scholarly journals Environmental influences and individual characteristics that affect learner-centered teaching practices

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Emery ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Diane Ebert-May
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Departmental Climate

AbstractResearch-based teaching practices can improve student learning outcomes in a variety of complex educational environments. The implementation of learner-centered teaching practices in STEM can both benefit or be constrained by different factors related to individual instructors and the teaching environment. However, we know little of how the instructional climate varies across institutions and how this climate affects teaching practices. Our study sought to describe the relative importance of environmental influences and individual characteristics on learner- centered teaching practices across institutions. We also assessed departmental climate for 35 US higher education institutions. We found that self-efficacy in teaching and professional development exert a strong influence on faculty teaching practices. While departmental climate did not emerge as a significant predictor of teaching practices, there was consistently low support for teaching, and institution size was negatively correlated with leadership and evaluation of effective teaching. We also found that professional development may prepare instructors to teach learner-centered courses in different collegial teaching climates. Our results suggest that through cultivating self-efficacy and participating in iterative professional development, instructors can implement effective teaching practices across institutional environments.

scholarly journals Environmental influences and individual characteristics that affect learner-centered teaching practices

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250760
Author(s):  
Nathan Emery ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Diane Ebert-May
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Environmental Influences ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Departmental Climate

Research-based teaching practices can improve student learning outcomes in a variety of complex educational environments. The implementation of learner-centered teaching practices in STEM can both benefit from or be constrained by different factors related to individual instructors and the teaching environment. Additionally, we know little of how the instructional climate varies across institutions and how this climate affects teaching practices. Our study sought to examine the relative importance of environmental influences and individual characteristics on learner-centered teaching practices across institutions. We also assessed differences in our study population and departmental climate for 35 US higher education institutions across the country. We found that self-efficacy in teaching and professional development exert a strong influence on faculty teaching practices in biology. While departmental climate did not emerge as a significant predictor of teaching practices, there was consistently low support for teaching, and institution size was negatively correlated with leadership and evaluation of effective teaching. We also found that intensive professional development programs, such as the Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV program, may prepare instructors to teach learner-centered courses in different collegial teaching climates. Our results suggest that through cultivating self-efficacy and participating in iterative professional development, instructors can implement effective teaching practices in a variety of institutional environments.

scholarly journals Assessing faculty professional development in STEM higher education: Sustainability of outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. e1501422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry L. Derting ◽  
Diane Ebert-May ◽  
Timothy P. Henkel ◽  
Jessica Middlemis Maher ◽  
Bryan Arnold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Faculty Professional Development ◽  
Learner Centered

We tested the effectiveness of Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV (FIRST), a professional development program for postdoctoral scholars, by conducting a study of program alumni. Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, but reliable evidence of the sustained impacts of these programs is lacking. We used a paired design in which we matched a FIRST alumnus employed in a tenure-track position with a non-FIRST faculty member at the same institution. The members of a pair taught courses that were of similar size and level. To determine whether teaching practices of FIRST participants were more learner-centered than those of non-FIRST faculty, we compared faculty perceptions of their teaching strategies, perceptions of environmental factors that influence teaching, and actual teaching practice. Non-FIRST and FIRST faculty reported similar perceptions of their teaching strategies and teaching environment. FIRST faculty reported using active learning and interactive engagement in lecture sessions more frequently compared with non-FIRST faculty. Ratings from external reviewers also documented that FIRST faculty taught class sessions that were learner-centered, contrasting with the teacher-centered class sessions of most non-FIRST faculty. Despite marked differences in teaching practice, FIRST and non-FIRST participants used assessments that targeted lower-level cognitive skills. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of the FIRST program and the empirical utility of comparison groups, where groups are well matched and controlled for contextual variables (for example, departments), for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development for subsequent teaching practices.

Making Educator Professional Development More Accessible and Inclusive With Mobile Teacher

2022 ◽  
pp. 453-467
Author(s):  
Katherine Guevara
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Appreciative Inquiry ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Majority World

This chapter describes how curious and reflective TESOL educators can engage in ongoing appreciative inquiry by participating in a unique global community of practice facilitated through an app called Mobile Teacher that also works offline. With the aim of recognizing and sharing the expertise of non-native English speaker TESOL educators who are primarily BIPOC and women working in the majority world, teachers are encouraged to watch short videos of colleagues' effective teaching practices, try out the practices with their students, and in turn share videos describing or demonstrating their own proven techniques. Through a case study of using Mobile Teacher with teachers in Ecuador, the author provides a self and group reflection guide based on the 4D appreciative inquiry framework to establish a definition and examples of effective teaching practice, and a video script template to complete in preparation for recording and sharing an effective teaching practice.

scholarly journals Exploring the consequences of teachers’ self-efficacy: a case of teachers of English as a foreign language

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Goudarz Alibakhshi ◽  
Fariborz Nikdel ◽  
Akram Labbafi
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Qualitative Research Method ◽  
Burn Out ◽  
Efl Teachers

AbstractTeacher self-efficacy has been abundantly studied. However, it seems that the consequences of teachers’ self-efficacy have not been appropriately explored yet. The research objective was to investigate the consequences of teachers’ teaching self-efficacy. The researchers used a qualitative research method. They collected the data through semi-structured interviews with 20 EFL teachers who were selected through purposive sampling. The interviews were content analyzed thematically. Findings showed that self-efficacy has different consequences: pedagogical, learner-related, and psychological. Each consequence has several sub-categories. It is concluded that high self-efficacy affects teachers’ teaching practices, learners’ motivation, and achievement. It also affects teachers’ burn-out status, psychological being, as well as their job satisfaction. The findings can be theoretically and pedagogically important to EFL teachers, teacher-trainers, and administrators of educational settings.

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