ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR MEASURING FACULTY KNOWLEDGE OF AND CONFIDENCE IN PROMOTING STUDENTS' HIGHER ORDER THINKING

Date

2013-04-12

Authors

Collins, Vanneise

ORCID

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Purpose: The importance of promoting students' Higher Order Thinking (HOT) is widely recognized at all levels of education. Engaging faculty in professional development that cultivates students' HOT is essential. Professional development efforts are limited by lack of information of faculty's current knowledge about and confidence in promoting students' HOT. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty development needs that will cultivate students' higher order thinking skills across the health sciences curricula. A valid and reliable assessment was used to gather data for effective faculty development efforts. Methods: Development of two assessment tools to identify: 1) faculty's knowledge about and confidence in using instructional strategies, technologies and assessment methods to promote students' HOT, and 2) instructional strategies, technologies and assessment methods faculty are currently using in their teaching practice. The first assessment tool is an annual faculty survey. The survey was developed by a panel of faculty from all schools at UNTHSC. The survey consists of five multifaceted, self-report, Likert type questions. The survey was administered in 2010 to collect baseline data, and was subsequently deployed online each year to the teaching faculty at UNTHSC. The second assessment tool is a survey deployed after each faculty development event. The survey contains specific items targeting faculty's HOT teaching practice. Together, the two assessment tools establish a two-tiered mechanism that provides both longitudinal and ongoing monitoring and feedback to guide faculty development. Results: The faculty survey results in the past three years demonstrated how faculty's use of instructional strategy, assessment and technology evolved over time. For example, in the 2nd year, there was a drop in faculty's confidence in integrating technology with instructional strategies to promote HOT, which suggested the need to provide more faculty development to address the challenge. The findings from the faculty development event evaluation indicated faculty needs and interests for future faculty development topics. Conclusions: The two-tiered assessment framework provides both longitudinal and ongoing monitoring and feedback regarding faculty's teaching practice that promotes students' HOT. It gauges the evidence of impact of the faculty development program, identifies best practices, topics for further development and supports campus initiatives to promote students'HOT.

Description

Citation

Collections