|
Faculty
Professional Development Center: Resources for Faculty
Definition ~
Campus Conversations
Collegial Development
of Teaching
~ Breakfast
with the Provost
External Sources
Scholarship
of Teaching
Definition
Is there a scholarship of teaching?
If so, what are its elements? How do we know it when we see it?
How do we evaluate or assess it? According to the
Carnegie Teaching Academy the scholarship of teaching “ is problem
posing about an issue of teaching or learning, study of the problem
through methods appropriate to disciplinary epistemologies, application
of results to practice, communication of results, self-reflection,
and peer review.”
Is
this an adequate definition? Kent State is in the process of creating
its own definition as part of the campus conversations on teaching.
Further questions for consideration include; Is there a difference
between excellence in teaching and the scholarship of teaching?
What do different disciplines contribute to the scholarship of teaching
and to what extent is the scholarship of teaching discipline based?
What questions about student learning can be explored through the
scholarship of teaching? What practices, policies , and structures
can support the scholarship of teaching. What inhibits it?
Join
us in this dialogue. Send us an email with your definition of the
scholarship of teaching to fpdc@kent.edu
Campus
Conversations
Kent
State University's campus community has been engaged in serious
consideration of a broadened and evolving concept of scholarship
since Ernest Boyer's heuristic work Scholarship Reconsidered
in 1990. The Faculty Senate used Boyer's work as a catalyst to study
the implications of a broadened definition of scholarship for faculty
roles and responsibilities; for reappointment, tenure, and promotion.
Since that time, there have been numerous groups involved with different
aspects of the scholarship of teaching. The Faculty Professional
Development Study Committee, for example, initiated the formation
of the University Teaching Council (UTC), a faculty body which provides
leadership and resources for teaching and learning. PEW Roundtable
discussions bring together individuals across roles and campuses
to converse about teaching and scholarship. The Collegial Development
of Teaching Project (discussed below) continues to expand its membership.
Beginning in Fall1998, the Faculty Professional Development Center
began its mission to build a community of scholars. The Center and
the UTC are initiating an integrative phase in our work as they
develop a framework for our Campus Conversations, for bringing together
the many groups involved in the study of teaching to reflect on
our individual and collective efforts. In addition to forums, and
an annual Conference on Teaching, the Center sponsors a newsletter
and this website for faciliating campus conversations on teaching.
Every six weeks the Center sponsors the Breakfast with Provost (discussed
below) to provide another collegial environment for discussing the
scholarship of teaching. The university's recent cultural self-study
provides a valuable context within which to view the scholarship
of teaching and to develop our action plan.
Back
to top
Teaching
Scholar's Program for Junior Faculty
Call
for applications! Kent State is one of eight institutions of
higher education invited to participate in the Ohio Teaching Enhancement
Program for Junior Faculty coordinated by Miami University. Follow
the above link for more information on the program and for an application
form.
Collegial
Development of Teaching
(formerly
AAHE- KSU Peer Review of Teaching Project) In January 1994 the American
Association for Higher Education inaugurated a project funded by
the The Pew Charitable
Trusts and William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation designed to encourage collective,
scholarly discussion of college teaching at 12 research universities,
including Kent State University. National project participants met
for a Stanford institute (1994) and three annual conferences to
evaluate progress. Various disciplinary clusters met to discuss
common issues and made contact with professional associations. The
project produced the publications, Making
Teaching Community Property: A Menu for Peer Collaboration and Peer
Review, which describes various prototypes of activities and
documents developed by participating departments, and The Course
Portfolio.
Kent
team members are represented in these publications and have served
on national working groups on the topics of course portfolios and
pedagogical colloquia in the hiring process. Now that the national
project has ended, the Kent team from the original three departments
has continued to expand, now including 37 faculty members from 17
units. They focus on scholarly discussions and activities on college
teaching techniques, professional development and pedagogy.
Contact
Larry Andrews, Honors College, landrews@kent.edu
Breakfast
with the Provost
An
open Letter from the Provost: I have thought often of the reflections
on good teaching that have taken place at our “breakfast conversations.”
Despite the variety of our respective disciplines, we shared many
values and aspirations. Above all, there was a sense of exhilaration
we all seemed to feel when discussing our most challenging and rewarding
teaching experiences. (I don’t believe that was simply the caffeine).
I very much appreciate these breakfasts and the sharing with colleagues
the deep commitments that draw us all together into this university.
I look forward to our next conversation on teaching.
Paul
Gaston
The
Provost Breakfast Conversations on Teaching take place every six
weeks and enable a small group of faculty to share stories about
teaching with colleagues across campuses. If you would like to attend
a breakfast conversation, let us know. If you would like to bring
together several of your colleagues for breakfast or luncheon conversation,
let us know that too.
Please
send us an email at fpdc@kent.edu
Back
to top
External
Resources
A
world wide listing of Online University Teaching Centers
Center
for Teaching Excellence at the
University of Kansas
Center
for the Advancement of teaching (CAT) at
Illinois State University
Office
of Faculty and TA Development (FTAD) at
the Ohio State University
University
Center for Teaching and Learning at
Cleveland State University
|