Creating and scaling an evidence-based faculty development program

This evidence-based practice paper will explore a successful faculty development program. For more effective teaching and learning in undergraduate engineering education, there is a strong need for evidence-based faculty professional development to shift from instructor-centered teaching to student-centered, active learning, which is more effective [1]. The NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program funded a large-scale faculty development program at a large, public university which uses a train-the-trainer approach, similar to Pimmel, et al., to engage faculty in a year-long modeling program with a semester of eight biweekly workshops, followed by a semester of six biweekly Community of Practice innovation discussions. Here, we describe the creation, scaling, and evaluation of this evidence-based faculty development program. More specifically, we outline the benefits and barriers to faculty development; structure and management; strategies, topics, and materials; assessment; and lessons learned and takeaways. In the "benefits and barriers" component, the foundational research by Prince, Freeman, Smith, and others in the area of engagement and active learning is explored as well as how the represented university addressed barriers to implementation. The "structure and management", section provides a program overview in more detail, including recruitment, organization, and workshop and community of practice structure. The "strategies, topics, and materials" component describes the project's models of change, including Rogers' model of Diffusion of Innovation and Coburn's model of sustainable innovation scaling. Links to all workshop materials on topics such as learning objectives, Bloom's taxonomy, interactive classes, implementing active learning, cooperative learning, student motivation, and inclusive learning environments are included. The "assessment" section provides an overview of how the faculty development program was evaluated. Specifically, the instruments and the outcomes from the instruments are explored. Key lessons learned from the project as well as important points about support and sustainability are highlighted. In summary, this paper outlines not only evidence-based strategies for the classroom but the structure, implementation, scaling, and evaluation of a faculty development program based on lessons learned from a successful, large-scale example.