Section 5

Rapid Prototyping

In my classroom, I often use prototypes as examples for student products so they can see a sample of a high-quality product. Additionally, I may create an assignment, project, or unit, and may revise as needed after seeing how it can be made better. For example, I've recently started conducting Literature Circles within my class. The students read a book, complete a job for that section, then the group meets to discuss it. After the first round, I realized that some items on their job sheets and on my rubric could be changed to make the assignment more effective & meaningful and my grading rubric more valid & reliable. Since I created the job sheets & rubrics on the computer, it's easy to make the necessary changes.

Instructional Design for Military

I find it a little hard to believe that electronic access is not always available in this day and age...Surely the military can find ways to have training programs available to its troops via some technological means, whether through an actual computer, iPad, smart phone, etc. Even Internet access could most likely be achieved through satellites. In terms of having electricity to charge such devices, it seems like solar powered devices could be developed (if they're not already!) According to the Full Spectrum Design, they work their way through classroom training, garrison/base, then on to deployment. The transition from place to place can be very rapid, so it's important that the instruction and training be effective & efficient. I thought it was interesting that the text mentioned researching the ethnicities often associated with various military jobs and finding out how those ethnicities are able to learn best. Research such as that could be very informative in streamlining the learning process. Additionally, conducting tests to find out if trainees are visual or auditory learners could determine how they will best learn, then incorporate those methods into the training program.

SUTE and GSTE Methodologies

Unfortunately, I only have access to the 4th edition of the textbook, which apparently does not have information about the Step-Up-To-Excellence methodology. So I had to do some additional research to become informed!

As I was reading I came across this diagram:

I have to be honest--I laughed out loud when I saw Step 1 (Redesign the entire district.) Wow. That seems...daunting! That doesn't really occur to me as a one-step process! More like a one hundred step process! Obviously there is a lot of behind-the-scenes and much pre-launch preparation that the typical employee would be involved in. So to present this idea at the campus level, I would most likely show them the very basic formation steps that will help them to grasp the concept. The following comes from Francis M. Duffy's Step-Up-To-Excellence: A Change Navigation Protocol for Transforming School Systems (http://cnx.org/content/m13656/latest/)

Step 1: Redesign the Entire School District (cue gasps and/or skeptical laughter!)

A. Improve the district's relationship with external environment, improving relationships with key stakeholders

B. Improve the district's core work (teaching and learning) and supporting work (secretarial, administrative, cafeteria, building maintenance work, etc.) processes

C. Improve the district's internal social infrastructure (organization design, policies & procedures, reward systems, communication, etc.)

Step 2: Create Strategic Alignment

This step works to insure that all stakeholders are on board and working toward a common goal.

Step 3: Evaluate Whole-District Performance

This step is meant to measure the success of the newly formed framework and create evaluative data to help determine successes and failures. This leads back to the first step to create important changes throughout the district.

Inevitably, there are going to be some concerns & objections, so it's important that the key players in the new initiative present a strong, unified front and work hard to make the process as streamlined and as painless as possible. There are success scenarios & statistics that can be shown to help cast a vision and hope! :)

GSTE is more of a concept than a regimented program. It seems that GSTE and the SUTE methodologies could go hand-in-hand. In redesigning the district or campus, it's important that the primary stakeholders have a large part in the changes being made. According to Banathy's Influence on the Guidance System for Transforming Education, commitment to participation is one of the core values, so it's important for the administrators, faculty, & staff to be on board with the plan. To initiate this process, I think it would be important to get the ideas, perspective, and opinions of the faculty to see what is important to them--what's going right and what could be improved. The results could then be analyzed by a committee (probably the Campus Improvement Committee) to see what needs to be worked on. Teams could then be formed to begin brainstorming and implementing necessary or desired changes.

You say Faculty Development, I say Professional Development

I started by researching my alma mater: Texas A&M University (Whoop!)

The most common term I saw used for Faculty Development was Professional Development.

The Office of the Dean of Faculties and Associate Provosts offers monthly professional development workshops and seminars with pretty interesting names such as "Teaching Naked: Embracing technology outside of the classroom and teaching change inside the classroom." There were also several sessions geared toward helping faculty members "Demystify the Tenure and Promotion Process." The DoF office also serves newcomers with their New Faculty Orientation.

The Center for Teaching Excellence ( a division of the Office of the Dean of Faculties and Associate Provosts) also assists in helping the faculty grow through academies, workshops, consultations, and conferences. Their "What We Do for You" section of their website outlines the many practical offerings of their office.

The University of Texas at Austin offers faculty development opportunities such as consulting, course transformation program, and course instructor survey through its Center for Teaching + Learning. Workshops, conferences, and events are also held throughout the semesters as opportunities for growth. Their website also contains video archives of their Academic Transformation Speaker Series so faculty can access those on their own time.

I also researched Rice University's Faculty Development and, quite honestly, found it a little difficult to locate information on it. There is one section of their Faculty Handbook titled Faculty Development, which addresses their leave and sabbatical leave procedures because "faculty members are expected to pursue a lifetime of productive scholarship, Rice University is committed to helping its faculty develop and grow."

Even at the collegiate level {and beyond} it's important to constantly be reflecting and pursuing opportunities to further develop your thinking and skill set!