Community College Faculty Motivation for Basic Research,Teaching Research,and Professional Development

Community college faculty members often find themselves divided between what they want to do and what they can do. Knowing what motivates faculty to engage in professional development and scholarly productive activities provides critical information for administrators. The present study explored the motivational characteristics of community college faculty and the contextual factors that support or thwart their engagement and productivity. It focused on three key professional activities: (a) basic or applied research, (b) classroom action/teaching research, and (c) faculty professional development. Findings indicate that community college faculty are motivated for all three activities primarily by intrinsic and value-related factors rather than by extrinsic or contextual factors. Further, faculty members present somewhat different motivational profiles for the three work activities. Their motivations also demonstrate responsiveness to workplace characteristics as faculty perceive and interpret them.

These findings provide implications to help college administrators make policy decisions to support the work of faculty and align with institutional mission and goals.     

THE IMPACT OF FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE EVALUATION OF TEACHING IN NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

This paper reviews recent research evidence on formative (developmental) and summative (judgemental) evaluation of teaching in North American universities. The major conclusions of the review are as follows: (1) student ratings are the most common method of evaluating teaching in North American universities, and their popularity appears to be increasing; (2) student ratings have been found to provide reliable and valid information on limited aspects of teaching competence; (3) teaching evaluations make a difference in decisions on faculty salary, tenure and promotion; (4) evaluation of teaching has been shown to produce modest improvements in teaching effectiveness; (5) faculty satisfaction with teaching evaluation practices ranges from very high to very low, depending on institutional context; and (6) there is consensus that several specific improvements are needed in the current teaching evaluation system.     

Between the School and the Academy: The Struggle to Promote Teacher Research at Columbia University's Lincoln School, 1917–1935

This essay examines the development of a research faculty and culture at the Lincoln School, a laboratory school founded in 1917 by the Rockefeller General Education Board (GEB) at Teachers College, Columbia University. The school was dedicated to the production of education research by practicing teachers. The essay focuses in particular on the role played by the two men first charged by the GEB to organize and administrate the school, Abraham Flexner and Otis Caldwell, and some of the school's teachers. Flexner and Caldwell promoted a working environment marked by experimentation, academic freedom, and faculty collaboration. This leadership model created tensions between Flexner and Caldwell and some Teachers College faculty over the use of Lincoln School classrooms as a resource for education research. Over the twenty‐four years of the school's existence, Lincoln School teachers published hundreds of studies and textbooks focusing on curriculum development, child development, teaching techniques, and democratic school administration. In a profession where members are expected to be consumers rather than creators of knowledge, and practitioners rather than “experts,” the teachers and administrators of the Lincoln School defied many of the most foundational premises that have guided schools and the production of education research alike.     

Audio‐conferencing in graduate education: A case study

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study that examined the relationship between distance teaching and the faculty reward system. Using a qualitative approach, the study sought to understand how distance teaching is valued, rewarded, and accommodated within the institutional reward structure. Based on interviews with faculty members, distance education program administrators, and the chief academic officers at four research universities, the study describes a reward culture that is not accommodating to and rewarding of faculty work in distance education. The study finds that: 1) distance education occupies a marginal status, 2) distance teaching is neither highly valued nor well‐rewarded as scholarly activity, 3) distance teaching is not highly related to promotion and tenure decisions, and 4) rewards for distance teaching are dependent on the academic unit's commitment to distance education.     

Counseling Students' Decision Making Regarding Teaching Effectiveness: A Conjoint Analysis

The authors examined the relative importance of 4 attributes of decision making for student evaluation of teaching effectiveness: perceived knowledge base of the professor, professor's delivery style, course organization, and course workload. Participants were 234 counseling graduate students from 6 midwestern universities in the United States. Data were analyzed with classic conjoint analysis using an additive model with full‐profile method. Results indicated that decisions about teaching effectiveness are complex and based on multiple attributes. There was sufficient variability in the decision‐making process to warrant caution in overgeneralizing results. Implications for faculty development and faculty hiring are considered.     

