2. Dave Polcyn, Professor of Biology
Kirsty Fleming, Dean of Natural Sciences
Creating a Culture of Evidence-Based Teaching through Faculty Professional Development

3. Theory of Change (Kezar and Elrod)
Establish Vision
Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis
Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
Choose Strategies/Interventions, Leverage Opportunities
Determine Readiness for Action
Begin Implementation
Measure Results
Disseminate Results and Plan Next Steps

4. Establish Vision
Create a culture of equity-minded, evidence-based teaching practice

5. Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
New Dean
Faculty committed to teaching
Primary mode of in-class teaching – lecturing
Limited knowledge about the research on teaching and learning

6. Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
Limited support/structure for teaching – TRC
RPT guidelines
A number of faculty members experimenting with different pedagogies

7. Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
Excessive focus on student evaluations of teaching in RPT process
Non-tenured faculty discouraged from incorporating novel teaching approaches
Scant knowledge of research on EBT practices
Lack of peer support in developing and implementing EBT in classrooms

8. Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
Genuine faculty interest in exemplary teaching and student success
Existing collaborations with K-12
Collegial faculty in the sciences
Peer support
Chair support

9. Examine Landscape and Conduct a Capacity Analysis Identify and Analyze Challenges and Opportunities
What pedagogies are used in your department?
How is teaching evaluated?
How is teaching factored into hiring, reappointment, tenure and promotion decisions?
What support is provided to faculty members for curriculum development and enhancing pedagogies?
What changes, if any would you like to see in the teaching in your department?

10. Choose Strategies/Interventions, Leverage Opportunities
Communities of Practice Faculty Learning Communities

11. Community of Practice
Groups of people who share a concern, set of problems, or a passion about a topic, who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis
Viewed by members of the community, as relevant, valuable, and “alive” enough to continually attract new members while continuing to engage more experienced members in deeper ways

12. Community of Practice Brown Bag lunches Book Club Faculty showcase
Informal lunches
“Speed-dating”
Guest speakers
Faculty Learning Communities

13. Faculty Learning Communities
Structured
Intensive
Focused on completing deliverables
Focused on the social aspects of building community
Focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning
Focused on the team aspect while developing individual projects.
Enable cultural shifts

14. Determine Readiness for Action Begin Implementation
NSF WIDER grant to CNS
Objectives:
Increase the knowledge and understanding of evidence-based teaching practices
Collect baseline data on the extent to which faculty understand and are using evidence-based teaching (EBT) methods
Develop strategic plan for increasing the understanding and use of EBT in CNS
Pilot at least one EBT in at least one section/course in each of the three course sequences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)

15. Determine Readiness for Action Begin Implementation
WIDER Faculty Learning Community
Two years long
Three day meeting each summer
Monthly meetings during the academic year
Facilitated by experts
Facilitators modeled EBTs
Participants from biology, chemistry and physics

16. Determine Readiness for Action Begin Implementation
Year 1: Explore EBTs appropriate for CSUSB and departments
Year 1: Discuss research on teaching and learning and share findings
Year 2: Implement and evaluate EBT pilots in courses
Build communities, break down “silos”, and create grassroot networks necessary to sustain systematic change within the departments and CNS

17. How would you measure the effectiveness of multiple interventions?
Measure Results
How would you measure the extent to which a specific intervention is effective?
How would you measure the effectiveness of multiple interventions?

18. Disseminate Results and Plan Next Steps
FLC created a strategic plan
Disseminated results on campus and at professional conferences
Seek additional funding
Identify synergies on-campus (Q2S)

19. Disseminate Results and Plan Next Steps
FLCs: new faculty, hybrid online, facilitator, department chairs
Planned: greater inclusion of part-time faculty members, collaborations with community colleges.

20. Disseminate Results and Plan Next Steps
All FLCs cover diversity, equity and inclusivity
Faculty now propose topics
Changes in hiring practices

21. What actions might you take as a result of the information shared today?

22. References
Elrod, S., & Kezar, A. (2016). Increasing student success in STEM: A guide to systemic institutional change, Washington D.C., AAC&U.
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., and Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing knowledge. Boston, Harvard Business School Press.

23. Questions?