The urgent call to transform and reform educational practices rings loud across higher educational landscapes, nationally and internationally (Cohen & Kisker, 2010; Hutchings, Huber, & Ciccone, 2011). According to higher education leaders, a major paradigm shift is needed in the way educators view student learning and evaluation (Bass, 2012; Bain, 2004). To assist faculty at a multisite, multi-program nursing college to successfully transform their teaching practices, a structured faculty development program was implemented to promote the effective use of evidence-based learner-centered strategies. This presentation will examine a new faculty development model to promote the effective use of evidence-based pedagogies to optimize student learning. The framework of the faculty development program includes: (a) the formation of a culture that supports and recognizes scholarly teaching, (b) the formation of an organizational infrastructure that facilitates the successful implementation of the faculty development program across a multi-campus, multistate, undergraduate nursing college, and (c) the use of evidence-based pedagogical strategies to ensure positive student learning experiences and achievement of learning outcomes. This new faculty development model guides, develops, and evaluates the pedagogical knowledge base and learner-centered strategies educators need to optimize student learning. The learner-centered strategies were added to the end of course survey which evaluates faculty. Evaluation of the model includes end of course student survey results and grade distribution over a two year period.
Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bass, R. (2012). Disrupting ourselves: The problem of learning in higher education. Educause Review, March/April, 2012.
Cohen, A.M. & Kisker, C.B . (2010). The shaping of American higher education: Emergence and growth of the contemporary system. (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hutchings, P., Huber, M.T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
