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ACADEMIC
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12 Tips for Improving Your
Faculty Development Plan
Table of Contents
Web-Based Faculty Activity Reporting System Provides Easy-to-Update, Accessible Information ..........................11
Talk about Teaching That Benefits Beginners and Those Who Mentor Them ........................................................15
Leader
ACAD
EMIC
THE
NEW
S LE T
TER
FO R
ACAD
Collabo IC D E EM
ra
ANS
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12 Tips for Improving Your
Faculty Development Plan
12 Tips for Improving Your Faculty Development Plan
Rob Kelly
Editor
Academic Leader
5
12 TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR FACULT Y DEVELOPMENT PL AN
Quick Reference
Tips for Academic Deans and Department Chairs compiled from the Academic Leader
Faculty Development
W
hen teachers think the only, the best, the most important way
Quick Reference to improve their teaching is by developing their content
Sources: knowledge, they end up with sophisticated levels of knowl-
edge, but they may have only simplistic instructional methods to con-
(3) Content Knowledge: vey that material. To imagine that content matters more than process is
A Barrier to Teacher to imagine that the car is more important than the road. Both are essen-
Development
tial. WHAT is taught and HOW it is taught are inextricably linked and
very much dependent on one another. (3)
(1) Can Training Make You a
The best teachers are not always, not even usually, those teachers with the most
Better Teacher?
sophisticated content knowledge. The best teachers do know their material, but they
also know a lot about the process of teaching. They have at their disposal a repertoire
(5) Talk about Teaching
of instructional methods, strategies, and approaches — a repertoire that continually
That Benefits Beginners
grows, just as their content knowledge develops. (3)
and Those Who Mentor
Them What can administrators do to help faculty marry content
knowledge with appropriate teaching processes to enhance
(2) Teaching vs. Research:
Finally, a New Chapter
student learning?
• Support Comprehensive Training (1)
(6) Simple commitment but Countless workshops, seminars, retreats, and other training opportunities are
Long-Term Challenge: offered under the assumption that they can positively affect how faculty teach,
Promotion &Tenure and which in turn will help students learn more. However, there’s evidence that short-
Scholarship of Teaching term interventions, such as an afternoon workshop, don’t have much of an effect
& Learning when it comes to sustained behavior change. On the other hand, data suggest that
well-designed, substantive training programs are worth the time and effort.
(7) Serving Students by Gibbs and Coffey looked at the effects of training programs at 20 universities in
Helping Faculty: eight countries. Each training program involved at least 60 hours (300 for the
Encouraging Instruc- longest) and spread those activities across four to 18 months. Results provide con-
tional Technology firmation that this kind of training does make a significant and lasting impact on
Integration teaching. Faculty who participated in more comprehensive training programs
became more learner-focused and their students were more likely to take deep
approaches to learning.
✎ Complex Instructional Issues Mentors can help mentees with the questions
that don’t have easy answers on a level that reveals how much more there is
to learn about teaching and learning.
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Academic Leader Editor: Rob Kelly
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6
✎ Student Ratings. It’s beneficial to consult with a least meritorious performance in teaching, and at least
colleague who’s been around for a while, one who meritorious performance in either scholarship or service
can look objectively at a set of ratings and say some- and satisfactory performance in the other.” As a result,
thing like, “Well, if these were my ratings, here are improvements in the quality of student learning are
the three things I’d conclude.” found across SIUE. These improvements are supported
by an array of activities and programs, including the
✎ Syllabus Construction Mentors can help a mentee commitment to meritorious teaching. (6)
see beyond the mechanics to convey the course
design, i.e., what the teacher believes contributes to • Encourage Instructional Technology Integration (7)
learning. In a recent survey of college and university students,
98 percent reported owning their own computer (PC or
✎ Exams Together. The mentor and mentee can talk laptop), and the same percentage reported owning more
about how exam events can be designed to promote than one electronic device (such as a computer and a cell
learning the course material not just as a means to phone). As a result, these “digital learners ... have differ-
grade student mastery of it. ent expectations of teachers, of the content, of the deliv-
ery, and of access to that content.” What can
✎ Intellectual Judgments Teachers need to give stu- administrators — deans and chairs, specifically — do to
dents accurate feedback about their performance, encourage IT integration so faculty are ready to meet
which is very different than saying or subtly convey- these student expectations and needs?
ing that a student doesn’t have the intellectual mus-
cle required to master the material. Mentors can help ✔ Regular overviews ensure that faculty are aware of
mentees see the difference. workshops on the different technologies and what
can be done with them.
