Faculty Engagement

ELI is no longer actively pursuing this topic. This page is provided as an historical resource; it is not being updated or actively managed.

DEFINITION:

Higher education administrators must understand the challenges presented to faculty by the revolutionarychanges being made by the new teaching and learning technologies and by the pressures created by the new students entering the academy. Faculty vary considerably in both their abilities and their attitudes toward the new technologies and institutionally–based attempts to engage the faculty must take these variations into account in order to be successful.

KEY QUESTIONS:

Key questions relating to faculty engagement include:

• What are scaleable and sustainable techniques to engage, motivate, and support faculty as their role is transformed?
• How do institutions entice faculty, support development, protect intellectual property, and fund this activity?
• How do institutions develop, structure, organize, maintain and coordinate faculty support efforts in ways that:
     –  best support faculty and align with (or build) faculty teaching cultures;
     –  leverage typically limited campus resources for faculty development; and
     –  diffuse innovations in teaching with technology in a way that aligns with institutional goals?
• What processes are in place to engage faculty in dialogue about teaching and learning?
• What are the experiences that motivate faculty members to use technology to improve their teaching and student learning? What are the conditions that lead to such experiences? What are the resources necessary to create those conditions?
• What are the experiences that enable a faculty support staff member to be effective? What are the conditions that lead to such experiences? What are the resources necessary to create those conditions?
• What effects do institutional culture, history, values, and environment have on the conditions described above? What are effective strategies for mitigating or leveraging these effects, to create the desired conditions?
• What tools, information, and experiences would be helpful for faculty who wish to be reflective about their teaching practice, and what form should these resources take so that they are accessible, clear, and simple and thus useful to faculty in their teaching practice?
• What are other questions and issues that an institution interested in engaging its faculty should consider?
• How can the large body of extant knowledge about effective teaching practices be made more accessible to faculty?

NLII ACTIVITIES:

The issue of faculty engagement was an NLII key theme for 2000–2001, as reflected by Paul Hagner's research focus as the NLII 2000 Fellow. For the results of his research, including a list of resources and readings, see his white paper "Interesting Practices and Best Systems in Faculty Engagement and Support," which appears on the NLII Key Documents page. An early draft of the paper was first developed for an NLII focus session in February, 2000, refinements were made based on that focus session and further research. An additional focus session on the topic was held in September, 2000 and the final draft of the paper was presented at the NLII 2001 Annual Meeting.

The paper presents some strategies that administrators can use to successfully engage faculty and to effectively transform teaching and learning using technology. The paper ends with a compendium of "interesting practices" used by a wide variety of institutions across several dimensions of techniques of faculty engagement.

Specifically, this paper addresses the following topics:

• A brief discussion concerning the differences in faculty development issues when comparing faculty "entrepreneurs" with "second–wave" faculty;
• An examination of the resources, incentives, and benefits identified by the "best practitioner" entrepreneurs as important in incorporating new learning technologies into their course work;
• Some possible reasons why potential "second–wave" faculty are hesitant to adopt new learning technologies and why some "interesting practices" may only be effective within certain types of institutional cultures;
• A strategy which administration can use to identify what pattern of the four faculty "types" exists within their institution; and
• A brief description of some "interesting practices" designed to facilitate the engagement of the "second–wave" faculty member in these new paradigms of learning in the following areas:
     –  training
     –  grants/support
     –  "just–in–time" technical assistance
     –  information exchange
     –  assessments

The paper concludes that institutions that are preparing for transformation should adopt a "best systems" mentality, rather than concentrate on specific practices.

The NLII's current research efforts are focused on learner–centered teaching practices. For more information, see the Learner–Centered Practices key theme page.

RESOURCES & READINGS:

"Transforming Teaching in a Student–Centered World," 2003 NLII Annual Review.

Presentations at NLII 2002 Annual Meeting:

Combining Faculty Engagement with Readiness Assessment: A Case in Point

Discipline Specific Teaching Support

OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE:

If your institution has developed effective practices for faculty engagement, development, and support, we encourage you to enter them in the Effective Practices database. If you are interested in participating in a working group to develop content for the Faculty Engagement branch of the NLII, please contact Paul Hagner (PRHagner@mail.hartford.edu).