New faculty as colleagues

This study, based on repeated interviews, tracked four sucessive cohorts of new faculty at a large state university over each of their semesters on campus. It documents trends for these new hires, notably in how they coped with social and intellectual isolation, with conflicts between their own and senior faculty's values, and with finding social support. New faculty evidenced differences as a function of the degree of their experience and of return from non‐academic careers. Older and more experienced new faculty found fewer friends and social supports on campus. New faculty needed at least three years to feel a real part of campus.     

Faculty evaluation of a faculty development center

There is relatively little firm information concerning the effectiveness of faculty development programs at the present time. This condition is not likely to be alleviated by any one study, including the present one. The study does, however, offer a rationale for the faculty survey approach it uses and reports faculty responses concerning importance and performance, to each of 19 functions that make up the faculty development program at the institution involved. The study was conducted in a large urban university and involved responses from both faculty who had participated in the program during the preceding year and those who had not. It was concluded that, despite the subjective nature and other limitations of the survey approach to evaluation of faculty development programs, the information provided is useful both as a basis for decision making and program improvement.     

Faculty development via field programs for middle-aged,disillusioned faculty

This paper reviews reasons why traditional faculty development programs have neglected middle-aged, disillusioned faculty (colleagues who are chronically depressed or angry about their jobs, who are inactive and unenthusiastic as teachers and researchers, and whose campus participation is passive at best). It then describes a format for engaging field-based developers, including chairpeople, in stepwise programs that help reestablish communication and reinvolvement of these problem faculty in meaningful activities and rewards. Data from ongoing field programs of the sort advocated here include survey-based portrayals of middle-aged, disillusioned faculty (e.g., 22% of all older faculty were rated as explosive with students/colleagues), of usual failings in communicating academic reward processes to faculty, of faculty's and administrators' reservations about reengaging problem colleagues, and of benefits accruing to field-workers themselves. Thus far, of the 45 middle-aged, disillusioned faculty involved in programs with their chairs acting as field-based developers, 84% have shown significant progress in preliminary stages of reestablishing communication and departmental activity, 69% have renegotiated for more meaningful roles as teachers/scholars/colleagues, and 47% have earned public rewards for meeting the goals set in their recontracting.     

Lessons learned and programme recommendations

Evaluations of school-based sex education programs for adolescents have emphasized the importance of a narrow focus on reducing sexual risk-taking behaviors that lead to unplanned pregnancy or HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, application of social learning theories as a foundation for program development, use of experiential educational techniques, attention to social and media influences on sexual behavior, reinforcement of group norms against unprotected sex, and opportunities to learn and practice communication and negotiation skills. A recent World Health Organization review of 1050 sex education programs further underscored the importance of different sets of messages for youth who have not yet initiated sexual activity and those who have, introduction of sex education programs well before the age when youth initiate sex, and a program goal of reducing the incidence of unprotected intercourse. Program needs identified in various reviews include identification and understanding of the target group, involvement of youth in program design, work with parents and community leaders, an evaluative component, and consideration of ways to sustain and expand successful programs.     

Developing Faculty Research Skills: Lessons Learned

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this reflective commentary is to describe and analyze how efforts were made to engage polytechnic nursing faculty in a multi-institutional, interprofessional research project, and the effectiveness of methods used. We describe the professional development and project management activities provided along with our reflection as to their effectiveness. The faculty members worked at a polytechnic, a small vocational and technical institution in Western Canada with approximately 14,000 full-time students, where faculty were not required to participate in research. Assumptions were made about their interest, knowledge, and ability regarding the research process. These assumptions led the investigators to implement professional development activities that were not effective. Spontaneous informal, anecdotal feedback from some faculty members to the authors, and the authors’ own observations, informed the results. Assumptions about novice faculty research skills may not be accurate; therefore, an effort should be made to perform a pre-assessment of these skills, to create a lesson plan, to assess the effectiveness of teaching strategies, and to evaluate the effectiveness of supportive measures in order to address learning needs.     

The professor as a person: The role of faculty well-being in faculty development

This article examines the rationale for an expanded definition of faculty development and reviews institutional structures and practices which support the personal and professional development of faculty through faculty and academic development, employee assistance, and health promotion programs.Glenda Hubbard is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, and a practicing therapist in the Employee Assistance Service of the Hubbard Center for Faculty and Staff Support at Appalachian State University. She received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Miami. Her current interests include the faculty development needs of mid-career faculty and women's issues in counseling. Sally Atkins is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, and a faculty/staff psychologist for the Hubbard Center at Appalachian State University. She received her Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her current interests include faculty quality of life, therapy and the arts, and cross-cultural psychology.     

Lessons learned: towards a framework for integration of theory and practice in academic development

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I describe an approach to the integration of theory and practice at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational levels. The results of the research projects in which I have been involved over the last ten years are used to illustrate how these three levels have facilitated the identification of three tensions. These tensions together create a framework that can help academic developers better understand how to approach the challenges of advocating for the integration of higher education theory with academic practice in their own institutional environments, and how this integration is linked to existing higher education literature.     

