Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Date of this Version
Summer 1980
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Faculty development programs usually provide a variety of services for interested faculty. Much of what is provided is stressed as a service, available on a walk-in, voluntary basis, and tends to be focused on the university faculty as a whole. This approach requires the faculty to be initiators, asking them to avail themselves of the services available, and therefore supports active, self-motivated teachers. Centra's findings on faculty development practices underlined this when he identified "... teachers who wanted to get better" as the group "most involved, while those needed improvement were seen as least involved" (1976, p. 29).
Also, the delivery of available services has a random quality to it. Services are offered at the general level-such as workshops that cross departmental lines on lecturecraft, small group instruction or uses of media, or a counseling service for teachers seeking assistance on a voluntary basis. Little has been done that addresses specific developmental needs of departments or of individuals in a department.
Comments
Published in the POD Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer 1980)