Abstract:

Quality faculty development—that which is systemic, ongoing, and directly related to course content—has been shown to positively impact student achievement. However, even when faculty development offerings related to teaching are offered, single-event delivery models continue to dominate the landscape of higher education. How might sustained models of faculty development be provided in ways that honor faculty members’ time while also embodying the characteristics of transformative practice?

Many university professors have little to no background in effective teaching and learning pedagogies, and successes in one’s disciplinary research do not necessarily translate to successes in teaching. Many novice instructors embark on their university teaching careers woefully unprepared to facilitate student learning and find themselves discovering effective pedagogies through a trial-by-fire process of painful teaching experiences which leave them feeling disillusioned, frustrated, or bitter. In addition, increasing numbers of non-tenure track faculty—graduate students, adjunct faculty and clinical faculty—are responsible for teaching university courses and are expected to provide instruction that meets institutional goals related to retention and graduation. For these reasons, quality faculty development focused on transformative learning is of utmost importance on university campuses.

The authors—teaching support specialists at a four-year land grant university in Midwestern United States—share research regarding their differentiated model of faculty development that consists of a variety of offerings, ranging from individual course consultations to weeks-long cohort groups. These include face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats, and demonstrate how their university’s department of teaching and learning attempts to meet the needs of a wide range of instructors.

Keywords:

Faculty development, professional development, higher education.