Expanding Blended Professional Development Capacity by Leveraging Faculty Fellows in a Course Design Feedback Loop

Audience Level: 
All
Session Time Slot(s): 
Institutional Level: 
Higher Ed
Streamed: 
Onsite
Special Session: 
Blended
Abstract: 

We’ll share our process for expanding the capacity of a blended/hybrid faculty development program by integrating faculty fellows in a course design feedback loop. We’ll also explore how other institutions may be able to incorporate a similar faculty fellow model to support and expand faculty development.

Extended Abstract: 

Even before the pandemic, many institutions were adopting the hybrid (or blended) teaching modality by reducing in-class time and replacing it with asynchronous activities for students. Now, it is not only clear that hybrid courses are here to stay but that demand for this modality continues to grow. How can teams of faculty developers, instructional designers, and administrators work together to ensure success for faculty new to teaching hybrid courses?

This presentation will share the model for a professional development and teaching certification program for hybrid course design based around a feedback loop facilitated by faculty fellows. With continual revision since its establishment in 2015, this program has allowed our institution to quickly, efficiently, and affordably scale professional development capacity based on demand while continuing to uphold quality expectations even in times of exceptional need.

We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the major aspects of this program and the involvement of faculty fellows, such as the concept of the feedback loop, selecting and preparing faculty fellows, supporting mechanisms for the program overall, and some surprising outcomes based on feedback from the faculty fellows themselves. Participants will be asked to reflect on the needs of their institutions and how a faculty fellow system and feedback loop could help them address their needs for preparing faculty to successfully teach courses in new modalities.

Level of Participation

This session will consist of approximately 25 minutes of presentation (lecture) along with approximately 20 minutes for guided self-reflection and discussion.

Session Goals

Individuals attending this education session will be able to reflect on their institution’s need for a feedback loop in faculty development, identify opportunities for expanding faculty development capacity, and develop the beginnings of a plan for incorporating faculty fellows in faculty development programs.

Conference Session: 
Concurrent Session 2
Conference Track: 
Blended Teaching and Learning
Session Type: 
Education Session
Intended Audience: 
Administrators
Faculty
Instructional Support
Training Professionals