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Staff development at the K.U.Leuven The case of academic development. Hilde Creten en An Verburgh. K.U.Leuven. 13 Faculties, 50 departments, 240 sub-departments representing three different groups: positive sciences, social sciences and humanities, and biomedical sciences
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Staff development at the K.U.LeuvenThe case of academic development Hilde Creten en An Verburgh
K.U.Leuven • 13 Faculties, 50 departments, 240 sub-departments representing three different groups: positive sciences, social sciences and humanities, and biomedical sciences • 28.000 students, 1370 professors and 3441 researchers • Centrally organised, yet discussions about new structures
Staffdevelopment • Varied offer: • use of ICT • leadership training • communication • languages • safety & prevention ... • Different ‘providers’: • HR, Ludit, DUO/ICTO, ... • all central support units
Institutional policy with regard to staff development • Free offer (in some cases administrative cost) • Free participation • Impact on professional career not (always) clear
Academic Development • “Provision of pedagogically sound and discipline relevant development for academic staff across the broad spectrum of disciplines present within a university as to impact effectively on student learning.” (Hicks, 1999) • General aim: implementation of university’s teaching concept ‘Guided Independent Learning’ (G.I.L.)
Academic Development: Offer • General initiatives • summer course • workshops • digital chalk • Targeted initiatives • program for new faculty • program for new teaching assistants • Bespoke initiatives • workshop for program directors about curriculum evaluation
Principles of Academic Development • Modeling G.I.L. • Learning to teach and learning about teaching • Evidence-based: • integrated approach • professional growth • impact • Supported by tools • Promoting scholarship of teaching
Principle: Modeling G.I.L. • Research-based education • Students are responsible for own learning • Teachers are responsible for adequate support (high degree of student activity, importance of feedback, fading during program) • Summer course: input based on state of the art of research, varied offer, yet freedom to choose: attend sessions, work on own project, with or without counseling
Principle: Learning to teach & learning about teaching • Practical training • Micro-teaching, DLE-skills • Introduction to research on teaching and learning • Input about learning theories, impact of teaching strategies • Link to personal teaching practice through specific assignments
Principle: evidence based Integrated approach • Faculty members identify with department (Gibbs, 1996; Knapper, 2000) • Importance of ‘metaprofessionals’ (Candy, 1996) → Academic development is multidimensional and distributed activity for which various partners within the university bear responsibility (Hicks, 1999) • Program for new Teaching Assistants
Principle: evidence based Professional growth • Importance of teaching conceptions (Prosser & Trigwell, 2002) • Exercise about teaching conceptions • Conceptualising the change process • Program for new faculty
Principle: evidence based Professional growth Faculty develop-ment Change in practice Change in beliefs Change in student outcomes (Ho, 2000)
Principle: evidence based Professional growth Faculty develop-ment Change in practice Change in student outcomes Change in beliefs (Guskey, 1986)
Principle: evidence based Professional growth External domain External source of information or stimulus Enactment Reflection Domain of practice Personal domain Professional experimentation Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes Salient outcomes Domain of consequence (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002)
Principle: evidence based Impact of academic development initiatives (Weimer & Lenze, 1994; McAlpine, 2003) • Direct and explicit focus on students and learning • Practical application with feedback • Free participation • At least 12 hours, spread over semester • Feedback on implementation in teaching practice
Principle: supported by tools • Opti-kwest: on line tool to design questionnaire (http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/opti-kwest) • Anatool: on line instrument to analyse teaching practice (https://www.kuleuven.ac.be/duo-icto/anatool) • BV-databank: on line database of ‘good practices’ (http://www.kuleuven.ac.be/icto/bv) • DLE-manual: on line manual about use of digital learning environment (http://docbook.kuleuven.be/frame.html)
Principle: promoting scholarship of teaching • Research about teaching practice and students’ learning in order to ameliorate one’s knowledge about teaching in general and the quality of one’s teaching practice in particular • Research groups • Opti-kwest
Program for new faculty Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Collective Start (2 days) Collegial consult Discussion about results Data-collection opti-kwest Collective Interim day Data-collection opti-kwest Collective Closing day Collegial consult Action plan
Anatool • Part 1: Description of teaching practice according to global scheme • Part 2:Comparison of descriptions