Health science faculty striving to be academically competitive can adopt debriefing after simulation-based activities to help transition occupational therapy and physical therapy students from classroom skills to clinical competence. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the perceptions and experiences of health science faculty during and after their adoption of debriefing after simulation-based activities. The theory of diffusion and experiential learning theory were used as a conceptual framework. The research questions related to the perceptions and experiences of faculty from their training sessions and implementing debriefing sessions after simulation-based activities in their courses and how these experiences related to their adoption of debriefing. A university-wide e-mail was used to recruit participants. Twelve participants who met the selection criteria of current employee, received debriefing training, and utilized debriefing in their courses volunteered. Virtual interviews, memo notes, and reflexive journaling were collected, analyzed, and coded to identify themes. The faculty's perceptions and experiences of learning were initially critical and skeptical; for trialing, faculty were nervous and awkward; for adopting and experimenting, faculty were curious to learn different techniques; and for overall perceptions, faculty felt debriefing was a valuable teaching style that increased student learning and performance. This study helps fill the gap and contributes to positive social change in health science academia by providing insights to innovative teaching strategies that promote improved clinical competence in health science students.

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Universities make claims about student learning that graduates don't often achieve and are under pressure to show improvement in teaching and learning in their undergraduate programs. This has been the constant focus of university-level professional development programs, but most teachers are still not using the most effective teaching methods. Individual departments need to find ways to help their instructors overcome three main challenges associated with adopting more effective student-centered teaching methods. No matter what strategy is adopted, instructors need considerable support to 1) change their beliefs about what constitutes effective teaching and learning, 2) learn to effectively implement new strategies, and 3) help their students change their beliefs about teaching and learning. We investigated whether M.S. Geoscience Education graduate students could offer the support instructors need to overcome the challenges listed above. We successfully piloted this approach during 2006 to 2008. Receiving consistent and individualized support from a Geoscience Education graduate student, the instructor changed his beliefs about teaching and learning and learned to effectively implement active learning strategies. His teaching satisfaction and student ratings also increased. Advantages of our approach include 1) the time the graduate student devoted to making course changes, 2) the consistent support the instructor received which allowed him to transfer research supported educational theory into his teaching practice, and 3) the instructor is now a departmental resource that other instructors can go to for guidance. Disadvantages include 1) the graduate student's lack of experience as a teaching consultant and 2) the difficulty of transforming a professor/student relationship into a client/consultant relationship.

This exploratory study was designed to develop a baseline model of expertise in dental education utilizing the Dreyfus and Dreyfus continuum of skill acquisition. The goal was the development of a baseline model of expertise, which will contribute to the body of knowledge about dental faculty skill acquisition and may enable dental schools to provide more relevant faculty development opportunities, and maximize scholarship potential. Employing a qualitative approach, individual interviews were conducted with two dental school academic deans and seven experienced educators who were nominated by their academic deans for their expertise in dental education. Open coding of interview responses was performed to determine categories of phenomena that recurred repetitively. The categories of novice through experienced traits were examined using the Dreyfus model. Finally, the codes developed to describe recurring themes of faculty development were interpreted relative to influence of faculty qualities on development of student qualities. Results of this study indicate that the growth of skills necessary to good teaching, expressed by these experienced educators, reflects a learning curve similar to those noted by Dreyfus and Dreyfus and other previous investigators. While dental faculty approaching the Proficient and Expert end of the Dreyfus continuum, display many of the skills descriptive of these stages, they also speak about the process of active reflection. Some unique challenges present themselves in the process of educating dental students. In addition to supporting technique development, faculty teach a wide range of non-cognitive competencies such as professionalism, communication, and an ethic of care and service. The importance of these non-cognitive qualities to patient care and collaboration with peers are essential to successful practice. Articulation of practical knowledge may not be recognized by the teacher; however, data from this study indicates that qualities to which expert faculty are most sensitive influence dental student development profoundly. These findings increase understanding of expert performance in dental education and provide support for dental faculty who desire to become excellent educators. Study outcomes also have implications for exploration of hidden curricular elements embedded in dental faculty practice and their influence on novice dental students.

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Mobile technologies present an opportunity for scholars and practitioners to extend the application of instructional design theories and models to a mobile learning environment. The goal was to examine mobile learning design and development issues, validate and extend the instructional design theory, Component Display Theory (CDT), to the development of mobile learning activities, and recommend guiding principles for mobile learning system development. Using a formative research approach, which focuses on improving design theory for instructional practices and processes, CDT was used to design a tutorial mobile application targeting faculty professional development. This design instance was formatively evaluated to determine how CDT can be used to guide the design and development of a mobile learning environment; the key processes that are pertinent to translating instructional design plans into mobile learning lessons; and the challenges and issues in designing instruction for a mobile learning environment. The findings resulted in the identification of variables and factors related to the instructional strategies, design variables, and the learning system that affected the application of the CDT. Recommendations and further research opportunities are presented to increase practitioner use of the theory and to address learner and organizational readiness. This research contributes to the field of instructional design and development by examining how underlying theories, principles, and frameworks can be applied to the design and development of mobile learning systems.

