Assessing faculty professional development in STEM higher education: Sustainability of outcomes
Assessing faculty professional development in STEM higher education: Sustainability of outcomes
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DOI：
10.1126/sciadv.1501422
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发表时间：
2016-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
13.6
通讯作者：
Passmore, Heather A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Derting, Terry L.;Ebert-May, Diane;Passmore, Heather A.
我们测试了教师学院改革科学教学IV（第一），博士后学者的专业发展计划的有效性，进行了研究计划的校友。教师专业发展计划是努力改善STEM（科学，技术，工程和数学）学科教学的关键组成部分，但缺乏这些计划持续影响的可靠证据。我们使用了配对设计，其中我们匹配的第一校友在终身职位与非第一教师在同一机构工作的轨道位置。两人中的一人教授规模和水平相似的课程。为了确定第一参与者的教学实践是否比非第一教师更以学习者为中心，我们比较了教师对他们的教学策略的看法，对影响教学的环境因素的看法，以及实际的教学实践。非第一和第一教师报告了他们的教学策略和教学环境的相似的看法。第一教师报告使用积极的学习和互动参与讲座更频繁地与非第一教师相比。外部评审员的评分也证明了第一教师教授以学习者为中心的课程，与大多数非第一教师以教师为中心的课程形成对比。尽管在教学实践中存在显著差异，但FIRST和非FIRST参与者使用针对较低水平认知技能的评估。我们的研究证明了第一个程序的有效性和比较组的经验效用，其中组是很好地匹配和控制的上下文变量（例如，部门），用于评估专业发展的有效性，为后续的教学实践。
We tested the effectiveness of Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching IV (FIRST), a professional development program for postdoctoral scholars, by conducting a study of program alumni. Faculty professional development programs are critical components of efforts to improve teaching and learning in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, but reliable evidence of the sustained impacts of these programs is lacking. We used a paired design in which we matched a FIRST alumnus employed in a tenure-track position with a non-FIRST faculty member at the same institution. The members of a pair taught courses that were of similar size and level. To determine whether teaching practices of FIRST participants were more learner-centered than those of non-FIRST faculty, we compared faculty perceptions of their teaching strategies, perceptions of environmental factors that influence teaching, and actual teaching practice. Non-FIRST and FIRST faculty reported similar perceptions of their teaching strategies and teaching environment. FIRST faculty reported using active learning and interactive engagement in lecture sessions more frequently compared with non-FIRST faculty. Ratings from external reviewers also documented that FIRST faculty taught class sessions that were learner-centered, contrasting with the teacher-centered class sessions of most non-FIRST faculty. Despite marked differences in teaching practice, FIRST and non-FIRST participants used assessments that targeted lower-level cognitive skills. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of the FIRST program and the empirical utility of comparison groups, where groups are well matched and controlled for contextual variables (for example, departments), for evaluating the effectiveness of professional development for subsequent teaching practices.