✎ Classroom Management. It takes time and encour-
agement from a mentor to learn that students can be ✔ Roundtable discussions within departments can
trusted—not believed in blindly, but trusted enough help faculty identify and articulate discipline-specific
for teachers to show them respect and believe that it ways to achieve IT integration.
will be returned.
✔ Emphasize student need and demand and advo-
• Commit to Meritorious Teaching cate for student participation in departmental or
It is time to move past the old teaching vs. research college IT roundtables and service on IT-related
debate and consider useful ways to talk about these committees at their institutions.
related but very different parts of a faculty member’s job.
Michael Prince, Richard Felder, and Rebecca Brent (2) ✔ Create departmental and course-specific templates
report that “integrating research into the classroom in the to lessen the learning curve for faculty and to
way integration is normally conceived — i.e., instructors provide students with standardized resources and
discussing the content of their research — has not been materials.
shown to occur frequently or to improve instruction.”
What these authors propose as a richer potential nexus ✔ Facilitate a peer review process for courses using
are those forms of teaching (inquiry-based approaches IT to help improve the quality of those courses and
and problem-based learning, for example) that mirror the to clarify best practices criteria for instructors.
research process. In this case, “a faculty member’s
research provides experiences that have the potential to ✔ Increase the credit given to IT users by promotion
enrich instruction by introducing students to the research and tenure committees, and more clearly articulate
process and to important research skills.” how IT integration relates to the scholarship of teach-
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville made a com- ing and learning development stages for their first
mitment to meritorious teaching for promotion and online class. ●
tenure in 1994-95. The new promotion policy included
the following statement: “A candidate for promotion shall
demonstrate, at the level commensurate with rank, at
Reference:
L et’s imagine a “required” profes-
sional development activity for
faculty: after 20 years of teaching, all
ers), the declining levels of prepared-
ness of college students, and others.
Teachers can bemoan these changes
Soldner, L. B. (2002–2003). Why I
continue to teach: Reflection of a
mid-career developmental literacy
college instructors must prepare and respond to them with much com- educator. Journal of College Literacy
(we’ll skip the and-submit-for-credit plaining, or see them as opportunities and Learning, 31, 71–78.
part) an essay that explores the rea- for growth. Soldner says that her
sons why they teach. The idea for commitment to teaching remains
this assignment derives from an essay because it provides her with so many
by Laura B. Soldner (reference opportunities to grow and change.
below) who found herself restive dur-
ing a sabbatical year. She couldn’t Ability to scaffold development—
seem to focus on the textbook she Soldner is a developmental educator.
was supposed to be writing but kept She works with students on basic
revisiting the reasons she chose to reading and writing skills. She
teach and exploring how those rea- explains that the “ability to scaffold
sons related to her current profes- development, to provide students
sional life. The four reasons Soldner with the initial assistance they need
chose to teach and that continued to and to withdraw that help gradually
motivate her to remain in the profes- as they are able to use the skills and
sion may not be reasons you’d list, strategies independently, is another
but they illustrate the importance of reason I find teaching so satisfying.”
this kind of introspection, and they (p. 75) The success of one’s students
might springboard your own reflec- can bring teachers much satisfaction.
tion.
Sense of “mattering”—“Develop-
Sense of discovery—“I am contin- mental literacy educators are often
ually struck by the simultaneous the front line of defense in stemming
nature of teaching and learning. In student attrition. They may be the
one instant, I may be the teacher or only ones to have daily instructional
facilitator of a lesson, discussion, and personal interactions with their
or activity, but I am, at the same students.” (p. 77) That makes their
moment, a learner who is reconsider- work important—to their students, to
ing previous knowledge, seeking out their institutions, even to our soci-
new information, or making connec- ety—and this sense of doing work
tions between the two.” (p. 73) that makes a difference can be a
Teaching is a profession for those powerful motivator for all kinds of
who love to learn. educators.
