Teaching

This center will encourage and assist in the advancement of teaching and learning at Detroit Mercy. Promoting pursuit of high-impact teaching practices and collaboration will provide a University environment that values and rewards exceptional teaching practice. This pursuit is a process of continuous improvement, regardless of previous teaching experience. 

Faculty come to the teaching profession with a great deal of discipline specific knowledge and may have varied teaching experience. In an ever-changing landscape of technology and expectations of the role of professor, the challenge for faculty is to share their knowledge and experience in the classroom or online in a manner that will ensure students achieve course learning outcomes. Considerations such as selecting content, course development, teaching styles, the correct delivery method, assessment of student outcomes, and general course management challenges are all issues that faculty must contend with when teaching. In addition, optimal technology utilization can also be a challenge but once overcome it can allow faculty to realize improvements in their teaching and student outcomes (Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Strong-Wilson, 2012). Supporting faculty is critical to creating an effective learning experience (Minter, 2009)

Faculty development may be as specific as targeting online teaching (Lane, 2013; Vaill & Testori, 2012) or to develop more effective teaching methods through the use of technology (Howland & Wedman, 2004).  But the faculty role requires support in other areas including course planning, classroom management, teaching strategies, understanding how students learn, and other pedagogical concerns. The Initiative will promote and support development opportunities grounded in research that leverage established pedagogical methods to support faculty to deliver great educational experiences for Detroit Mercy students.  

References 

Howland, J., & Wedman, J. (2004). A process model for faculty development: Individualizing technology learning. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education.

Lane, L. M. (2013). An open, online class to prepare faculty to teach online. Journal of Educators Online, 10(1), 1–32. Retrieved from http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=fulltext&aId=1314647

Minter, R. L. (2009). The Paradox of Faculty Development. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 2(4), 65–70.