A Case Study of University Professors' Perceptions of Their Experiences with Faculty Development

Abstract

Faculty development occurs at every level, and it occurs most commonly as the pursuit of one goal--improving teaching in order to improve learning. It has been well demonstrated in literature that the manner(s) in which a professor handles his or her instruction have the ability to influence student learning. And yet, university classrooms all over America are populated with professors who may have developed a substantial knowledge of and or expertise in their respective disciplines, but who may have very little training on how to teach what they know. Faculty development experiences come to bear on this issue. Faculty development can be a useful tool in regards to promoting good pedagogy, which ideally leads to effective classroom instruction. This study is a descriptive case study which proposed to understand how eighteen university professors perceive and practice application for faculty development funds, experience faculty development opportunities, and implement what they have learned from faculty development opportunities into their own body of knowledge and in their teaching. The professors' thoughts were collected via interviews. The case study contains profiles of the context in which each of the participating professors' were working as well as descriptions and their perceptions of the process by which they incorporated what they have learned from faculty development opportunities into their classrooms. The study analyzed this data, discussed relevant themes in the data, related the data to previous research and provided suggestions for further research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]