A Review of Professional Qualifications, Development, and Recognition of Faculty Teaching in Higher Education around the World

Dirk Schaefer, Tristan T. Utschig

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

12 Citations (SciVal)
158 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Recent discussion within the engineering education community has included how to document
progressive skills in scholarly teaching and whether a philosophy of engineering education can
improve the practice of engineering education. As these types of discussions move forward, it
will be helpful to provide some context as to how these ideas might formally manifest
themselves. This paper provides a global overview of models for faculty development and
recognition in teaching in higher education.
Few would disagree with the idea that educating the next generation of leaders in both academia
and industry is at the heart of what higher education is all about. However, in the US, while
many faculty are dedicated to becoming outstanding educators, the general assumption is that
holding a PhD in a core technical area is sufficient to be qualified as an academic educator. This
no longer holds true (and maybe never did). In order to address this issue, a number of models
have been proposed and/or implemented in other parts of the world (Europe, Australia, Asia).
These models seek to provide both professional qualification and recognition for educators
working in higher education. Accordingly, the research question addressed in this paper is: what
models for professional development and recognition in higher education have been explored or
implemented around the world? The approaches used to address this question are: conversations
with leaders in engineering education, participation in conference discussions on this topic, and a
literature survey.
As a result of these efforts, this paper first reports an overview of existing model types. Major
differences in the types of models are explained in terms of duration, incorporation with
promotion and tenure, and what components of educational practice are included in the model.
Next, the various characteristics of individual models are documented in terms of content and
practicum components, contexts for implementation, and how the models work within their
various contexts. Finally, due to the inherently political and emotional nature of considering the
use of these models with the US, a brief reflection on experiences and lessons learned from these
models is presented as relevant to US higher education.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Event2008 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA United States
Duration: 22 Jun 200825 Jun 2008

Conference

Conference2008 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Country/TerritoryUSA United States
CityPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Period22/06/0825/06/08

Keywords

  • Faculty development
  • Engineering Education

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