This study was a comparison of the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan at Srinakharinwirot University-Phitsanulok, Thailand. The study also investigated whether the demographic classifications of administrators and faculty members were related to their perceptions regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan. Forty-one administrators and sixty full-time faculty members completed the survey instrument. Statistical tests used to summarize and analyze the data included mean, standard deviation, t test, chi-square, and correlation ratio. The results and findings of this study showed that (a) there were no major differences between administrators and faculty members related to their perceptions of a faculty development plan; (b) faculty members perceptions of the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan were consistent to a greater degree than were the perceptions of administrators; (c) significant differences between the perceptions of administrators regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan were found for only one item: study leaves; (d) there were significant differences between the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the actual role of the following components of a faculty development plan: the Center for Faculty Development, upgrading faculty members, motivation, planning implementation and evaluation, informal enrichment program, and team teaching; (e) there were significant differences between the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the expected role of the following components of a faculty development plan: the Center for Faculty Development, faculty morale, and academic exchange programs in cooperation with foreign organizations. Finally, significant differences among administrators' and faculty members' perceptions were correlated with demographic classifications of gender, age, experience at Phitsanulok campus, experience in other institutions, highest degree earned, faculty affiliation, personal goal in terms of an advanced degree, academic rank, place of attainment of highest degree, familiarity with the faculty development plan, previous experience using the faculty development plan, and level of satisfaction with position, salary, and teaching loads at Phitsanulok campus.

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of and need for faculty development in the 14 community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. The study examined the status of faculty development, importance of scholarship, perceived needs, preferred faculty development topics, and methods of instruction. A review of demographic characteristics was conducted to develop a profile of TBR community college faculty and to assess the relationship between these demographic variables and the need for and selection of faculty development topics. Data collection was conducted using the Faculty Development Questionnaire . A selective random sample was drawn from 1,619 full-time community college faculty employed by the Tennessee Board of Regents. Based on the sample method, 325 full-time faculty were selected as participants in the study. Three hundred twenty-five self-administered questionnaires were mailed to selected full-time faculty at each of the fourteen community colleges. Data collection occurred over a four week period. Two hundred six questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 63.4%. The findings in this study demonstrated a clear need for faculty development. Respondents indicated that faculty development was important to their academic and professional growth and teaching effectiveness and was critical to their roles as faculty members. The faculty reported a need for scholarship-related activities and indicated that scholarly pursuit has led them to higher levels of professionalism and collegiality. Faculty respondents indicated that teaching innovation and research are vital to the growth and development of the community college. This study also found that most faculty indicated that their respective college administrations supported faculty development but did not adequately fund faculty development programs. A majority of the respondents reported that most faculty development programs were well organized and useful. Some faculty, however, indicated that faculty development could be an intrusion in the teaching-learning environment. Teaching innovations and multimedia development were ranked as the most preferred faculty development topics with workshops and seminars ranked as the most preferred methods of instruction. The study found no relationship between the need for faculty development and faculty age, professional status, or teaching discipline. Furthermore, no relationship was found between the selection of faculty development topics and any of the demographic variables profiled in the study. The findings of the study indicated that Tennessee's community college faculty members are "graying" with over 80% being over the age of 40. A majority hold Master's degrees, hold the rank of associate professor, and have had pedagogical training.

Providing instruction using different instructional delivery methods allows the learner to absorb content in a way that fits the individual learner. Today’s students have grown up immersed in digital technology. However, many higher education faculty are still not speaking the same digital language as their students. The issue may be that the pedagogical and epistemological beliefs of faculty who are “digital immigrants” affect the teaching methods used in the higher education classroom today. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore design college faculty perceptions of the adoption of virtual world technology into the classroom. Diffusion and adoption theories, adoption models, and patterns of adoption provided a conceptual framework for this study. This mixed methods study collected data through a survey and post-survey interviews administered to faculty of 21 design colleges. The quantitative survey instrument included questions about the usage of technology, including virtual world technology, in the higher education classroom. A total of 309 faculty completed the survey. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, means, and standard deviations were used in the analysis. A correlation analysis was performed to determine if there was a relationship between selected variables and the survey responses. Post-survey semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 faculty participants who volunteered for the interviews after participating in the survey. In this study, I used the constant comparative open coding hybrid method for the interview analysis. The specific research question posed in this study was: What are the perceptions of design college faculty regarding the use of virtual world technology in their courses? Guiding questions included: (a) What are faculty perceptions about virtual world technology that potentially affect its adoption into the classroom? (b) What are faculty perceptions of the affordances of using virtual world technology in the classroom? (c) What are faculty perceptions of the challenges of using virtual world technology in the classroom? In general, the results of this study indicate that while higher education faculty perceive that virtual world technology has the potential to be a useful teaching tool in the classroom, the faculty also perceive that they do not have the essential software and hardware support from their colleges to adopt this type of technology as a teaching tool in their courses.