Are They Worth It?

2021 ◽  
pp. 140-161
Author(s):  
Jamie Els ◽  
Erica Jansen ◽  
Stacey L. Kikendall ◽  
Amber Dailey-Hebert
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Digital Badges ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Faculty Input ◽  
Development Center ◽  
Digital Badging

Since 2011, the trend of digital badging has continued to rise among various organizations, including higher education. After gathering faculty feedback, input, ideas, and perspectives on structure and implementation, the faculty development center at a Midwestern university launched a university-wide digital badging program. The intent was to incorporate faculty input into the design of digital badges to gain faculty engagement. After the first year of implementation, a survey of faculty perceptions on digital badging received unanticipated results. Emerging themes from this survey indicate that faculty are hesitant towards digital badging; however, participant responses also suggest that faculty uncertainty of the digital badging program is connected to the communication process. Recommendations are presented to support the needs of faculty perceptions of a digital badging program.

Using Virtual World Technology as a Faculty Development Tool in Higher Education

2012 ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Linda W. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
College Faculty ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Virtual World Environments

Higher education institutions are constantly challenged with the task of educating a technology savvy generation of students. Colleges must be able and ready to meet the needs of these digital-age students. What are the perceptions of college faculty of using virtual world technology as a teaching tool in the classroom? The purpose of this chapter is to explore how virtual world environments can be used as a faculty development tool in order to encourage the use of virtual worlds as a teaching tool in the classroom. This chapter references research from a mixed methods study exploring college faculty perceptions of the adoption of virtual world technology into the classroom, which in turn, provides insight to the willingness of higher education faculty to adopt this type of technology. In addition, the final section of the chapter includes a suggested guide on how to create a virtual world faculty development workshop based in Linden Lab’s Second Life.

scholarly journals 9. Using Communities of Practice to Foster Faculty Development in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Teeter ◽  
Nancy Fenton ◽  
Karen Nicholson ◽  
Terry Flynn ◽  
Joseph Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Faculty And Staff Development

Communities of practice are becoming more widespread within higher education, yet little research has explored how these social learning networks can enhance faculty development. The focus of this paper is to describe the first-year experience of a community of practice initiative at McMaster University that was designed to engage groups of faculty, staff, and students to share ideas and foster learning. Four communities were initiated: Teaching with Technology, Teaching Professors, Pedagogy, and First Year Instructors, all of which provided a forum of safety and support, encouraging new ideas and risk taking that in turn contributed to individual and collective learning. Though in its early days, we consider communities of practice an innovative way to regenerate current learning and surface teaching practices that can build dynamic academic communities to foster faculty and staff development. Communities of practice have enabled us to reach beyond formal structures (e.g., classrooms) to create connections amongst people from different disciplinary boundaries that generate learning and foster development.

An Urgency for Change in Roles

2020 ◽  
pp. 462-483
Author(s):  
Alev Elçi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Faculty Collaboration ◽  
Changing Roles ◽  
And Performance

Student dependence on technology, higher education institution efforts of digitalization in teaching and learning, along with the faculty member hesitancy to adopt innovative technologies all contribute to current challenges in higher education. The focus of this chapter is on exploring the gap between student and faculty perceptions about utilizing technology in teaching and learning, in addition to enlighten institutional roles and strategies to sustain efforts for managing such environments and faculty development. Multiple research methods are used to derive insights. The findings point towards the need to increase knowledge base and to expand faculty development around digital teaching and learning strategies as well as fostering student faculty collaboration to improve learner engagement and performance. As a result of changing roles, the pedagogical methods and technological tools used in digital teaching and learning process should not be a sole decision of the institution, but as a result of a collaborative mindset of institution, faculty, and students.

scholarly journals A comparative study of home educated students and traditionally educated students after completion of a Midwestern university first-year experience program

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jeremey David Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Self Report ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to assist educational leaders in developing policy to better understand the home educated students and aspects of their first-year experience. This was achieved using a quantitative approach to gather information from three different student population groups, traditionally educated students, home educated students, and privately educated students. This information was gathered from a Midwestern university using a self-report student survey after the students had completed a first-year experience program. This quantitative study had 251 respondents, primarily from one Midwestern university. The study utilized the Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Items Survey. The survey contained 39 items separated into a demographic section and three subscales: (a) knowledge, (b) attitudes, and (c) behavior. The survey was adapted from The University Experience Battery Items (Schrader and Brown, 2008) by eliminating questions, focusing the language and adding a demographic section. This study has implications both theoretically and practically. For home educated students the study provides insight into how this specific population compares to other student groups. The data from this study shows home educated students self-reported the practical knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for a successful transition into higher education. This may encourage home educated students to engage and enroll in first-year experience programs when entering higher education. This study suggests students finish these programs with those necessary qualities for student success. The primary recommendation for further study was there was not a significant difference in survey answers for the three student populations. Further examination should be performed on other students groups, pertaining to first-year experience programs. This research only separated the results by the model of education used before entering higher education. Additional investigation on the impact of first-year experience programs with minority groups, socio-economic status, gender, and other demographic categories would lead further development of these programs. Replication of this study to a broader range of universities and higher education institutions would allow for a more diverse population, allowing for improved generalizability.