8
Teaching Circles:
Low-Cost, High-Impact Faculty Development
By Barbara A. Mezeske
9
hour sessions (six sessions per semes-
A Focus on Teaching and ter) for a full academic year. They meet
in groups of six to 15 led by facilitators
10
FROM PAGE 10 them who participated along with a MCTP facilitators, and select MCTP
copy of the MCTP syllabus. Partici- participants.
get easier over time as well. This was pants also receive a letter of recogni- For more information about the
one of the reasons for asking faculty to tion from the provost. A copy of this MCTP, visit www1.umn.edu/ohr/
commit to the program for an entire letter is also sent to the department teachlearn/faculty.
year, Romano says. chair and dean.
The MCTP culminates in an event Reference
Recognition called “The Celebration of Teaching,” Romano, John L., Hoesing, O’Dono-
Although department chairs and which acknowledges each participant’s van, Kathleen, and Weinsheimer,
deans are not directly involved in the commitment to teaching and learning. Joyce. 2004. Faculty at Mid-Career: A
program, their support has helped it The event includes speeches from vari- Program to Enhance Teaching and
succeed. At the end of the year, the ous stakeholders, including central Learning. Innovative Higher Education.
CTLS sends them letters reminding administrators, the CTLS director, 29, no 1: 21-48 ●
11
FROM PAGE 11 involved in, and they can begin to untenured faculty begin their dossiers
build professional development for their second-, third-, or fourth-year
and improves student success but does programs around that to help fac- reviews.” (The main difference
not share that work publicly, it would ulty improve in various areas. between the activity reports and the
not count as scholarly activity. • The data can be made available dossiers for formal reviews is that
“Transparency has to be a part of all for other management functions. the dossiers include information
activities. It’s in becoming public that “I can have a report in a couple of that demonstrates the quality of the
one begins to enter truly scholarly minutes that tells a donor what scholarship.)
activity. That’s where we leave it. We our faculty are doing in the area of At the department level, detailed
do not have peers evaluate or the dean applied research, and it comes out information in these activity reports
evaluate the overall quality of that as a beautiful, easily read report,” can bolster the strength of requests for
public scholarly activity. It’s that spirit Nedwek says. “I also use it in my new faculty lines or additional
of faculty just coming out and taking work with the board of trustees to resources.
that risk of being public that we think demonstrate the faculty’s produc- In addition, there may soon be mon-
is going to continually transform the tivity.” (Of course, privacy is a etary rewards attached to the informa-
culture,” Nedwek says. concern, and the system has a tion in these activity reports. “The
series of security measures, and issue facing us in our fourth year is, to
Outcomes when the information is used for what extent can we use the activity
Maryville University implemented reports, faculty are asked for their reports as a means for compensation
this electronic faculty activity report- permission to use the informa- modeling? That’s a really tough ques-
ing system nearly three years ago, and tion.) tion because when I was academic
in that time there have been several vice president, I sold this whole model
positive outcomes: Motivation for compliance on the notion that this is purely devel-
• The university is undergoing a Faculty compliance with the system opmental, and now some might per-
major reconsideration of promo- has been good, Nedwek says. The ease ceive this as changing the rules of the
tion and tenure criteria to reflect of inputting their information has game. On the other hand, for faculty
the Boyer orientation to scholarly helped, but faculty also realize that who are productive, it will finally be a
activities. they stand to benefit. “We have gotten way for us to begin to engage in merit
• Capture of the data electronically enormous compliance on the part of pay,” Nedwek says. ●
and ease of use make it easy for the faculty, who are just beginning to
academic leaders to see what see the utility of this approach for
scholarly work faculty are their requests for sabbaticals or as the
12
FROM PAGE 12 - maintains copyright compliance ply altered or reused several times,”
records. says Rhett McDaniel, director of
Center for Teaching and Learning. instructional technology at IUPUI’s
The Jump Start program was devel- The program begins with a four-day Center for Teaching and Learning. “Is
oped in response to this issue. “We workshop in which participants learn the content best suited for a drag-and-
provide them with support so they about the basics of online course drop exercise or some sort of 3-dimen-
don’t have to develop the course totally design and best practices. “We found sional model?”
