Exploring College Faculty Development in 21st-Century Skill Instruction: An Analysis of Teaching-Focused Personal Networks

Autor/inn/en	Benbow, Ross J.; Lee, Changhee; Hora, Matthew T.
Titel	Exploring College Faculty Development in 21st-Century Skill Instruction: An Analysis of Teaching-Focused Personal Networks
Quelle	In: Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45 (2021) 6, S.818-835 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0309-877X
DOI	10.1080/0309877X.2020.1826032
Schlagwörter	College Faculty; Faculty Development; 21st Century Skills; Social Networks; Skill Development; Communication Skills; Teamwork; Problem Solving; Instructional Improvement; Network Analysis; Social Capital + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fakultät; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Kommunikationsstil; Problemlösen; Unterrichtsqualität; Netzplantechnik; Sozialkapital
Abstract	While educators and policymakers increasingly link the '21st-century' skills of communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and self-directed learning to graduate success in important high-technology industries, few studies look at how technological college faculty -- who are expected to help instil these important skills in students -- learn to better teach such skills. Faculty development research shows that feedback- and reflection-oriented social learning improves instruction, but has not typically investigated the full scope of beneficial teaching-focused interactions, formal and informal, in which faculty engage. Using a social network perspective, which focuses on the empirical contours of relationships across settings, this mixed methods study explores (1) the people with whom technological faculty discuss teaching, referred to as 'teaching-focused personal networks'; (2) the comparative contours of these networks by faculty development involvement, teaching experience, institution type, and discipline; and (3) how, if at all, faculty believe these networks influence their communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and self-directed learning instruction. Survey data (n = 192) indicate that most respondents discuss teaching with a core personal network of about four contacts, commonly institutional colleagues, around once a month. Data also show that network size, diversity, and strength -- measures connected to actionable, relationship-based information and support, or 'social capital' -- are broadly similar among faculty of varying subgroups, with one exception: respondents reporting involvement in in-depth faculty development programming have larger and stronger networks. Qualitative results show that most faculty reporting teaching-focused personal networks perceived them to benefit their teaching of communication, teamwork, problem-solving, or self-directed learning through support, reflection, feedback, and sharing new ideas. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01