What do first-year students need? Digital badges for academic support to enhance student retention

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana-Kristin Mah ◽  
Dirk Ifenthaler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Academic Support ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
First Year ◽  
Digital Badges ◽  
Academic Support Services ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse data on first-year students’ needs regarding academic support services and reasons for their intention to leave the institution prior to degree completion. On the basis of the findings, a digital badge outline is proposed which could contribute to improved communication of academic requirements in order to help students to better adapt to higher education demands. Digital badges might also serve as an indicator for students’ needing additional academic support services. Design/methodology/approach An online-questionnaire was conducted with 730 first-year students at a German university. Participants’ responses to open-ended questions were coded and categorised. On the basis on these findings, an outline for a digital badge programme is proposed. Findings Participants seek the most institutional support regarding research skills and organisational aspects. Main reasons for participants’ intention to withdraw from the institution include difficulties with their programme choice. Practical implications These findings may enable higher education institutions to provide targeted support services that meet first-year students’ needs. On the basis of the findings, higher education institutions can create digital badge programmes, which may improve communication of academic requirements and may also serve as a platform for a staff-student conversation about expectations and demands for a successful first-year experience. Besides, further research and discussion may address using digital badges for learning analytics algorithms to even better identify students’ strengths and needs for targeted academic support services and enhanced student success in higher education. Originality/value Little is known about first-year students’ needs for institutional support and reasons for thinking about dropout in Germany. Understanding the student perspective is crucial for enhancing student retention. Digital badges are an emerging educational technology in higher education and they have the potential to target academic requirements, which may guide first-year students and help them to better adjust to universities’ demands.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: THE FREQUENCY AND VARIETY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO ONLINE INSTRUCTORS

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Heather Herman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
Printed Materials

Online education is no longer a peripheral phenomenon in higher education: over one-third of faculty have taught or developed an online course. As institutions of higher education expand their online education offerings, administrators need to recognize that supporting faculty through the use of incentives and through effective faculty development programs for online instruction is important to the improvement of the quality of educational programs. This quantitative study used an online survey to investigate the types and frequency of faculty development programs for online instruction at institutions with an established teaching and learning development unit (TLDU). The average TLDU offered about fifteen different types of faculty development programs, the most common being websites, technical services, printed materials, and consultation with instructional design experts.

A Compass During the Storm: Offering Students Critical Rigor for Polarizing Times

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Wender ◽  
Valerie J. D’Erman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Learning Objective ◽  
First Year

ABSTRACT Teaching and learning in higher education is occurring, unavoidably, within the broader civic context of today’s extraordinarily polarizing political times. We seek to help students situate themselves with respect to and, above all, thoughtfully assess others’ as well as their own perspectives on issues of profound contention, without contributing to exacerbated polarization ourselves. Specifically, we offer students in our first-year exploratory political science course a vital tool—critical rigor—for navigating but not being inundated by the storm. This article discusses our experiences in teaching the course titled, “The Worlds of Politics,” as we attempt to help students deeply engage in cognitive processes of critical thinking and analysis, without undue infringement from their own—and least of all our own—personal political biases. Our focal learning objective is the cultivation of critical-thinking skills that promote students’ drawing of distinctions between advocacy and analysis, as well as their discerning civic engagement.

A necessary evil? The rise of online exam proctoring in Australian universities

2021 ◽  
pp. 1329878X2110058
Author(s):  
Neil Selwyn ◽  
Chris O’Neill ◽  
Gavin Smith ◽  
Mark Andrejevic ◽  
Xin Gu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Automated Systems ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Surveillance Technology ◽  
Online Examination ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Necessary Evil ◽  
Australian Universities

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the rapid but sometimes controversial take-up of ‘online examination proctoring’ systems by universities keen to maintain their assessment schedules during times of campus closure. Following the theoretical tradition of media ‘domestication’, this article examines the mainstream adoption of different online proctoring systems in Australian higher education during the first year of the pandemic. Through analysis of interviews, documents, news, social media and marketing materials, the article examines the ‘appropriation’, ‘objectification’, incorporation’ and ‘conversion’ of proctoring technology from the perspective of commercial providers, university authorities, university staff and student groups. This raises a number of critical issues underpinning the adoption of this exam surveillance technology – not least the surrender of control to commercial providers, the hidden labour required to sustain ‘automated’ systems and the increased vulnerabilities of ‘remote’ studying.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document