Bringing your colleagues on board locally
It all starts with objectives:
- Defining program objectives related to programs and skills – if have dept assessment standards, this provides a driver to encourage faculty to incorporate POS into courses.
- Need program objectives → indiv course objectives that each have assessment to confirm course is contributing to dept goals. Course faculty are members of a team, should contribute. Scaffolding: only fair to subsequent faculty members that one course positions students to succeed in the next.
- Note - often Gen Ed is not part of majors' program, so there are different goals.
- If students can articulate programmatic/course learning objectives, they tend to do better in the course. If POS is included in programmatic/course objectives, they'll learn this.
Ways of increasing legitimacy:
- Bringing in relatively small amounts of funding can provide cache
- Grad students: get them involved in developing new activities
- Gives them experience for future faculty work
- Give them credit or release from another aspect of teaching
- Big-name outside speaker helpful – but someone who's really respected, a fellow disciplinary scientist, not someone primarily known for education
- Workshops? Based on this workshop
- On-campus positions or shared positions dedicated to POS education
- Getting imprimatur from national scientific societies
Reducing sense of being overwhelmed:
- Note that some subject matter is more adaptable for POS teaching than other; not all courses have to do every aspect of POS. Departments can think about which courses might be appropriate for which POS components.
- If you introduce both POS teaching need and requirement for assessment, it can be overwhelming. Can start with POS teaching and later point out that assessment could be helpful.
- If we can use assessment data in our classes, then share that with fellow faculty – if those data suggest success.
- New faculty institutes – great venue for POS encouragement
- Departmental seminars
- Unthreatening