Developing Faculty to Provide University Students With Improved Learning Experiences

Abstract

The article addresses the importance of incorporating faculty development as a key priority of higher education institutions. A literature review and some face-to-face and online interviews were conducted at various U.S. institutions, to identify common and best practices regarding this important matter. The article offers some ideas about what is done, and how it is done, to help faculty be ready for the challenging role they need to play: to be effective developers of a diverse student body that meets the evolving needs of industry and that utilizes technological tools that never existed before.

Educação Remota em Tempos de Pandemia: reflexões no contexto acadêmico

“…Neste sentido, as instituições precisam criar oportunidades de treinamento para os professores interessados em utilizar estas novas estratégias de ensino e avaliação. A criação de instâncias formais de apoio ao docente e à docência, através de unidades ou centros de desenvolvimento docente (do inglês Faculty Development Units) ou Centros de Apoio ao Ensino e Aprendizagem (Centers for Teaching and Learning) são opções interessantes e viáveis 3,4 . Na Universidade de São Paulo, algumas unidades já contam com centros de desenvolvimento docente para o ensino, tais como a Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP) (http://cdde.fmrp.usp.br/) e a Faculdade de Medicina (https://www.fm.usp.br/cedem/portal/).…”

“Feel Like More than a Number in the Classroom:” Faculty Perceptions of Professional Development for Student Success

“…One challenge is the mismatch of faculty perceptions of effective teaching practices. Faculty who define their primary role as content expert and researcher rather than teacher may resist calls for PD (Benito-Capa et al, 2017). Brownell and Tanner (2012) acknowledged issues of time constraints and lack of career incentives, but also propose an unacknowledged barrier which is the “tensions between a [faculty member’s] professional identity and the call for faculty pedagogical change” (p. 339).…”

Analysis of Centers for Teaching and Learning Mission Statements

“…CTLs are structures that aim to upgrade the education provided by higher education institutions. They try to achieve their goals by strengthening teaching staff, offering support services to students, creating educational networks and partnerships, creating learning communities, fostering and rewarding innovation and quality assurance in education, strengthening research and integrating research data into the educational process, creating learning resources, creatively utilizing ICT, providing counselling and support to teaching staff and students, prioritizing inclusion (see also Benito et al, 2017;Frantz et al, 2004).…”