Suggestions for staff development in teaching critical thinking

Trends towards the devolution of responsibility for decision‐making to the school level are evident in education systems throughout the world. Underpinning policies of devolution are assumptions that school communities will work collaboratively to make decisions appropriate to the local context. However, collaborative processes do not occur automatically. In this paper, a case study of one school committee is presented to outline the processes used and to highlight the difficulties experienced in working collaboratively to develop a school behaviour management policy.     

Distance teaching: innovation,individual concerns and staff development

A great deal of attention has been paid to the development of instructional materials appropriate to distance teaching. In contrast, problems concerning the development of academic staff in this area have been largely neglected. There seems to be no obvious reason for this omission, as for many academics the production of materials for distance teaching is an entirely novel experience. In other words it is an innovation, which, as such, is likely to have significant effects on individuals. An example of the likely effects of innovation on individuals may be found in the ‘Concerns‐Based Adoption Model’ (CBAM), originally developed by Gene Hall and his associates in the University of Texas.

It follows that any attempt to significantly develop materials for distance teaching must be related to the individuals involved in the innovation. This article explores this relationship through consideration of a staff development model based on the levels of concern of participants and the requirements of sound instructional design.     

Faculty and staff perceptions of undergraduate mentoring

ABSTRACT

The connection between students and faculty is a recognized component of student belonging and engagement. To better understand how these relationships are formed, we utilized a qualitative design to explore the ways in which faculty and staff at a mid-sized public university perceived their roles in supporting, and connecting with, students. Based on our focus group data, we identified three themes. The first theme defined the mentoring relationship in the university context. The second theme addressed the unique features of mentoring Underrepresented Minority (URM) and First Generation (FG) students. Our third theme focused on perceived barriers to mentoring, including personal, institutional, and student-related barriers. Our findings provide a first step in developing a framework for colleges and universities working to promote a culture of mentoring as a means to support students.     

论远程教育兼职教师队伍建设与管理

兼职教师是高校弥补师资力量不足的重要成分。针对远程教育学生人数的变化大,专业调整大等特性,使兼职教师日显重要。但目前远程教育兼职教师的现状不容乐观,数量和人员不稳定;层次不高;没有规范的兼职教师管理制度;没有做好专兼职教师的融合等问题严重影响着学校的整体教育质量的提高。因此要重视兼职教师对于学校整体教育质量的意义。从教师选聘、教学科研、制度完善等方面完善兼职教师的管理制度。     

Exploring staff perceptions of student plagiarism

This paper presents analysis of qualitative data from a research project looking at staff perceptions of plagiarism at a post‐1992 university. Twenty‐six members of staff from departments and academic schools from across the university took part in open and semi‐structured interviews. Analysis shows that variable definitions of plagiarism exist; both regarding student activities that constitute plagiarism and the way in which plagiarism is perceived to be related to cheating. The factors underlying these personal definitions are unclear, but the analysis suggests that values perceived to underpin higher education may play an important role. This paper provides new empirical data on staff perceptions of student plagiarism, which complement previous research on student perceptions. The potential implications of different perceptions of plagiarism, and a mismatch between staff and student understandings is highlighted as an area for further consideration.     

Outsourcing academic development in higher education: staff perceptions of an international program

Increasingly, higher education support services are being outsourced. Our case study was of a program from a global, USA-based, non-profit organisation. From in-depth interviews, we investigated staff perceptions of academic development workshops and the efficacy of outsourcing to a transnational tertiary-support program. We found that interviewees valued the academic development. They believed greater consideration should be given to cultural differences between exporting and importing countries; to evidence-based assessment of, and institutional leadership support for, the program; and to discipline-based and tertiary-level skills. Our preliminary findings may inform university management about improved approaches to outsourcing academic development to international commercial providers.     

论河北省高校师资队伍的可持续发展

河北省高校师资队伍的可持续发展既是河北省高校和谐发展的决定性因素,也是河北省各高校面临的一个紧迫而艰巨的任务,它直接关系到高校三大功能的实现。因此,深刻分析河北省高校师资队伍可持续发展中存在的问题,采取切实可行的措施,有利于增强河北省高校的综合办学实力。     

Staff development in a climate of economic rationalism: A profile of the academic staff developer

Abstract

This paper emerged from the findings of a study investigating the efficacy of a staff development programme, called TRAC (Teaching, Reflection and Collaboration), offered through Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Participants in this study indicated an express need for academic staff developers to foster a range of skills when seeking to implement exemplary staff development programmes. One of the most crucial skills stipulated by participants was the ability for staff developers to offer development opportunities which effectively cater to the current hectic, competitive and outcome‐driven climate academics face. Other skills considered by participants to be pivotal for the development and implementation of exemplary staff development programmes included well‐developed human relation and interpersonal skills, facilitative skills and skills in co‐ordinating and networking.

This paper begins by ‘setting the scene’, briefly outlining the TRAC programme and the author's research experience of this programme. Subsequently, it discusses the skills required of the developer instigating such a programme. In doing this, it aims to encourage developers to reflect on the efficacy of their own skills with a view to making appropriate changes. Thus, in attempting to trigger change in developers’ practice, this paper represents a vehicle for ‘development of the developers.’     

