Vol. 19, No. 37

Aug. 10, 2000

Educators learn all about faculty development

Fifty-nine educators from across the nation, the Philippines and Slovakia gathered at Clayton Hall last month to participate in the third National Institute for New Faculty Developers. A team of 12 seasoned faculty developers from across the country served as faculty for the institute, which was cosponsored by UD's Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE) and the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. Coordinated by Gabriele Bauer, CTE, the five-day program was designed to introduce new faculty developers to the field and help them design and implement a comprehensive instructional development plan to take back to their campuses. Along with learning experiences, participants were offered field trips to Lancaster County and Longwood Gardens. Tina Bodenheimer, director of instructional technology at Mid-South Community College in Arkansas, said their day in Lancaster, especially dinner with an Amish family, was a memorable experience. "I loved it," Bodenheimer said. She said she had never experienced a community like the Amish. "It was so beautiful and peaceful. We ate by candlelight because they don't have electricity. Everything was home grown or homemade from the ham and chicken to the shoo fly pie and ice cream. After dinner, our host took out his harmonica and played 'You are My Sunshine.' I've given all my children a song and that one is my son's," she said. Participants were equally enthusiastic about what they were learning at the institute. Cynthia Desrochers, director of the faculty development center at California State University at Northridge, said that the institute is reaffirming the work she is doing and the likelihood that it will lead to a more skilled faculty. "It's great to have my peers validate what I am doing," she explained. Mary Gillespie, director of instructional resources at Salisbury State University, agreed. "I discovered that I've been doing faculty development for years but never knew it." She said her university is considering starting a center for faculty development, and the institute is giving her useful ideas. Linda Wells, special faculty assistant to the provost at Boston University, said information about how to structure development sessions for new faculty was really helpful and she lauded the institute's listserv that will "keep us informed." Sessions were held on goal setting and networking; forming partnerships with faculty, administrators and staff; consulting one-on-one with faculty; starting and maintaining an instructional development program; learning from students; evaluating teaching; incorporating scholarly writing and research on teaching and faculty development; and the ethical dimensions of faculty development. One day was devoted to exploring the best methods for teaching active, collaborative and problem-based learning. During a session on the faculty developer's role in instructional technology integration conducted by Judy Greene, CTE, and Loreta Ulmer, Delaware Technical and Community College, several attendees questioned the efficacy of using computers as learning tools when it took so much time, effort and funding to use them effectively. Ulmer said instructors don't have to be technicians. Institutions should have computer technical support that can either teach computer skills or help put materials together. Greene described the partnership that was created at UD when CTE began incorporating technology into faculty development. She said it began with several faculty development projects that took on a "life of their own," and, as a result, partnerships were formed among CTE, the Office of Educational Technology and Media and Information Technologies/User Services, the UD library and the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education. They explained that computer technology provides additional teaching tools that help faculty motivate students to learn interactively. Ulmer said instructional technology gives students perpetual access to bulletin or discussion boards, the course syllabi, course materials, course outlines, their test or assignment grades and the correct answers. Ulmer told the group that hardware and software are much easier to use now. She said most of the learning packages are user friendly and encourage student interactivity. "We're finding," Ulmer said, that "when computers are used, students spend more time on each task, feel free to learn on their own and get more involved with the subject matter which helps them achieve more." She said one teacher created a Jeopardy game using PowerPoint and students had to supply the questions for the answers on the subject he was teaching. Throughout the five days, break-out rooms were made available as meeting places so that groups, university teams and individuals could consult with institute faculty and discuss what they had learned during each session. –Barbara Garrison