Key Information
Special Section: The Journal of Faculty Development, Volume 31, Number 1
Exploring High-Impact Educational Practices Using Scholarly and Creative Teaching
2017; ISBN: 1-58107-300-3 (40 pages soft cover; 8.5 x 11 inch) $20.95 for issue.
This section features a range of manuscripts that focus on the theme “Exploring High-Impact Educational Practices Using Scholarly and Creative Teaching,” which also served as the theme of the 2016 Pedagogicon held at Eastern Kentucky University’s Noel Studio for Academic Creativity. High-impact educational practices promote student success, provide deep learning, and develop transferrable skills. Kuh (2008) explains that high-impact practices are those that “typically demand that students devote considerable time and effort to purposeful tasks; most require daily decisions that deepen students’ investment in the activity as well as their commitment to their academic program and the college” (p. 14). Moreover, Brownell and Swaner (2009) note that:
Of the five practices reviewed, much has been written about four of them. For first-year seminars, learning communities, undergraduate research and service learning, there are many published descriptive and prescriptive pieces talking about program elements, advocating for the development of these experiences as a response to current criticisms and challenges in higher education, or providing advice for implementing the activities. There are also many articles and books describing case studies of successful programs. Unfortunately, there has been little attention paid to capstone experiences in the past decade, and almost none of that literature looks at student outcomes, including student learning (however, it is worth noting that capstone experiences may fall under the rubric of undergraduate research at many colleges and universities). (pp. 26-7)
The conference and, thus, this section encourage us, as individuals and as committed scholars of teaching and learning, faculty development, and higher education trends, to examine and highlight those strategies of high-impact educational practices that promote scholarly and creative teaching in highly effective instruction.
References
Brownell, J. E., & Swaner, L. E. (2009). High-impact practices: Applying learning outcomes literature to the development of successful campus programs. Peer Review. Retrieved from https://www.uwosh.edu/grants/cetl1/archive/general-education-best-practice-resources/documents/High-Impact-Practices-Applying-the-Learning-Outcomes-Litarature-to-the-Development-of-Successful-Campus-Programs.pdf
Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from https://keycenter.unca.edu/sites/default/files/aacu_high_impact_2008_final.pdf
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The Contents
INTRODUCTION to the Special Section:
Perspectives on Exploring High-Impact Educational Practices Using Scholarly and Creative Teaching, By Russell Carpenter, Charlie Sweet, & Hal Blythe
This special section features a range of manuscripts that focus on the theme “Exploring High-Impact Educational Practices Using Scholarly and Creative Teaching,” which also served as the theme of the 2016 Pedagogicon held at Eastern Kentucky University’s Noel Studio for Academic Creativity.
EDITORIAL: The Role of Faculty Development in Teaching and Learning through High-Impact Educational Practices, By Russell Carpenter, Courtnie Morin, Charlie Sweet, & Hal Blythe
The authors draw from Kuh’s (2008) High-Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) in light of faculty development needs. This article examines central concepts and trends behind organizing faculty development initiatives to enhance HIPs at higher-education institutions. The authors offer future faculty development and institutional directions for implementing programs and initiatives.
Connecting High-Impact Practices, Scholarly and Creative Teaching, and Faculty Development: An Interview with Dr. Aaron Thompson, By Courtnie Morin & Candace Stanley
Building upon Kuh’s (2008) research on high-impact educational practices, the authors interviewed Dr. Aaron Thompson to discuss effective implementation of these teaching and learning initiatives and the advancement of faculty development programming to support them. Dr. Thompson is the Interim President of Kentucky State University and Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer. He is also a scholar of leadership, student success, retention, first-year students, and organizational design. The interview calls for continuous and deliberate engagement with students where they are and aligns these related areas to provide a deeper perspective for higher-education leaders to consider moving forward.
High Impact Creative Pedagogy Using a Maker Model of Composition, By Stephanie Bell
This article recommends that faculty developers promote online writing assignments—from blogs to podcasts—that make use of the interactive tools of the “social Web.” Unlike traditional essays, which are typically private documents exchanged between student and instructor, online writing tasks can become sites of engagement and community. The place-making potential is possible because this writing is networked, tooled-up, aesthetic, and disruptive. This article proposes that these characteristics form the tenets of an incipient “maker model” of composition, a model with the power to inform the design of writing tasks that empower students and motivate deep learning and project ownership.
Transforming the Capstone: Transformative Learning as a Pedagogical Framework and Vehicle for Ethical Reflection in the Capstone Course, By Jason M. Martin & Michael G. Strawser
This study emphasizes the importance of faculty development and training as a means to prepare faculty to design the capstone course as a high-impact educational practice. Specifically, this research explores transformative learning in the capstone class as a vehicle for reflection on personal and professional ethics. Students enrolled in a capstone class within the communication discipline served as participants, and data consists of student essays about ethics. Data analysis revealed three major themes related to how students’ education impacted their views on ethics and three major themes emerged related to changes students experienced related to ethics.
Transferring Information from Faculty Development to Classroom Practice: A Mixed-Method Study, By Matthew P. Winslow, Camille Skubik-Peplaski, & Barry Burkett
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an effective way for faculty to learn about pedagogical topics and tactics. However, less is known about how effective they are at changing the teaching practices of the faculty participants and ultimately student learning. This article describes a mixed-method study of such a transfer of knowledge. In this case, the pedagogical topic was metacognition, effortful learning in particular. We describe the PLC, how effortful learning was incorporated into one class, and the results of that change in practice. We found that effortful learning (using a jigsaw classroom activity) improved student learning and student perceptions of instruction.
The issue contains nine additional articles not related to the section.