An analysis of the perceptions teaching staff hold towards factors useful for evaluating an institution of higher education

Efficiency and effectiveness are two important criteria to be incorporated into any evaluation of a higher education institute. Indicators of these features have, however, been difficult to define. Little work has been reported attempting to determine those characteristics perceived to be important by people involved in higher education. The present study seeks to identify, in the Indonesian context, certain broad indicators which are seen by teaching staff to be important. The study also assesses whether these indicators reflect the characteristics of the institutions in which the staff are employed. Seven criteria for indicators are identified empirically, these addressing quite disparate features of an institution's environment.     

Faculty perceptions of teaching support and teaching efficacy in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to investigate university faculty’s perceptions of teaching support and their teaching efficacy in Taiwan. In addition, the relationship of perceived teaching support to faculty’ teaching efficacy was examined. Questionnaires measuring three dimensions of teaching support and six dimensions of teaching efficacy were distributed to 1,700 university faculty members, yielding 505 complete sets of responses. The public faculty show higher perceptions of teaching support and teaching efficacy than do their counterparts. The correlation coefficients between perceived teaching support and teaching efficacy among the public faculty are lower than those among the private ones. Peer support, teaching resources, and university type have some impact on faculty teaching efficacy. Administrative support, however, does not make a significant additional contribution to the variance in teaching efficacy.     

Student and faculty perceptions of teaching effectiveness

Omnibus measures of teaching effectiveness can be viewed as weighted combinations of more narrowly defined traits describing the teaching process. Our study was designed to determine whether students and faculty weight such traits differently in forming their respective perceptions of effective teaching.Students and faculty within the School of Business and Economics at CSUN were surveyed regarding their assessment of ideal teaching effectiveness in courses where the predominant mode of presentation is lecture. Ten traits depicting various aspects of teaching were selected and each respondent was asked to distribute 100 points across the 10 according to their view of each trait's relative importance in determining effectiveness. The results indicate that there are, indeed, significant differences in student and faculty assessments.Regression analysis of individual trait weighting on demographic variables such as age, sex, field of specialization, etc., produced generally low, insignificant coefficients of determination for both students and faculty. This observed invariance of the respective perceptions of each group across differing combinations of demographic characteristics provides evidence that students and faculty adopt fundamentally different criteria in evaluating teaching effectiveness.     

民办高校师资队伍建设困境及可持续发展对策

我国民办高校师资队伍建设面临的困境已成为阻碍其进一步健康、有序发展的"瓶颈"。本文从民办高校师资队伍建设存在的问题与困难出发,提出民办高校师资队伍建设可持续发展的对策。     

Promoting and/or evading change: the role of student-staff partnerships in staff teaching development

ABSTRACT

While a large body of research considers factors enabling or constraining academic development in colleges and universities, comparatively little scholarship has considered the roles students might play in supporting positive change in staff teaching practices. This article explores one potential avenue by which such change might play out, considering the extent to which participation in a student-staff partnership programme supported by a central teaching and learning institute might encourage shifts in staff teaching. Drawing on data gathered via focus groups and online reflective prompts, we find that participating in pedagogical partnership can support a range of developments in staff teaching practices, though these changes might not always be pronounced or uniformly positive. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

College student perceptions of teaching and learning quality

Numerous instructional design models have been proposed over the past several decades. Instead of focusing on the design process (means), this study investigated how learners perceived the quality of instruction they experienced (ends). An electronic survey instrument containing nine a priori scales was developed. Students responded from 89 different undergraduate and graduate courses at multiple institutions (n = 140). Data analysis indicated strong correlations between student self-reports on academic learning time, how much they learned, First Principles of Instruction, their satisfaction with the course, perceptions of their mastery of course objectives, and global course ratings. Most importantly, these scales measure principles with which instructional developers and teachers can evaluate their products and courses, regardless of design processes used: provide authentic tasks for students to do; activate prior learning; demonstrate what is to be learned; provide repeated opportunities for students to successfully complete authentic tasks with coaching and feedback; and help students integrate what they have learned into their personal lives.

Head start teaching center: Evaluation of a new approach to head start staff development

Head Start Teaching Centers are a national demonstration project designed to provide participatory training in all Head Start component areas within the context of an exemplary Head Start program. Each Teaching Center employs an independent evaluation to study this alternative approach to Head Start staff development. This paper presents the results of the outcome evaluation for the first year of the New England Head Start Teaching Center. The New England Head Start Teaching Center was designed to provide intensive training during a 3 or 5 day period of residence at the Teaching Center. This paper briefly describes the national Head Start Teaching Center model, the implementation of this model in the New England region, the outcome evaluation plan, and the results from the first year of training. The analyses of year one data indicated that training provided by the New England Head Start Teaching Center produced significant gains. As compared to similar Head Start employees who did not participate in training, both trainees and their supervisors reported significant gains in trainees' knowledge, skills, and expertise after participating in the New England Head Start Teaching Center training.