AIChE Virtual Communities of Practice – Supporting Faculty during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, chemical engineering departments from around the world shifted their course offerings from in-person to online almost instantaneously. The AIChE Education Division immediately responded to this educational shift by developing five Virtual Communities of Practice (VCPs) that allowed faculty to share experiences and best practices as well as provide a network for emotional support. Community creation, methods and materials shared, and surveys related to the impact of this initiative will be discussed

Learning recursively: integrating PBL as an authentic problem experience [Plenary presentation]

[Abstract]: Problem based learning (PBL) is widely recognised as a desirable approach to education of future professionals. One strong basis for its appeal is the use of authentic problems of practice, which make the relevance of what is being learned apparent to the learners and encourage development of attitudes and skills that will be central to continuing professional growth beyond graduation. However, the change from traditional lecture-based courses to PBL presents challenges to educators and the institutions in which they work. In many respects, the implementation of PBL can be itself an experience in PBL for the educator. This presentation will address some of the challenges associated with integrating PBL in a university setting from the perspective of those who design and teach courses using PBL, which will be understood as a spectrum of practices rather than a single approach that must be replicated in every instance

Faculty Adoption of Computer Technology for Instruction in the North Carolina Community College System.

Computer technology has become an integral part of instruction at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. Some instructors have enthusiastically adopted technological innovations in their classrooms, often expending their own funds for hardware and software, while others have resisted the trend, citing a myriad of reasons for not including computer technology. Significant research on the adoption of innovations has been undertaken by Everett M. Rogers, who identified individuals on a continuum from Innovator to Laggard. Rogers’ research was used as a basis to classify full-time faculty teaching in degree programs in the North Carolina Community College System and to compare these faculty members on five demographic variables. While faculty did not differ on age, gender or race/ethnicity, they did differ regarding their years of teaching experience and highest degree attained. Faculty in the North Carolina Community College were further identified as either users or non-users of computer technology in instruction and were analyzed on the same five demographic characteristics as were evaluated with the Rogers continuum. No differences were found in any of the five categories. Faculty members who reported employing technology for instruction often utilized multiple techniques, such as e-mail contact with students, posting assignments and other information on course websites, and using course management software for recordkeeping functions. Non-users identified a number of reasons for not incorporating technology into instruction, as well as which strategies might be employed to encourage them to adopt computer technology into instruction. Faculty classified as users or non-users of computer technology in instruction identified the presence of technology change agents in their organizations, and stated that other faculty members, or the president or other members of senior administration filled these roles

Schoology: The Adoption of a Learning Management System

The purpose of this action research is to investigate the needs and opportunities for high school math teachers pertaining to the adoption of Schoology, a learning management system (LMS). Data was gathered from 98 students, 13 teachers, 24 parents/families and 8 technology integration experts in an effort to gain a multitude of perspectives relating to Schoology use at the high school level. The information gathered from these four groups was analyzed and used to make suggestions regarding how teachers or schools navigate the first year of LMS use. This data was gathered over a period of eight weeks through Google Forms questionnaires, email questionnaires, and a student focus group session. The results show that students, teachers, parents and technology integration experts have both shared and unique concerns, desires, and suggestions pertain to Schoology use in their setting

Assessing Concerns and Leading Pedagogical Innovation in Higher Education: A Case Study of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business

Studies of pedagogical innovation indicate that the implementation process is enhanced by addressing teachers’ concerns. Institutions address teacher preparedness mainly from the perspectives of their preparation and institutional support, without recognising teachers’ mental state and particular implementation concerns. This paper adopts the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to examine the Stages of Concern (SoC) of faculty involved in the implementation of pedagogical reform. The standardized 35-item SoC questionnaire was sent online to 152 faculty members and 31 responses were obtained. The study found the faculty body had high levels of self-concerns, low levels of impact concerns and a willingness to continue with the implementation process. The study addressed the theoretical gap in teacher preparedness research by combining the SoC with contextual factors

Relationships Among Radiologic Science Educators\u27 Years of Teaching Experience, Technological Self-Efficacy, and Digital Technology Use in the Classroom

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine the relationships among radiologic science educators’ years of teaching experience, technological self-efficacy, and digital technology use in the classroom. The underuse of technology in higher education is an issue. Students use technology every day and radiologic science students, in particular, are expected to use it proficiently in training and practice. It is important that these students are exposed in the classroom, as technologies beneficial to learning are available. It is also important to determine the role of years of teaching experience in educators’ beliefs about their abilities to use technology and their actual use of it in the classroom. To investigate this issue, a sample of 300 radiologic science educators was surveyed. Seventy-nine educators responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and questions from the Roney Technology Use Scale. Data were collected and analyzed for correlations. There was no significant relationship between years of teaching experience and technological self-efficacy (r(77) = .16, p = .15) or between years of teaching experience and digital technology use in the classroom (r(77) = .20, p = .08). The relationships were, however, slightly positive, suggesting that educators with teaching experience have moderate beliefs in their abilities to use technology and moderate levels of technology use in the classroom. Suggestions for future research include study of the role of age as it relates to teaching experience, didactic versus clinical instructors, and barriers that affect radiologic science educators’ technology use

The Instructor and Students’ Role in Micro-Flipped Classroom

Micro-Flipped (MF) model aims to effectively integrate technology in educational settings. This secondary research study explores MF model, roles of instructors and students in MF classroom. As a strategy to maximize the learning effect in a short time, micro-lectures are used in flipped classroom in this model. As autonomous learners, students should develop self-regulated learning skills such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating to successfully construct their knowledge. In addition, to facilitate cognitive engagement, collaboration, and meta-cognition, instructors have responsibilities to balance their pedagogical, professional, and evaluating roles properly adapting technology throughout courses

Evaluation of the School Administration Manager Project

Examines the results to date of a Wallace-supported project to help principals delegate some administrative and managerial tasks to school administration managers and spend more time interacting with teachers, students and others on instructional matters

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Learning Management Systems by Medical Faculty

Despite recommendations by the Association of American Medical Colleges regarding the adoption of technology in medical universities, faculty are still reluctant to adopt new learning technologies. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to determine the factors existing in the adoption of learning management technology among late adopters within the faculty of colleges labeled as comprehensive academic medical centers. Using the Everett Rogers diffusion of innovations theory as its framework, this study sought to ascertain the factors late adopters identify as preventing them from adopting technology and to determine what measures they suggest to increase technology adoption among their peers. This qualitative study used interviews of participants identified as late adopters and subsequent document analysis to provide evidence for the factors identified. Using in vivo coding, data were organized into 5 themes: factors, learning management systems, demographics, general technology, and solutions. Results showed that late adopters avoided adopting learning management technology for several reasons including training, time, ease of use, system changes, lack of technical support, disinterest, and the sense that the technology does not meet their needs. Recommended solutions offered by faculty included varied times for trainings, peer mentoring, and modeling learning management system use among faculty. Understanding these factors may contribute to social change by leading to more rapid adoption and thus introducing efficiencies such that faculty can dedicate more time to medical instruction. It also may aid other universities when considering the adoption of a learning management system

Proceedings of the Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC) 2011

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2011 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference(SPARC). It includes papers from PhD students in the arts and social sciences, business, computing, science and engineering, education, environment, built environment and health sciences. Contributions from Salford researchers are published here alongside papers from students at the Universities of Anglia Ruskin, Birmingham City, Chester,De Montfort, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester