Professional development

About: Professional development is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 81108 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1316681 citations.

A paradigm shift: Technology integration for higher education in the new millennium

Abstract: National Technology Competencies National technology competency standards for students graduating from secondary schools are seriously being discussed by the U.S. Department of Education (Thomas & Knezek, 1999). Moreover, school districts throughout the country believe technology literacy is a critical factor in equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the 21 century (Prime, 1998). In fact, many school districts across the country have already placed technology competency requirements upon their teachers and their graduates (Northover, 1999). In conjunction with student requirements, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is also seriously considering implementing technology competencies for teacher licensure (NCATE, 1999; ISTE, 1999). Groups such as the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a professional education organization, and the CEO Forum, a think tank comprised of twenty business and education leaders based in Washington, D.C., are responsible for recommending guidelines for accreditation to NCATE. The CEO Forum has recommended that teacher training in computer technology become a mandatory component of licensure by 2002 (CEO Forum, 1999; Galagan, 1999). According to the Forum, schoolteachers in the United States are undertrained on using the computer technology available to them. The Forum also estimates that schools spend roughly $88 per student on computer equipment, but only $6 per student on training teachers to use the technology (Galagan). Many teachers are unable to integrate the technology into their lessons because of a lack of training, and only 20% of teachers were comfortable using computer technology in the classroom (Galagan). How does this affect higher education? Faculty members serve as role models for prospective teachers and their use of, and attitudes toward, educational technology can have a significant impact on future teachers’ implementation of A Paradigm Shift: Technology Integration for Higher Education in the New Millennium

Mentoring circles in higher education

Abstract: Traditionally, mentoring in higher education institutions has either occurred informally or as a planned program where junior staff members are matched with experienced staff members in a formal one‐to‐one program. While such programs have reported benefits to participants, many miss out on the opportunity. Further, mentoring dyads do little to enhance a more collaborative atmosphere in higher education settings. Alternative mentoring methods do exist and can provide advantages to the traditional approach. Mentoring circles are an innovative example of these alternative methods. The mentoring activity and subsequent evaluation described in this paper sought to explore the perceived benefits of a group mentoring model for academic staff.

How should the higher education workforce adapt to advancements in technology for teaching and learning

Abstract: In a time of change, higher education is in the position of having to adapt to external conditions created by widespread adoption of popular technologies such as social media, social networking services and mobile devices. For faculty members, there must be opportunities for concrete experiences capable of generating a personal conviction that a given technology is worth using and an understanding of the contexts in which it is best used. The paper examines approaches to educational professional development at The Open University, including recent initiatives related to faculty development in relation to mobile learning. The paper reflects on what can be learnt from these experiences and proposes a lifelong learning perspective which can help the higher education workforce to adapt. Faculty members have to commit to lifelong learning, remembering that ‘professional role model’ to students is one of the main roles of the teacher.

Trends in research on the tutor in problem-based learning: conclusions and implications for educational practice and research.

Abstract: The tutor role in problem-based learning (PBL) has attracted the interest of many researchers and has led to an abundance of studies. This article reports on major trends in studies investigating the tutor during the past 10 years. Three major trends were observed by the authors while analysing the studies conducted: studies on the differential influence of content expert and non-content expert tutors on student achievement, studies on process variables, and studies on the relationship between tutor characteristics and differential contextual circumstances. The aim of this article is to summarize the main findings of the studies conducted so far within the three trends observed, to provide directions for educational practitioners and policy makers, and to suggest directions for future research questions. The studies included were selected by conducting a literature search in medical journals, which was complemented with the personal archives of the authors. The results of the studies conducted within the three trends of research have led to advanced insights in tutoring. The outcomes revealed that content expert tutors tend to use their subject-matter expertise more to direct the discussion in the tutorial group, whereas non-content expert tutors tend to use their process-facilitation expertise more to direct the tutorial group. Furthermore, a tutor's performance is not a stable characteristic but is partly situation specific. It is concluded that a tutor should both know how to deal with the subject matter expertise and should know how to facilitate the learning process. Faculty and policy makers should put substantial efforts into designing curricula and cases and developing tutors' skills by faculty development strategies that stimulate reflection. The research agenda should be driven more by modern educational theories of learning in which tutoring is a process aimed at stimulating constructive, self-directed, situated and collaborative learning by students. Furthermore, more qualitative studies should be conducted to gain better insights in teachers' conceptions about the tutor role and student learning to better understand their behaviours.