Academic achievement and personality traits of faculty members of Indian agricultural universities: their effect on teaching and research performance

Purpose: The present study was undertaken to assess academic achievement, teaching aptitude and research attitude of Indian agricultural universities’ faculty, to predict indicators for successful teachers and researchers, and thereby enhancing the quality of higher agricultural education. Methodology: Five hundred faculty members were selected to elicit information on academic, teaching and research achievements. Teaching aptitude and attitude of faculty towards research were measured through standard psychometric tests. Correlation and regression analysis was carried out to establish the relationship among selected variables. Findings: Combination of academic achievement and teaching aptitude was a superior predictor for the teaching achievement compared to either of them alone. Similarly, research achievement of faculty was predicted better by the combination of academic achievement and research attitude. Practical Implications: The study showed the need for training faculty members in interpersonal relationships for effective teaching, and in research methodology and research processes for improving research attitude of faculty. Theoretical Implications: The expectancy-value model provides a useful framework to understand the role of attitude/aptitude in better prediction of research and teaching behavior. Originality/Value: The present study showed that teaching aptitude and research attitude be considered along with academic achievements for promoting quality teaching and research and hence the educational programmes.     

Test Use Among Classroom Teachers and Its Relationship to Teaching Level and Teaching Practices

This study surveyed a representative sample of teachers from a large metropolitan school district to investigate the weight they assign to the results of teacher-prepared tests, nationally standardized tests, and state minimumcompetency tests in making major educational decisions. Teachers reported that all three test types were used to some extent in each of eight decision categories, but in none of these decisions were the three test types judged to play a clearly dominant role. The results also suggested that test use varies, depending on teaching level and, to some extent, on certain teaching practices.     

Assessment of a conceptually based instructor evaluation form

An instrument to be used by students in evaluating faculty was developed with the major focus being five conceptualized interpretations of scales (factors) culled from other research on faculty evaluation. The five conceptualized factors were: Evaluation, Presentation, Preparation, Personality, and Intellect. Thirty-five professors from the Division of Curriculum and Instruction teaching 65 classes (1,122 students) at graduate and undergraduate levels participated in May; and 75 professors teaching 2,804 students participated in a December study. Each of the five factors were found to be: independent; stable across student groups; of high internal consistency and reliability; of a high degree of concurrent validity (faculty evaluating themselves); discriminatory among faculty; and applicable under sundry instructional conditions. The instrument can provide information to instructors for the improvement of teaching, as well as providing information for students concerning individual instructors. As part of a larger evaluation system, the instrument can provide information for career decisions.     

“教学学术”视域下大学教师专业发展新解读

教学学术厘清了教学与科研之间的关系,对大学教师专业发展具有重要意义。高校应从组织、制度、机制、文化等几方面入手,积极构建促进大学教师教学学术水平提升的良好环境。教师要不断加强学习,注重反思与合作,提高教学学术水平,以促进自身专业发展。     

Teaching the way they were taught? Revisiting the sources of teaching knowledge and the role of prior experience in shaping faculty teaching practices

An oft-cited maxim in higher education is that “faculty teach the way they were taught” because they receive little formal training in teaching before entering the classroom. However, little is known about the origins of faculty knowledge about teaching or the role their prior experiences play in the development of their teaching practices. In this exploratory study, we interviewed and observed 53 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty at three research institutions. Using qualitative analysis methods (i.e., thematic and causal network analysis), we find that faculty do not only model their teaching after previous instructors, but also draw upon a varied repertoire of knowledge and prior experiences. These include knowledge derived from their experiences as instructors (46 respondents), their experiences as students (22 respondents), their experiences as researchers (9 respondents), and from their non-academic roles (10 respondents). In-depth analyses of two faculty members elaborate on the relationship between these varied types of prior experiences and how they interact with other factors including beliefs about teaching, instructional goals, and features of the organizational context to ultimately shape their classroom practice. The results suggest that instead of assuming that faculty lack any knowledge about teaching and learning, professional developers and policymakers should instead acknowledge and build upon their preexisting “craft” knowledge as professional teachers. Future research should focus on relationships between specific types of knowledge and teaching practice and how these varied experiences influence identity formation.     