on their own. Their concern is mainly that faculty have trouble envisioning The goal for the initial workshop is
with the content and how to teach the right away what an online course is for each participant to develop one
course,” Tarr says. and what it looks like. So we start off module for his or her course, which is
Selection for the Jump Start program by giving them some ideas on how to handed off to digital media services to
is competitive because the program can write goals and objectives, and how develop a prototype. “We found that
accommodate only eight to 10 partici- to ‘chunk’ content. We show them that’s really important having that one
pants per year. Faculty members are examples of different Web interfaces very intensive week and getting that
given a $5,000 stipend so they can buy they can use,” Tarr says. prototype plan developed. We’ve done
themselves some time, usually during Then faculty spend time working on some online course development with-
the summer, Tarr says. their individual courses with their out the Jump Start program and found
The program gives priority to high- design team, fleshing out their goals it was very easy for faculty to keep
enrollment freshman courses, courses and envisioning different course ele- spinning their wheels as they think
that are part of online certificate pro- ments. As they get farther along, they about what they are going to do before
grams, and courses needed by associ- start considering which multimedia they get started creating anything,”
ate degree holders to complete a might be used in the course. “We talk
general studies degree. The selection about learning objects that can be sim- PAGE 14
committee also considers the faculty
member’s plan for the course, how
well those plans fit with the univer-
sity’s goals, and how the program Jump Start Week Workshop Schedule
might be able to help a particular Day 1
faculty member. • Learn the basics of online course design.
Each faculty participant is assigned a • See examples of online courses with interactivity.
support team that consists of • Introduce writing goals and objectives.
• An instructional design consultant • Consider Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance issues.
who: • Meet with design team to develop work plan.
- helps faculty develop course Day 2
objectives, activities, and assess- • Develop or refine goals and objectives for individual courses.
ment strategies • Learn visual design principles for online courses.
- directs the creation of a work • Meet with Digital Media Services (DMS) production group to learn about
plan and design document for the available production support.
course • Consult with information resource library faculty about support for the
• A subject specialist librarian who: project.
- provides information resources • Select user web interface and types of interactivity available for IUPUI
- helps with remote access to Online courses.
library materials Day 3
- designs library instruction specifi- • Discuss best practices in online teaching.
cally for the course • Identify departmental and school supports for the project.
• Media production staff that • Work with copyright consultant to determine elements of fair use and
- creates Web interfaces, images, those that will require permission.
illustrations, video, and audio • Learn about assessment of online courses.
• A copyright management • Continue course design work and develop prototype.
consultant who: • Share your course design and view other faculty projects.
- determines whether a work is Day 4
copyrighted • Continue course design work.
- assesses fair use • Establish calendar for completion and finalize work plan.
- manages permission requests
13
FROM PAGE 13 McDaniel says. gets the same quality of help from the
There is a showcase of all Jump Center for Teaching and Learning, but
Tarr says. Start project prototypes in June and a without the structure that the Jump
The program does not end with the midpoint project check for content Start program provides, which keeps
four-day workshop. The entire process development. In July, faculty partici- faculty members on a tight schedule
goes on for 67 days. Faculty partici- pants submit their course contents to and helps ensure quality. ●
pants work mostly with the instruc- the production unit, which completes
tional design consultant, and “the rest production in August.
of the team members flow in and out Faculty members who do not go
of the process as they’re needed,” through the Jump Start program still
14
FROM PAGE 14 In technology-enhanced faculty • bring the scholarship of teaching
learning communities, the goal is to and learning to a wider audience.
that can be made available to others. develop a portal where community
“Most faculty learning communities members and others can go to access Continued need for F2F
emerge out of an on-campus faculty all the tools and resources related to communication
development program with a person or that learning community. A logical Sherer does not think the technology
persons helping to maintain them over place to house such a portal would be will replace face-to-face faculty learn-
time. That’s where I think a faculty on the institution’s faculty develop- ing community meetings but will
development person can help,” Sherer ment website. become “just another way of conduct-
says. Institutions with large faculty learn- ing business.”
Faculty developers and department ing community programs such as “Contrary to what some other people
chairs can be instrumental in generat- Miami University, Indian University- may say, people do like to meet face to
ing topics and identifying cohorts. To Purdue University Indianapolis, and face, and I think face-to-face meetings
maintain a technology-enhanced fac- The Ohio State University can serve as have been critical and will continue to
ulty learning community, there should resources for institutions that have fac- be critical for faculty learning commu-
be a person in place to ulty learning communities that are less nities,” Sherer says. “I think we’re
• coordinate funding established, Sherer says. developing our [communication]
• provide technology support styles. These are major changes in how
• educate faculty and administrators Benefits we communicate, how we get together,
about faculty learning Sherer says that the technology- and what we consider being in touch.
