Collegial and departmental support matters: An exploration of teaching cultures and practice

Even though many colleges and universities are increasingly supporting teaching and learning centers, SoTL, faculty learning communities, and other evidence-based teaching practices, uncertainty still remains regarding the impact of these practices and programs on quality student learning. Often colleges and universities simply give “lip service to the idea” of good teaching, and yet lack organizational commitments and structures to truly support teaching. Using a large-scale, multi-institutional study of teaching cultures, this study explores faculty perceptions of commitment to quality teaching and faculty perceptions of departmental and institutional support for teaching. The results carry implications for departmental and institutional initiatives in support of teaching and the improvement of pedagogical practice towards equitable college student learning

Virtues of Academic Exploration:

As many as 75% of college students change their major at least once during their undergraduate career (Gordon & Steele, 2015). This study examined the impact of academic major changes on bachelor’s degree attainment within six years. Using data from the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (n = 13,800), we found a significant increase in odds of degree attainment for students who changed their major one or more times. Accompanying our analyses and results, we offer implications for early advising and transition programming including the role of meta-majors, and consideration for student backgrounds as they seek advising and choose majors