Assessing the impact of a disciplinary Teaching and Learning Center on current and future faculty professional development

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

The project, Assessing the Impact of a Disciplinary Teaching and Learning Center on Current and Future Faculty Professional Development, addresses a pressing national need to identify, assess, and promote successful models for increasing faculty and graduate student involvement in meaningful efforts to revitalize the undergraduate science curriculum. The project investigates the impact of a disciplinary-based teaching and learning center and a set of promising professional development activities directed at establishing faculty-driven innovations in curriculum reform teaching in science. These types of efforts have the potential to enhance the educational experience of large numbers of undergraduate students. Promising practices include teaching and learning workshops, teaching seminars by visiting scholars, disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching communities, individualized mentoring, and travel grants for faculty and graduate students to attend teaching conferences. Intellectual merit: The project has the potential to provide evidence on how faculty and institutions can build capacity for excellence in undergraduate science education through participation in well-designed professional development efforts. Broader impacts: The project has the potential to contribute to the growing literature on the impact of faculty professional development on teaching and learning in STEM through the identification, investigation, and promotion of models of faculty professional development. In addition, the project begins to examine the association between faculty outcomes from participation in professional development activities with student outcomes from faculty-driven innovation in science education.