communities enhanced learning communities can And for people like me where every-
• identify people with common inter- • create more faculty development thing had been face to face, we need to
ests opportunities learn new ways of thinking about
• help faculty find relevant resources • expand faculty development from things.” ●
• form partnerships with others on an event on campus to every-
campus such as student affairs and where, all the time
the library. • provide resources for faculty in
times of need
15
FROM PAGE 15 learning. They “force” an up-close and rules grows out of an interesting
personal encounter with the content of conundrum. Despite having lots of
How to put student ratings in per- the course. power over students, teachers are not
spective. Most college teachers don’t Students review their notes, they in control of the classroom. It takes
get their best student ratings in the read the text, they ask each other time and encouragement from a men-
first courses they teach. But most new questions, they decide what’s impor- tor to learn that students can be
college teachers do take early ratings tant, and they make guesses about trusted—not believed in blindly, but
more seriously than those received what they need to know for the exam. trusted enough for teachers to show
subsequently. Much like beginning All these activities promote the learn- them respect and believe that it will be
(and sometimes not-so-beginning) ing of course material. Together, the returned. ●
writers, new teachers have trouble teacher with experience and the new
separating themselves from the per- teacher can talk about how exam
formance. So it’s beneficial to have a events can be designed so as to maxi-
colleague who’s been around for a mize their inherent learning potential.
while, who can look objectively at a
set of ratings and say something like, Warnings about the folly of pre-
“Well, if these were my ratings, here dicting who will and won’t make it
are the three things I’d conclude.” in the course/major. Making judg-
ments about who is and who isn’t
Help seeing syllabus construction going to succeed in the course is natu-
as the design of learning environ- ral, and with experience, the accuracy
ments and the construction of of those calls improves but doesn’t
learning experiences. For beginning mean it’s always reliable. Honest
teachers, there’s the mechanical ques- teachers have lots of stories about how
tion of what goes on a syllabus—it’s a badly they missed.
pragmatic question and often needs to What any teacher must avoid is let-
be answered in a hurry. But syllabus ting students think that the teacher
construction is not just about what doesn’t believe they have what it
happens in the course and when. It’s takes. Yes, teachers do need to give
really about course design. The poli- students accurate feedback about their
cies placed on a syllabus convey what performance in a course and what that
the teacher believes contributes to level of performance will lead to if it
learning. Assignments dictate the continues. But that’s very different
terms and conditions under which stu- than saying or subtly conveying that a
dents will have their most in-depth student doesn’t have the intellectual
encounter with the content. A mentor muscle required to master the mate-
can help a new college teacher see rial. Students need teachers who
beyond the details and look for the believe in them and who recognize
assumptions on which a policy or that ultimately, the decision about suc-
practice rests. cess or failure is one that students
make.
Reminders that exams not only
assess learning, they promote it. Too Wise advice on classroom manage-
often faculty (not just new teachers, ment. Not being seasoned, confident
although new teachers are particularly pedagogues, new teachers can be
susceptible) see exams as the means suckers for rules, especially those that
that allows them to gauge and then make clear the teacher’s authority over
grade student mastery of material. life in the classroom. New teachers
Faculty forget that exams promote need to learn that the attraction to
16
defensive. The truth about how much
17
FROM PAGE 17 tion.” (p. 286) projects, and those that are tend to be
What these authors propose as a the very best students.
(all well-known in the field of engi- richer potential nexus are those forms As for whether broader definitions
neering education) propose in the of teaching (inquiry-based approaches of scholarship make it easier for fac-
article referenced below. The first and problem-based learning, for exam- ulty to integrate their research and
proposition rests on the notion that ple) that mirror the research process. teaching work, the authors found
research has the potential to support In this case, “a faculty member’s “limited but encouraging evidence”
teaching. The second side is arguing research provides experiences that that these models do help faculty
whether it has done so in practice, and have the potential to enrich instruction make stronger connections between
the evidence supporting that it has not by introducing students to the research teaching and research.
