members to undertake curriculum and teaching innovations. However, very few claim to describe the teaching competencies needed by university faculty who work in higher education classroom settings. Furthermore, universities offering innovation programs and courses use those competencies to identify learning change and teacher and student progress toward curriculum development.




Building Trust between Faculty and Administrators


Book Description

In this unique and timely book, Dr. Lisa B. Fiore and Dr. Catherine Koverola explore and illuminate the tensions between faculty and administrators that have become ubiquitous in higher education and which cause conflicts that may adversely affect students and the institution. The authors harness their extensive professional expertise in cross-cultural communication and education, their years of personal experience working through conflicts in higher education, and their collaborative research to provide a guide for building trust and productive relationships. With an approach anchored in intercultural theory and practice, the authors lay a foundation upon which readers can build new understanding about the "other" constituents with whom they work. Practical tools such as case studies, sample scripts, discussion points, and resources will resonate with faculty and administrators at colleges and universities, as well as aspiring higher education practitioners. Readers will immediately recognize universal themes and scenarios and will appreciate the authors’ straightforward approach that will translate into tangible, meaningful changes in their professional relationships. This book moves discussions forward, from argumentation and resentment to positive behavior change that grows from a place of trust and mutual respect.




Building School 2.0


Book Description

Ninety-five propositions for creating more relevant, more caring schools There is a growing desire to reexamine education and learning. Educators use the phrase "school 2.0" to think about what schools will look like in the future. Moving beyond a basic examination of using technology for classroom instruction, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need is a larger discussion of how education, learning, and our physical school spaces can—and should—change because of the changing nature of our lives brought on by these technologies. Well known for their work in creating Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a technology-rich, collaborative, learner-centric school in Philadelphia, founding principal Chris Lehmann and former SLA teacher Zac Chase are uniquely qualified to write about changing how we educate. The best strategies, they contend, enable networked learning that allows research, creativity, communication, and collaboration to help prepare students to be functional citizens within a modern society. Their model includes discussions of the following key concepts: Technology must be ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible Classrooms must be learner-centric and use backwards design principles Good technology can be better than new technology Teachers must serve as mentors and bring real-world experiences to students Each section of Building School 2.0 presents a thesis designed to help educators and administrators to examine specific practices in their schools, and to then take their conclusions from theory to practice. Collectively, the theses represent a new vision of school, built off of the best of what has come before us, but with an eye toward a future we cannot fully imagine.