CUNY 8th Annual IT Conference
December 4, 2009
Presentations:
1.
Virtual Mentoring & Online Resource for Adjunct Training & Support Presenters:
1. The Background --Ellen Smiley
2. The CUNY Online Program Approach -Philip Pecorino
3. The Mentor Experience-- Wendy Williams 4. Being Mentored -- Tina Meyerhoff 5. Future Plans 6. Q&A (25 minutes)
Faculty Development in the CUNY Online Baccalaureate Programs A Comprehensive Approach Conceived 2006 Construction initiated Fall 2009 With support from CUNY CUE Ellen Smiley, Academic Director Philip A. Pecorino, Faculty Development Coordinator INTRODUCTION “to teach, to teach well, and to teach even better”-the resolve of professional educators Basic Characteristics for an Effective Faculty Development Program 1) TRAINING Sessions and Workshops on pedagogy and on the Hardware and Software 2) ANNOUNCEMENTS and COMMUNICATIONS 3) WEBSITE in CUNY Academic Commons for Faculty Development 4) NEWSLETTER –at least once/semester 5) TEACHING HANDBOOK-distributed and located online 6) INFORMATION on ALTERNATIVES to BB (as backup) in the event of loss of access to BB 7) FACULTY DEVELOPMENT DAYS- –at least once/semester 9) ASSESSMENT
The goal of the Faculty Development effort is to produce a community of learners and teachers in which the continual improvement of the effectiveness of instruction is a shared value. The effort is to produce a community ethos incorporating a dedication to furthering pedagogy and assisting colleagues in the perfection of our craft. As instructors come to see what they do with their students as involving both the teaching and the learning so too faculty in these programs should understand that we can teach and learn from one another. The Faculty Development Program is offered to facilitate that teaching and learning. All members of the community are encouraged and expected to participate in the sharing of knowledge and in the success of their colleagues and students. Basic Characteristics for an Effective Faculty Development Program To insure an effective faculty development program that supports the development of effective online instruction there are several important elements that must be present.
PROGRAM ELEMENTS DESCRIPTIONS 1) TRAINING Sessions and Workshops on pedagogy and on the Hardware and Software Several times throughout the year face to face workshops may be offered as well as one on one meetings of faculty with the support staff to receive instruction or to practice with the hardware and software available to faculty in the program. These meetings are supplemental to the information that will be available to faculty be means of website resources, most likely located in the CUNY Academic Commons. Pedagogy, Instructional Design and Class Management will be distinguished from sessions and resources that deal with the hardware and software. There will be a mandatory participation in a full-day orientation and training program that will (1) give prospective instructors a working familiarity with the standards for online pedagogy that are expected in all courses and (2) provide hands-on, computer-based experience with the course management system (Blackboard) as well as specialized software tools available to all instructors, our e-portfolio system, and assessment tools. A library of online podcasts is under development, with modules focused on each of the skills covered in training. These are not designed to substitute for face-to-face training, that serves an important community-building function, but to function as reminders of key elements. 2) ANNOUNCEMENTS and COMMUNICATIONS Be means of distribution lists and postings in the CUNY Academic Commons all faculty will be kept current on developments and resources. Issues of pedagogy and mechanics can be raised and the community can respond with best practices and possible solutions. 3) WEBSITE in CUNY Academic Commons for Faculty Development The new CUNY resource will be utilized to archive and make accessible the resources developed by the faculty of the CUNY Online BA/BS Programs. It is possible that there will be separate areas for the Consortial Faculty and another for all faculty. Some areas will be open to the public and others open only to members of the group. Once faculty are entered into the Commons they may participate in and contribute to the other resources and group discussions found there. See here an initial draft of a site to be developed and located at the CUNY Academic Commons 4) NEWSLETTER –at least once/semester Distributed by email to all faculty and archived at the Academic Commons Focus is on development. Possible features include: Q&A, Did you know, Latest developments, hardware and software availability notices 5) TEACHING HANDBOOK-distributed and located online As written materials related to the program and to effective teaching practices are produced they will be gathered and arranged into a handbook that will be disseminated to all faculty , particularly to new faculty, and located on the website. 6) INFORMATION on ALTERNATIVES to BB (as backup) in the event of loss of access to BB As alternatives are identified and tested and as best practices are identified they will be disseminated to all faculty, particularly to new faculty, and located on the website. It is likely that this information will be located at some location within the CUNY Academic Commons and that the program will make use of it. 7) FACULTY DEVELOPMENT DAYS- –at least once/semester The current practice will continue. New features will include:
In Fall of
2009 there were Virtual Mentors appointed, each having one to
three new faculty to mentor.
In time
Consortial Faculty will serve as Lead Mentors who will oversee
several Virtual Mentors who will assist from one to five new
adjuncts.
There
are stipends for this work. There is a Lead Mentor for the first
cohort of four Virtual Mentors.
There will
be a coordinator of the Lead Mentors.
By 2011 all
faculty will serve or be served by the mentoring. Adjuncts with
fewer than four semesters of teaching online will be mentees.
Faculty
with more than three semesters may be called upon to be Virtual
mentors.
From
the ranks of the Consortial Faculty who have been Virtual
Mentors will come the Lead Mentors.
There
will be the one coordinator of faculty development who will
oversee the Lead Mentors.
ALL FACULTY
Descriptions of Positions in Mentor Component of the Comprehensive Faculty Development Lead Mentors These are members of the Online Baccalaureate Consortial Faculty for each concentration, most of whom have served in teaching and administrative roles in the program for 18 months or more, will coordinate the work of the Virtual Mentors Responsibilities
Virtual Mentors These are experienced, successful instructors in the Online program, who receive specialized training and a stipend for actively mentoring up to five new online adjuncts each semester. Responsibilities:
New Faculty Responsibilities 1) Participate in Orientation and Training 2) Work with Mentor in the development/revision of the class site 3) Work with Mentor throughout the first semester(s) on class design and management 4) Work with Mentor on course assessment 5) Cooperate with Formal Observation 6) Conduct an assessment of your course- self assessment and student assessment 7) Make revisions in instructional design and course management techniques as result of assessments For improving the quality of instruction, especially in general education courses: 1) Improve the ratings of specific dimensions of teaching and course design, assessed using the rating scale developed during the 2008-09 academic year and used in course observations Data Collection: Analysis of formal written teaching observation reports for all instructors 2) Achieve more positive student ratings of their courses, measured by the evaluation survey distributed each term Data Collection: Ratings of students on twenty different measures of their course and program experience (each term); comparison of ratings from baseline period and after implementation of proposed activities 3) Achieve positive reports by adjunct instructors and their mentors concerning the guided teaching experience Data Collection: All new adjuncts, along with Virtual and Lead Mentors will complete written questionnaires that include both open-ended and rating questions; all mentors will maintain logs of their interactions with new adjuncts 4) Increase positive self-reports by adjunct instructors concerning their online teaching experience and their sense of attachment and commitment to the online program. Data Collection: All new adjuncts, along with Virtual and Lead Mentors will complete written questionnaires that include both open-ended and rating questions; all mentors will maintain logs of their interactions with new adjuncts
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