is comprehensive and persuasive. process and to important research It is time to move past the old teach-
In an extraordinarily well-referenced skills.” (p. 285) ing vs. research debate and this article
article, these authors move the discus- The effects of undergraduate provides a new and useful way to con-
sion forward by exploring the effec- research experiences have been stud- sider and talk about these related but
tiveness of three strategies that could ied in some detail. Does the opportu- very different parts of a faculty mem-
strengthen the research-teaching nity for students to be involved in ber’s job. “The primary goal of
nexus: 1) bringing research into the research projects strengthen the teach- research is to advance knowledge,
classroom, 2) involving students in ing-research nexus by producing better while that of teaching is to develop
undergraduate research projects, and learning for the student? The authors and enhance abilities. Researchers are
3) accepting broader definitions for answer that question with a qualified valued mainly for what they discover
scholarship. They review the literature yes. Involvement in undergraduate and for the problems they solve, and
to see whether and how much each of research does correlate positively with teachers for what they enable their
these strategies has improved under- retention and with the decision to pur- students to discover and solve.” (p.
graduate teaching, ways each nexus sue graduate study. Students evaluate 283)
might be strengthened, and what their experiences positively and say
further research questions merit those experiences helped them learn. Reference
attention. But direct evidence of impact on Prince, M. J., Felder, R. M., and
Briefly, here’s what they discovered learning is scant. “[T]here is very little Brent, R. (2007). Does faculty research
about each. “Integrating research into evidence that undergraduate research improve undergraduate teaching? An
the classroom in the way integration is has much of an effect on students’ analysis of existing and potential syn-
normally conceived—i.e., instructors content knowledge.” (p. 288) Another ergies. Journal of Engineering Educa-
discussing the content of their limitation of this nexus: very few stu- tion, 96 (4), 283-294. ●
research—has not been shown to dents have the opportunity to be
occur frequently or to improve instruc- involved in undergraduate research
18
FROM PAGE 18 expected to have strong student course the classroom and AAC&U’s Greater
evaluations; stay up to date in the Expectations, balancing faculty roles,
faculty roles to this day. Yet acceptable field, incorporating new develop- and redefining rigor. Exploring the
teaching is too often defined as “not ments; use appropriate pedagogies; scholarship of teaching and learning,
disastrous in the classroom,” particu- develop quality syllabi, handouts, and framing questions of quality teaching
larly for stellar researchers. If there is exams; and meet all normal responsi- in broad intellectual terms, and model-
no damage, no lawsuit, no newspaper bilities such as office hours. The chal- ing scholarly pursuit in teaching and
headline about bad teaching, nothing lenge, then, was to determine what learning became the means of defin-
illegal or immoral, then the teaching was better than good. ing, documenting, evaluating, and
must be OK if the research record is If meritorious teaching must be developing meritorious teaching.
great. something better than good teaching, FRR adopted the analytical frame-
This leads to an interesting series of is that simply a matter of degree? One work from Scholarship Assessed: Eval-
questions: What if higher education could look for higher course evalua- uation of the Professoriate by Glassick,
actually responded to these calls to tions, better or more handouts, more Huber, and Maeroff (1997), which
increase the value of teaching? What if developed syllabi, more office hours, includes six standards for scholarly
colleges and universities demanded or better class management. But work that apply both to teaching as a
higher levels of teaching performance where do we draw the line? Looking scholarly activity and to a scholarship
for tenure, for example? Would that for super-quality syllabi or extra- of teaching and learning. The six stan-
make a difference? Perhaps and per- appropriate pedagogies made no dards of scholarly work are clear
haps not—making a commitment to sense. The temptation is to slide the goals, adequate preparation, appropri-
higher levels of performance is one scale down so that what had been ate methods, significant results, effec-
thing, but determining how to achieve defined as satisfactory teaching now tive presentation, and reflective
higher levels of performance is becomes meritorious, because the dif- critique.
another. ference between quality and super- Lee Shulman’s claim that “intellec-
Southern Illinois University quality, between appropriate and tual communities form around collec-
Edwardsville made a commitment to extra-appropriate, is indefinable. tions of texts” (Course Anatomy: The
meritorious teaching for promotion The same problems arise when look- Dissection and Analysis of Knowledge,
and tenure in 1994-95 when the fac- ing at the differences between merito- AAHE Forum on Faculty Roles and
ulty senate and the provost negotiated rious and satisfactory teaching as a Rewards, 1996) provides a useful
new promotion and tenure policies. matter of practice or of differences in heuristic at SIUE for making concrete
The new promotion policy included student learning. Using improvement the abstract framework provided by
the following statement: “A candidate strategies, involving students in Scholarship Assessed. Peer review
for promotion shall demonstrate, at research or engaging activities such as activities provide a variety of texts,
the level commensurate with rank, service learning, and demonstrating from course portfolios to published
at least meritorious performance in quality student learning are expecta- articles, including model promotion-
teaching, and at least meritorious per- tions of satisfactory teaching. All these tenure dossiers in the library.
