Promoting Active-Learning Instruction and Research (PALIR) in Kinesiology Departments

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane Knudson ◽  
Karen Meaney
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Faculty Training ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Professional Development Workshop ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Learning Instruction

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of an initiative to promote active learning through facility renovation and faculty training. Twenty faculty representing a variety of academic areas from 2 departments participated in a 3-part active-learning professional development workshop series. Department of Health and Human Performance faculty (N = 14) teaching 19 courses and 416 of the students in the new active classroom were surveyed on their attitudes on the facilities, room design, professional development, and active-learning instruction. Consistent with previous active-learning research, there were subtle differences between student and faculty perceptions of the importance of renovation features, active-learning exercises, and philosophy of the learning process. The initiative was effective in helping predisposed faculty to implement active-learning experiences in their classes and engaging in more scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as enhancing the visibility of the department as a leader in active learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning at the university.

Using Mid-Semester Assessment Programs (MAPs) as a Catalyst for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

2020 ◽  
pp. 181-200
Author(s):  
Alisa Hutchinson ◽  
Anabel Stoeckle
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Feedback ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Improve Student Learning ◽  
Innate Interest

Mid-Semester Assessment Programs (MAPs) have been successfully utilized as a professional development tool for faculty interested in improving their teaching in the context of higher education by assessing voluntary formative student feedback that guides changes instructors make in the classroom. Faculty centers and educational developers have the unique opportunity to recruit instructors via MAPs who have participated in these programs to promote and support the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) among faculty who already display an innate interest in best teaching practices and are open to advancing their own teaching in order to improve student learning and to propel student success. This chapter provides a guide for educational developers who seek to become active partners for faculty to become interested and engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning through a unique recruitment mechanism that serves as a natural steppingstone for faculty not having engaged with SoTL yet.

Writing Into the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-180
Author(s):  
Kathryn Janet Meldrum ◽  
Kristi Giselsson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
The Third ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has been suggested as an ideal vehicle for engaging faculty with professional development for teaching in higher education. However, previous authors have identified that faculty find writing about SoTL difficult. The aim of this chapter is to support educational developers (EDs) to collaborate with faculty to support writing. Two theoretical frameworks to support collaboration are proposed: the first, the Knowledge Transforming Model of Writing, to assist with the process of writing; the second, an adaptation of Brigugilio's working in the third space framework to support collaboration. The authors utilise both frameworks to reflect on their own SoTL collaboration and subsequently pose questions to support faculty and EDs to do the same. Ultimately, it is proposed that collaboration not only enhances the practices of faculty and EDs but improves what should be an important priority for the wider academy: the learning outcomes of students.

Transforming Introductory Sociology with Team-Based Learning: Sufficient Value and Surmountable Challenge?

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-282
Author(s):  
Jennifer Roebuck Bulanda ◽  
Shelby Frye
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Student Resistance ◽  
Teaching Techniques ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Introductory Sociology ◽  
Team Based Learning ◽  
Potential Benefits

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a highly structured, immersive teaching strategy that emphasizes active learning through peer teams. Despite its many potential benefits for teaching introductory sociology, it has been slow to gain traction in the discipline. Instructors may debate whether the value of TBL is sufficient to justify its challenges, which may include student resistance, increased time demands, and difficulty envisioning implementation. We aim to resolve this debate in four ways by (1) familiarizing faculty with the TBL method, (2) examining the value of TBL for students and instructors, (3) discussing strategies for overcoming challenges, and (4) offering an example of how TBL can be implemented in an introductory sociology course. As the scholarship of teaching and learning continues to challenge faculty to implement forward-thinking teaching techniques that move beyond traditional lecture, we conclude that TBL offers a compelling framework for transforming the introductory sociology course.

scholarly journals Teacher Knowledge for Active-Learning Instruction: Expert–Novice Comparison Reveals Differences

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. ar12 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Auerbach ◽  
M. Higgins ◽  
P. Brickman ◽  
T. C. Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Teacher Knowledge ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Thinking ◽  
Student Difficulties ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Learning Instruction ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Expert Novice

Active-learning strategies can improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates’ abilities to learn fundamental concepts and skills. However, the results instructors achieve vary substantially. One explanation for this is that instructors commonly implement active learning differently than intended. An important factor affecting how instructors implement active learning is knowledge of teaching and learning. We aimed to discover knowledge that is important to effective active learning in large undergraduate courses. We developed a lesson-analysis instrument to elicit teacher knowledge, drawing on the theoretical construct of teacher noticing. We compared the knowledge used by expert (n = 14) and novice (n = 29) active-learning instructors as they analyzed lessons. Experts and novices differed in what they noticed, with experts more commonly considering how instructors hold students accountable, topic-specific student difficulties, whether the instructor elicited and responded to student thinking, and opportunities students had to generate their own ideas and work. Experts were also better able to support their lesson analyses with reasoning. This work provides foundational knowledge for the future design of preparation and support for instructors adopting active learning. Improving teacher knowledge will improve the implementation of active learning, which will be necessary to widely realize the potential benefits of active learning in undergraduate STEM.

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.

scholarly journals SoTL in the Margins: Teaching-Focused Role Case Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Nicola Simmons ◽  
Lauren Scharff ◽  
Michelle Eady ◽  
Diana Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
International Society ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Tenure Track ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Improving Teaching And Learning ◽  
Excellence In Teaching

The number of teaching-focused faculty (TFF) continues to increase, raising concerns about opportunities to engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) for academics who are hired to focus on teaching rather than research. Various names for these teaching-focused positions include, but are not limited to: instructional, limited-term faculty; permanent, but not eligible for tenure; equivalent to tenure-track (eligible for tenure); and casual teaching-focused. Regardless of title, TFF face a unique challenge: hired for excellence in teaching and committed to improving teaching and learning, they are often not granted support to engage in professional development or research related to teaching and learning. These and other challenges are associated with their academically marginalized positions. The authors are members of the Advocacy Committee of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). This paper builds on a session we offered at the ISSOTL conference in Calgary in 2017 where we invited TFF to contribute narrative examples of institutional SoTL challenges and their strategies for overcoming them. We describe potential solutions to creating institutional cultures that are supportive of TFF engaging in SoTL. We finish by offering recommendations for creating a SoTL teaching-focused community within ISSOTL to provide social and professional support.

Surfacing disciplinarity: Citation as a site for integrative learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 147402222094473
Author(s):  
Emily Russell ◽  
Lucy Littler ◽  
Nancy Chick
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
General Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Integrative Learning ◽  
Disciplinary Writing ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Citation Practices ◽  
General Education Requirements ◽  
A Site

Despite nearly ubiquitous general education requirements for students to take courses across disciplines, disciplinarity itself is often invisible to students and taken for granted by professors. We argue that surfacing these divisions and demystifying academic structures is, paradoxically, a key step in educating students toward the crossing of intellectual borders. In this article, we engage current Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to discuss the challenges both faculty and students face in navigating multidisciplinary general education programs, and we offer a practical resource for facilitating such integrative learning and pedagogy. This resource, a two-page handout outlining the disciplinary values behind the research processes and citation practices across several academic domains, can be used in a variety of settings—including classrooms and professional development workshops—for both student and faculty audiences, to achieve multiple purposes, including teaching and learning disciplinarity; demystifying disciplinary writing conventions; and assignment-, course-, or curricular redesign.

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