Who governs? Academic decision-making in US four-year colleges and universities, 2000–2012

This study compares the explanatory power of two models of academic governance: dual and managerial control. The research is based on characterizations by chief academic officers of the primary decision-makers involved in 13 types of recurrent academic decisions. We examine change between responses to surveys fielded to US four-year colleges and universities in 2000 and 2012. We find limited support for the dual control and the managerial control models in both years. As an alternative to the two dominant conceptual models, we develop an empirically grounded classification based on multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. In each year we find high faculty participation and management-dominant clusters. The other identified clusters do not map well onto either of the two dominant conceptual models. Given these results, we argue that configurational analysis should be used as a supplement to future studies monitoring the incidence of dual and managerial control in academic governance.     

How teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their continuing professional development

Teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) can improve teacher quality and teaching practice, yet teachers differ greatly in the extent to which they engage in CPD. In extensive research into which factors affect teachers’ participation in CPD, the effects of teachers’ beliefs have received limited attention, despite their strong influences on people’s working and learning. Teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching in particular influence their teaching practices. Does a comparable relationship exist between these beliefs and teachers’ own learning or participation in CPD? To explore this relationship, 260 Dutch secondary school teachers completed a survey that focused on the teachers’ student-oriented and subject matter-oriented beliefs, as well as on teachers’ updating, reflective and collaborative activities. Because teachers’ characteristics reflect both belief dimensions, this study relied on cluster analysis, which revealed three distinct belief profiles. These results indicated that teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their participation in CPD: the more a teacher’s profile is student oriented and subject matter oriented, the higher his or her participation in CPD. The results have implications for enhancing teachers’ reflections on their beliefs about learning and teaching, in conjunction with participation in CPD.     

中小学信息技术教学方法的研究热点、主题与趋势--基于749篇硕士论文的共词分析

为了直观地展示出我国中小学信息技术教学方法的研究现状,文章以749篇硕士论文为研究样本,采用词频分析、因子分析、聚类分析、战略坐标图分析等多种统计分析方法,论述了中小学信息技术教学方法的研究热点、主题与趋势。结果发现:在网络学习环境和建构主义思想的影响下,以"微课教学法""翻转课堂教学法"为代表的新型教学方法已经在我国中小学信息技术课程中得到了广泛应用。此外,多种教学方法之间相互弥补自身"短板"逐步走向融合,已经成为完善与创新教学方法的现实选择。     

Assessing Enhancement of Learning, Personal Learning Environment, and Student Efficacy: Alternatives to Traditional Faculty Evaluation in Higher Education

This study was informed by three bodies of important literature: (1) research on faculty teaching performance and course evaluation in higher education, (2) research on students' personal (constructivist-based) views of characteristics of teaching and learning environments, and (3) human efficacy. The article describes the development and validation of a new measure designed to assess students' perceptions of the extent to which higher education learning environment characteristics enhance students' personal learning. Results of factor analyses of the Student Assessment of Teaching and Learning (SATL) and criterion-related validity analyses are reported for 2,190 students in 145 separate classes. Criteria used for analysis are (1) measures of students' perceptions of constructivist-based, personal learning environments and students' self-efficacy beliefs, (2) course emphasis on higher-order thinking skills and personal and applied knowledge, and (3) two summative judgments of overall course quality. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of using student rating information for formative evaluation purposes and using students' reflections on personal learning as an element of assessing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education settings. This latter view is contrasted to procedures that are more traditionally used to evaluate faculty, teaching, and course characteristics.     

Factors explaining faculty technology use and productivity

This study examines factors related to technology use in teaching by university faculty. An EFA analysis of multiple questions of technology use in the classroom found two factors: one loaded with Web use and the second with email use. Therefore, three research questions were asked: What factors explain faculty use of the Web or email? Are these factors the same for both Web and email use? What is the relationship of technology use to faculty productivity? The sample included full-time faculty at doctoral and research institutions selected from the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty:1999 (NSOPF:99) dataset. Independent variables included measures of teaching, research, and service productivity, along with other contextual, demographic, and professional variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to prepare eight models (email and Web use for Doctoral I, Doctoral II, Research I, and Research II institutions). Results confirmed that age and Internet access were important factors related to faculty technology use. The relationship between email and Web use to teaching productivity in particular is intriguing and may indicate that productive faculty use technology to help them be more productive or that technology use impacts productivity. Research and service productivity also exhibited distinctive patterns with email and Web use.     