formance in either scholarship or serv- approaches are suspect when they are Each year, the dossiers that make
ice and satisfactory performance in the used to differentiate between different the strongest case for promotion or
other.” The commitment to meritori- levels of quality teaching, because tenure are selected for inclusion in
ous teaching raised four questions: they are necessary conditions for good library course reserves. We started
How would we define meritorious teaching. with six dossiers the first year, and
teaching? How should we document The year after SIUE reworked its there are now 25. Some of the early
it? How could we evaluate it? And promotion and tenure policies, faculty dossiers have been removed because
how might we help faculty become began the Faculty Roles and Responsi- they are no longer models of best
meritorious teachers? bilities Initiative (FRR), part of the Illi- practice. Faculty with dossiers in the
The four questions turned out to be nois Board of Higher Education’s library participate in workshops and
interconnected, and all four presented Priorities*Quality*Productivity man- faculty development activities. The
challenges. The first question, how to date. FRR developed a multipronged professional schools and the College of
define meritorious teaching, was far approach to implementing a commit- Arts and Sciences are represented.
more challenging than it first ment to meritorious teaching by devel- These dossiers indicate how to docu-
appeared. The problem was that satis- oping a meaningful peer-review ment meritorious teaching. The ana-
factory teaching at SIUE was consid- system (course portfolios and recipro- lytical framework answers questions
ered good teaching. To receive cal classroom interviews), exploring
satisfactory rankings, faculty were broader issues such as technology in PAGE 20
19
FROM PAGE 19 ing of faculty who participate in other supported by rich texts and institu-
parts of the array, including internal tional commitment.
of definition and evaluation. FRR pro- grant programs, assessment activities, SIUE’s commitment to meritorious
vides assistance for faculty to become and faculty development programs. teaching was simple compared with
meritorious teachers. While SIUE cannot claim to have the challenge of implementing that
Improvements in the quality of stu- found the answer to raising the value commitment. We have made much
dent learning are found across SIUE. of teaching, we have found that there progress, but also know there is far to
These are supported by an array of is no single answer. The answers rely go yet.
activities and programs, including the on differences in degree, kind, prac-
commitment to meritorious teaching. tice, and student learning, but only if David Sill is a senior scholar at
One of the strongest contributions they are looked at through the lens of Southern Illinois University
from that commitment is the reward- a scholarship of teaching and learning, Edwardsville. ●
20
FROM PAGE 20 facilitate this process, taking some of good beginning. Deans and chairs
the time and effort load off faculty. need to solicit and understand the job
overviews and training themselves. As institutions attend to accredita- concerns of their faculty when it
To minimize potential faculty role tion standards, learning outcomes, comes to the use of IT. For example,
conflicts, academic leaders can assessments and benchmarks, and how will online and Web-enhanced
encourage regular roundtable discus- course design and redesign efforts, courses impact teaching load, the use
sions within departments to help their academic leaders must understand the of adjunct faculty, what one teaches
faculty identify and articulate disci- pedagogically sound ways that courses and how often? Failing to address
pline-specific ways to achieve IT inte- can implement and integrate IT (Semi- questions like these will lead to
gration. For example, some institutions noff and Wepner, 1997). This will help greater faculty resistance and distrust.
have created intradepartmental train- address concerns about the academic
ing programs that rely on experienced quality of courses that integrate IT. References
IT users to help prospective or new One promising development along Beggs, T.A. (2000, April). Influences
users (Clayton, 2005; Efaw, 2005). these lines is the creation of institu- and barriers to the adoption of instruc-
Identifying experienced faculty mem- tional centers that focus on learning tional technology. Proceedings of the
bers within departments can also pro- and teaching. Such centers can help Mid-South Instructional Technology
vide deans and chairs with local IT faculty to better understand the peda- Conference, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
experts who can be drawn on for sup- gogy associated with IT integration. Available electronically at
port and training. Academic leaders can also facilitate www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed00/
Students will come to expect and a peer review process for courses beggs/beggs.htm.
