The North Stars Case Study

Here's a brainstorm for our group project. It's an early, early draft version and we may decide to take a totally different direction. I tried to start forming an Executive Summary for us to get started.

Faculty support center for fostering research and development with new technologies and processes for implementing innovative applications to the teaching and learning process

Executive Summary

Without regard to institution size, mission, and software supported, teaching and learning support centers, especially technology-oriented ones, are seen as utilitarian resources by the majority of faculty, staff and students on campuses. Support staff spend the majority of their time providing support for “mechanical” aspects of educational technologies, approached by most faculty and instructors to answer ‘point-and-click’ questions and never broaching the topic of pedagogical frameworks for teaching with technologies. The campus community and faculty are not recognizing them as credible resources in pedagogy and teaching methodology.

Strategies for Change

The units supporting technologies for teaching and learning want to see a transformation of the central educational technologies support providers into pedagogical centers for designing effective methods for incorporating technology into teaching. In order for this to happen, campus community members must change their perceptions of the support providers. This cultural shift may be accomplished by implementing programs designed to address both the ‘point-and-click’ needs of the population and introduce pedagogical frameworks for working with the technology systems. This is best done by involving faculty, local support in departments, and the central support organizations, as well as by garnering support of the Deans, Department Heads, Provost, Academic Officers.

Important Characteristics for Success

• Administrative buy-in
• Faculty Incentives (cash grants, in-kind grants, release time, tenure credit)
• Faculty buy-in (participation in curriculum development for faculty development programs, faculty mentors, faculty advisory roles, value perceived at the discipline-level)
• Adequate amount of support staff (learning technology team model: instructional designer(s), content expert, library/literacy, center for teaching excellence staff, technical expert, local support) (coordination of resources; stop competing for faculty time; make it easier for faculty to learn and implement changes)
• Sense of community
• Becomes part of campus culture

Some Models

SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning)
Developing community
Classroom Research-based
Encourage publishing results
"SoTL, which is a scholarly inquiry into the relationship of teaching and learning, is defined as seeking to "render teaching public, subject to critical evaluation, and usable to others in the field" (Lee Shulman, President of the Carnegie Foundation). It involves a rigorous approach to research (as in one's own discipline) and uses appropriate measures and design."

Online resources:
The Research University Consortium for the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (RUCASTL)
http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/SOTL/RUCASTL.htm

Journal Related to SoTL
http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/Resources/Journals.htm


PITA (Provost Initiative on Teaching Advancement)
*This program at University of Illinois (others too?)
Grant-based
"Implementation of Instructional Enhancements: the PITA Program will provide support for the modification of existing courses to incorporate techniques or materials intended specifically to enhance learning. Preference will be given to departmental initiatives to redesign core courses in a major, general education offerings, or groups of related courses."

Using undergraduate students for faculty project support

Learning Technology Teams Support Model