统计分析方法在市场营销课程中的教学思路及案例解析

市场营销课程的重点内容之一是利用统计学的思路和方法收集、整理、分析、评估企业营销信息系统的信息以做出合理的营销决策。在实际教学中师生普遍反映有一定难度,究其原因主要在于学生未能把统计分析方法的思路运用到营销决策中。鉴于此,首先分析了统计学课程与市场营销课程之间的衔接关系,其次构建了市场营销课程中运用统计分析方法的教学环节;再者主要探讨了将统计分类法、季节指数法、指数体系和因素分析法运用到市场营销课程中的教学思路和案例解析：最后提出在教学过程中教师应通过案例演示法、自主实验法、PBL方法和实地调研法等方法,调动和培养学生将统计分析方法与营销理论相结合的实践操作能力,以更好地发挥统计分析方法这一工具在市场营销课程中的作用。     

Investigation of secondary school,undergraduate, and graduate learners' mental models of ionic bonding

Secondary school, undergraduate, and graduate level learners' mental models of bonding in ionic substances were explored using an interview protocol that involved the use of physical substances and a focus card containing depictions of ionic bonding and structure. Teachers and faculty from the teaching institutions were interviewed to contextualize teaching models within the educational setting for the inquiry. These data resulted in two socially negotiated consensus teaching models and a series of criterial attributes for these models: the essential qualities, all of which must be negotiated, if the model is used in a way that is acceptable to scientists. The secondary school learners see ionic bonding as consisting of attraction of oppositely charged species that arise from the transfer of electrons driven by the desire of atoms to obtain an octet of electrons. The undergraduates see the lattice structure as a key component of ionic substances and quickly identified specific ionic lattices for the physical prompts used as probes. The graduates also identified strongly with ionic lattices, were less likely to focus on particular ionic structures, and had a stronger appreciation for the notion of the ionic‐covalent continuum. The research findings suggest that learners at all educational levels harbor a number of alternative conceptions and prefer to use simple mental models. These findings suggest that teachers and university faculty need to provide stronger links between the detailed nature of a model and its intended purpose. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 464–486, 2003     

美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校集群聘任模式剖析

为促进跨学科研究和教学的发展,威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校采用集群聘任构建校级跨学科合作网络:把教师聘任到集群,在相关院系为其安置行政归属,提供一定的资金支持。为保证集群教师的良好合作,学校创建集群专属网站,建立自上而下,自下而上的管理机制,实行诸如双管齐下,合二归一的评估方法等。     

“Spanish as a foreign language” teachers’ profiles: inclusive beliefs, teachers’ perceptions of student outcomes in the TCLA program, burnout, and experience

The present study focuses on the Temporary Classroom of Linguistic Adaptation program (TCLA program) in which specialist teachers (Spanish as a foreign language teachers—SFL teachers) teach Spanish to immigrants who are not proficient in the language. We suggest that support for immigrant students in Spanish schools should adopt a new inclusive educational approach. The present investigation is a preliminary attempt at characterizing the profiles of SFL teachers by assessing, simultaneously, five relevant variables (through cluster analysis): inclusive beliefs, teachers’ perceptions of student outcomes in TCLA program, general burnout, diversity-related teacher burnout, and years of teaching experience. Eighty-one SFL teachers from 132 schools in Spain (EU) were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire. Cluster analysis found two clearly differentiated groups: the larger one, Innovative SFL Teachers and the smaller, Traditional SFL Teachers. The Traditional SFL Teachers are characterized by more years of experience, lower inclusive beliefs scores, lower teachers’ perception of student outcomes in the TCLA program scores, and higher burnout scores as compared with the Innovative SFL Teachers. Moreover, Traditional SFL Teachers conceptualize their teaching role as a "teacher of Spanish" whereas Innovative SFL Teachers see themselves much more as playing a supportive role.