Understanding Faculty Understanding Faculty Practice & Perspective for Practice & Perspective for

a Learning-Centered a Learning-Centered CampusCampus

Ashley Finley, PhDNational Evaluator, Bringing Theory to PracticeDirector of Assessment for Learning, AAC&U

SurveySurvey Overview Overview

1) To what degree and in what ways are faculty innovating (re-envisioning courses, implementing new pedagogies) on campus?

2) How do faculty view the culture of teaching and learning at their institutions & in academia?

3) What is the relevance of a learning-centered culture on faculty outcomes?

6 Major Sections: Teaching Practice &

Innovation Institutional Reward

Structures Scholarship of Teaching &

Learning Promotion & Tenure Job Satisfaction &

Commitment Mental Health and Stress

Peer reviewed & revised Web-based

Anonymous 5 institutions: 4 private,

liberal arts; 1 public university

Spring Administration

Sample CharacteristicsSample Characteristics Sample size = 302

Response Rate = 31%

48.6% Female, 51.4% Male

Most respondents bet. 35-6535-44 (27.2%), 45-

54 (25.2%), 55-65 (28.2%)

Primarily white (93.1%)

3.8% = Two or more races/some other race

Black/Afr. Amer.(1.4%), Asian (1%), Am. Ind./Alaska native (.7%)

RankAssistant = 27.8%Associate = 33.0%Full = 23.4%Non-ten.= 15.8%

Discipline37.8% = Humanities20.8% = Prof. & App.

Sciences (agric., archit., health science, law, library science)

19.4% = Social Sciences13.5% = Natural Sciences5.6% = Formal Sciences

(comp sc., logic, math)2.8% = Other

Avg years at instit. approx. 7-10 yrs

In what ways are faculty In what ways are faculty innovating?: Frequency of innovating?: Frequency of

Innovation & RevisionInnovation & Revision Avg. 87.7% of faculty make some revision to course (syllabus, readings or assignments) at least once a yearVs. 1.6% who “Almost never” or “Never” do thisOver half change syllabus or revise assignments

AT LEAST once a semester Avg. 34.2% implemented/adopted new

pedagogy (service, experiential learning, learning community once a year19.1% Almost never, 37.5% have NEVER done this

(56%)Least likely to have taught learning community

course40.1% of faculty implement experiential

component at least once a semester Virtually no diff by rank or gender

What limits innovation?What limits innovation?

Primary limitations (strongly/mostly agree)Research (71.3%)Family (68.4%)Not enough information from colleagues (66.2%)Not sure what could do to be more innovative

(84.6%)Do not wish to be more innovative (75.7%)

Differences by rank:Research (Asst. vs Full) & family (Non-ten. vs. Full)

Differences by genderInstitutional service men more likely to suggest

this as limitation than women

How do faculty view the culture of How do faculty view the culture of teaching & learning?: At Their teaching & learning?: At Their

InstitutionInstitution

…among faculty research interests?

…at their institution?

To what degree is the scholarship of teaching & learning valued…

…within their disciplines?

Overall, undergraduate teaching efforts are valued for…

Existing Institutional Incentives/Rewards VS Rewards that Influence in Teaching

Of % No/Not sure (2/5): Teaching Award (51%), Consid. for P&T (33%), Supp. for tech. enh. learning(29%), Fac. Cult. that values teaching (49%)

What is the meaning of a What is the meaning of a learning-centered culture for learning-centered culture for

Faculty Outcomes? Faculty Outcomes? What is the relationship between institutional factors & perceptions of institutional culture and job satisfaction?

Commitment?PositionInstitutionProfession

Mental health?Stress factorsThe absence of mental illness is NOT the presence

of mental health – Are faculty flourishing?○ Positive emotion + Positive functioning

(psychologically & socially)

Job Satisfaction & Commitment

Faculty Stress & FlourishingFaculty Stress & Flourishing Factors that are the greatest sources of

stress = Job security (65%)Concerns about tenure/promotion review (56%)Social stressors (49%)

Overall Stress = Avg. 18/36Diffs by rank between Asst. & Assoc. vs. FullNo sig. difference by gender

Mental Health – “Flourishing”Avg Score = 47.2/7010% Languishing○ Significantly more @ Assoc. Rank

31% Moderate Mental Health59% Flourishing

Relationship of Institutional Culture of Teaching & Learning w/ Faculty Outcomes Greater freq. with which faculty adopt new pedagogy

= higher flourishing score.Greater freq. of course revision associated with lower stress

score Consideration of teaching for tenure

Higher overall job satisfactionGreater commitment to one’s position & institution

Consideration of teaching for promotion = Higher overall job satisfactionGreater commitment to one’s position, institution &

professionHigher flourishing score

Greater total # of teaching incentives offered by instit. =Higher overall job satisfactionGreater commitment to one’s position & institutionHigher flourishing score

Mental Health

Job Satis.

Commit. To Position.

Commit. To Instit,

Commit to Prof.

Excellence in teaching is priority

+ +++

+++ +++ +++

Innovation in teaching is priority

+++

++ +++ +

Scholarly teaching is priority

++ +++

+++ +++ ++

Opps for new teaching

+++ +++

+++ +++ +++

Hear from colleagues about teaching

++ ++ + +

+ = p<.05, ++ = p<.01, +++ = p<.001

Mental Health

Job Satis.

Commit. To Position.

Commit. To Institution

Course Release +++ + ++Consideration for Tenure &Prom.

+ +++ ++Assist. w/ Tech. Enh. Learning

+ + +Help w/ curr. Dev./innov.

+ ++Faculty Culture Values Teaching

+++ + ++Certif. Exc./Recog. Mtg

+

--- --- --- ------ --- --- ---

+ = p<.05, ++ = p<.01, +++ = p<.001

Annual Teaching Award

Stipends

So what?: Messages for Institutional Change

Faculty are innovating in ways that are often overlooked & undercompensated

Culture matters = But all incentives are not built equally“Awards always sound good -- at first -- until people

start to feel overlooked, or until it's…obvious that awards are used to make the award-givers look good.” - Faculty member

FACULTY in themselves are a resource Incentives do not have to be resource intensive

“It's shocking how common sensical these approaches are, and how few of them (beyond a teaching award) are implemented here.” – Faculty member

Communication may be the best (and cheapest) resource

Transparency/clarity of practice, process, and expectations

“It's not hard - acknowledge it, support it, and reward it. Most 'teaching'-focused faculty want to do innovative things for their students but if the reward system is skewed towards research, they will either move in the research direction or stop innovating.” – Faculty member