Developing and Implementing a Campus-Wide Professional Development Program: Successes and Challenges

Abstract

Gateways-ND is a 5-year, National Science Foundation-funded effort directed toward three goals: maximizing the instructional effectiveness of postsecondary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) faculty by building expertise in learner-focused practice, positively impacting student success in STEMbased “gateway” courses, and developing student persistence in STEM learning. The program, which began in 2015, works with cohorts of 30 STEM faculty for 2 years per cohort and includes 10 days of workshops; faculty learning communities; and a research component that examines the who, what, when, why, and how of change in classroom teaching and curriculum development. To date, 12,547 students at North Dakota State University have been taught by at least one Gateways-ND-trained faculty member. The Gateways-ND leadership team is seeing positive change in teaching and in student attitudes toward learning. With administrative buy-in, minor internal funding, and commitment from pedagogical experts, we believe institutions can move from a lecture-based instructional “norm” to an active learning-based norm without external funding.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa Vosen Callens

Melissa Vosen Callens (melissa.vosen@ ndsu.edu) is an associate professor of practice in the Department of Communication, North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Paul Kelter

Paul Kelter is a professor in the Office of Teaching and Learning, North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Jill Motschenbacher

Jill Motschenbacher is acting director of the Office of Teaching and Learning and assistant professor of practice in the School of Natural Resource Sciences, North Dakota State University in Fargo.

James Nyachwaya

James Nyachwaya is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the School of Education, North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Jared L. Ladbury

Jared L. Ladbury is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Anna M. Semanko

Anna M. Semanko is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University in Fargo.