Designing and implementing technology collaboration projects: Lessons learned

Conclusion Even though the collaboration between the state university and the government research center ended inconclusively, the authors examined the collaboration with an attempt to provide sound guidance for future collaboration projects. Based upon the findings above, many of the challenges that the technology collaboration faced become clearer. A primary problem was an unclear definition regarding the type of collaboration that was being developed. Goals and project timelines were not agreed upon or clearly communicated between all participants. Many graduate students chose to contribute to the project because it appeared to be an attempt to engage teachers and researchers in working collaboratively to design and develop a usable and engaging product for the classroom. This type of collaboration, however, requires authentic participation by all parties. As the project progressed, many teachers felt that they had increasingly limited input into the design of the multimedia modules. For example, teachers raised many concerns related to interface design and lesson content, but later learned that these items were non-negotiable. Teachers began to feel as though their role was more of an apprentice or an intern learning from rather than with the research center. Lack of clarity regarding roles conspired with a host of issues related to partnership development to obstruct the overall product from being completed. As a result, it is impossible to gauge whether the modules designed via the partnership will have a greater impact on student learning than those created solely by the research center. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine whether participating teacher practices changed. None of them had the opportunity to pilot test the modules within their classrooms and a very small percentage completed all quarters of participation. The greatest challenges of the project related to whether or not the needs of the two institutions involved and of the graduate students were fulfilled. The technology collaboration was an honest attempt to involve teachers in the development of science curriculum and technology on a national scale. There exists great potential in linking the skills of teachers with the resources available through the research center and the authors were personally invested in getting involved in the collaboration. Critical to the success of such collaborations is effectively utilizing the skills of all participants, and essential to the measure of its success is the overall ability of the project to meet stakeholders’ needs.     

Preparing our students to publish: Lessons learned

Doctoral students' inexperience in publication writing poses a challenge to higher education faculties. The approach detailed here to collegial writing—professors and students working as colleagues—offers one response. The assumptions guiding the course are followed by an elaboration of its key structuring components. The article concludes with a discussion of five lessons essential to the replication of a similar publication writing workshop in other settings. Among them are adopting a process model, electing a nontraditional course mode, employing cooperative learning as the dominant strategy, and drawing on schoolwide faculty to broaden perspectives on publication.Margo A. Figgins, Assistant Professor of English Education at the University of Virginia, directs the University's Young Writers Workshop, co-directs the Central Virginia Writing Project and, as a poet, works with Virginia students and teachers through the state's Artists-in-Education program.Harold J. Burbach is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Virginia.     

Designing a knowledge harvesting tool: Lessons learned

Recognition of the need to maintain continuity through daily interruptions in an organization is not found often in the literature. The design and development of a knowledge harvesting process and tool as a means to address employee separation was investigated. The lessons learned suggest that a knowledge harvesting tool must be adaptable to the needs of the organization, be understood by the users, and be usable by the user and the organization.     

A navy video teletraining project: Lessons learned

Abstract

This paper discusses two modifications to the conduct of computer‐conference‐based master's degree courses: a maximum length for conference messages was suggested and, more importantly, conference moderators, or topic leaders, were appointed from among the student cohort. Drawing on previous work on conference moderation, it is argued that the differing power relationships between student and student and between instructor and student result in a context in which instructor and student moderators can perform complementary functions to ensure a more productive conferencing environment.     

Faculty accountability and faculty workload: A preliminary cost analysis of their relationship as revealed by PhD productivity

General concerns for faculty accountability are examined in the context of faculty workload and costs. Graduating a PhD student is used as the unit for analysis. The unit is compared to instructional productivity. The data came from a 10-year interval at a major graduate university. Six liberal arts departments with a 225-member faculty provide the PhD output and workload information. Work equivalents are determined from institutional and faculty self-reports. Graduating a PhD is found to be equivalent to one-third of a full workload. Implications are given for comparisons between programs within a university and between types of institutions in the larger system of higher education. Concerns also emerge for improved personnel practices with respect to faculty work assignments.     

Inclusive Practice in English Secondary Schools: Lessons learned

This paper considers how some secondary schools in England have been able to respond to the conflicting demands of school improvement policies, as measured by high academic standards and the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. It begins with a discussion of the context in which all English schools are currently operating and a summary of the extent to which research on school effectiveness and school improvement has influenced research on inclusion and vice versa. Key findings from our work in secondary schools committed to inclusion are presented and discussed in light of teacher, subject department and whole school responses to pupil diversity. The paper concludes with a conceptualisation of inclusive schools as those that meet the dual criteria of enrolling a diverse student population and improving academic standards for all.     

Professorship: A faculty development program

A faculty development program was designed to enhance the ability of graduate faculty members to supervise research activities of graduate students. The program was developed to stress interpersonal problem solving in advisement and professional issues. The classroom techniques of discussion teaching, case method, and psychodrama were used to encourage and enhance the full participation of the faculty. Participants indicated that the program enabled them to examine their own beliefs and knowledge regarding issues surrounding graduate education.