depend on new instructional technol- using IT. Such a process can help to
ogy, further increasing the demand for both improve the quality of those Bombardieri, M. (2006, September
incorporating IT into courses. Aca- courses and clarify the best practices 5). Harvard studies ways to promote
demic leaders, in addition to empha- criteria for instructors (Bombardieri, teaching. The Boston Globe. Available
sizing this student need and demand, 2006). New IT users can reduce the electronically at
could also advocate for student partici- time and effort involved by following www.boston.com/news/local/articles/
pation in departmental or college IT the developmental guidance and feed- 2006/09/05/harvard_studies_ways_to_
roundtables and service on IT-related back associated with such reviews. At promote_teaching/.
committees at their institutions. the same time, experienced IT users
Let’s now consider the major aca- can improve their pedagogical expert- Brinthaupt, T.M., Clayton, M.A., and
demic barriers to IT integration. The ise by conducting these reviews. Draude, B.J. (2008). Faculty integra-
greatest concern for both faculty mem- Even if there are sufficient incen- tion of instructional technology in
bers and academic leaders has to be tives and compensation to help faculty higher education: Barriers and strate-
how to reduce the time and effort integrate IT into their courses, gies. Manuscript under review.
needed to learn about and implement demands on time and effort will still
IT. There are several ways to address be an issue. Deans and chairs must Caruso, J.B. and Salaway, G. (2007).
this concern. For example, some insti- also work to increase the perceived ECAR study of undergraduate students
tutions have created departmental and value and necessity of incorporating IT and information technology, 2007.
course-specific templates within their into their faculty’s teaching. Of course, EDUCAUSE Center for Applied
LMS platform (Clayton, 2005). These faculty members will do this only if Research. Available electronically at
templates lessen the learning curve for they are held accountable and if they http://connect.educause.edu/Library/
faculty and can provide students with get sufficient “credit” for doing so ECAR/TheECARStudyofUndergradua/
standardized resources and materials. (Beggs, 2000). Thus, academic leaders 45075.
There is also some discussion of uni- can increase the credit given to IT
versity and departmental standards or users by promotion and tenure com- Clayton, M.A. (2005). Faculty devel-
requirements (Seminoff and Wepner, mittees, and more clearly articulate opment is only the beginning: How to
1997), such as developing guidelines how IT integration relates to the schol- get faculty interested in technology
on the minimal technology tools that arship of teaching and learning (Bom- integration. Higher Learning, 5, 13.
all faculty members need to under- bardieri, 2006; Hagner and
stand and use. If an institution decides Schneebeck, 2001; Seminoff and Wep- Efaw, J. (2005). No teacher left
to mandate a Web presence for all its ner, 1997; Young, 2002). behind: How to teach with technology.
courses (e.g., having all faculty pres- With regard to concerns over job EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 28(4), 26-32.
ent their syllabi and contact informa- security, open dialogues between aca-
tion online), local support staff could demic leaders and their faculty offer a PAGE 22
21
FROM PAGE 20 Seminoff, N.E. and Wepner, S.B. work with technology in tenure deci-
(1997). What should we know about sions. Chronicle of Higher Education,
technology-based projects for tenure 48 (24), A25.
Hagner, P.R. and Schneebeck, C. A. and promotion? Journal of Research on
(2001). Engaging the faculty. In C.A. Computing in Education, 30, 67-82. Maria A. Clayton is a professor of
Barone and P.R. Hagner (Eds.), Tech- English, Thomas M. Brinthaupt is a
nology-enhanced teaching and learn- Starrett, D. (2005, September). Do professor of psychology, and Barbara
ing: Leading and supporting the we have to talk the talk? Campus Tech- J. Draude is director of academic and
transformation on your campus (pp. 1- nology, 24-26. instructional technology services at
12). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Middle Tennessee State University. ●
Young, J.R. (2002, February 22).
Ever so slowly, colleges start to count
By Maryellen Weimer
22
FROM PAGE 22
References:
For a good review of the research on
age and teaching effectiveness see,
Bland, C. J., and Bergquist, W. H.
(1997). The Vitality of Senior Faculty
Members: Snow on the Roof—Fire in
the Furnace. ASHE-ERIC Higher Educa-
tion Report, Vol. 25, No. 7. Washing-
ton, DC: The George Washington
University, Graduate School of Educa-
tion and Human Development.
23
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