Determining the Professional Development Needs of Faculty in a College of Agriculture

Introduction Conceptual/Theoretical Framework Even in difficult fiscal times it's essential for institutions to invest in faculty development to provide faculty with the necessary skills and training to advance them professionally, especially their teaching, which students consider the most important job of faculty. This study examined the professional development needs of faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at California State University, Fresno. It looked at their perceived level of teaching skill and their interest in teaching improvement. Faculty indicated “good” levels of skill in performing traditional teaching practices; however, in over half of the educational technologies examined faculty reported little to no skill. Respondents expressed at least some interest in improving on all of the instructional activities. Less interest was shown in further training related to the educational technology areas. The Borich needs assessment model was used to establish priority areas for future faculty development. The instructional priority areas were, using alternative teaching methods, effectively evaluating student learning, discovery learning methods, improving student reading and writing skills, and faculty selfevaluation of teaching effectiveness. The educational technology priority areas were, creating and editing digital videos, using interactive teaching technology, using multimedia tools, using Internet discussion groups, and utilizing video conferencing technology. A university's reputation and prestige is largely based upon the perceived quality of the institution. Although there are many factors that contribute to perceptions of an institution's quality, none may have as great an impact as the university's faculty. With this in mind, institutions typically invest in their faculty providing them with opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge in order to further them professionally and build on the perceived quality of an institution. Even during this current period of fiscal difficulty it is important for faculty to continue to advance professionally. This investment is especially important within the scholarship of teaching, which according to students is considered to be the most important job of a faculty member (Wiedmer, 1994). Teachers must be well informed and have a deep knowledge of their field. The teaching methodology and procedures used by faculty must be carefully planned, continually evaluated, and should directly relate to their subject matter (Boyer, 1990). In an effort to maximize the impact of precious professional development funds greater attention and focus should be given to those areas where the need for improvement across an entire college is the greatest and where funds can be used most efficiently. This approach differs from that traditionally taken by California State University, Fresno, where faculty have primary responsibility for teaching undergraduate courses, but professional development activities have historically been focused on attendance at professional and/or research related conferences and meetings. Herein lies the motivation for this action research, which will attempt to provide the leadership of the college with a greater understanding of the professional development needs of faculty. Boyer (1990) stated that teaching is “a dynamic endeavor” (p. 23) which requires the use of analogies, metaphors and images to build a bridge between the teacher's understanding and student learning. However, some view teaching as a rather routine task that almost anyone can do (Boyer, 1990). Adding support for such a belief is a shift in priorities that has occurred over the past few decades in American higher education. Once seen as institutions whose primary mission was undergraduate education, universities have shifted their focus towards research and graduate education. In spite of Boyer's (1990) challenge to reexamine the definition of scholarship and view teaching, service, and research equally; tenure and promotion procedures still reflect the increasing pressure for faculty to publish research. Graduate degree programs which are required for university faculty positions do provide students with preparation and experience conducting research, however these programs provide little to no instruction in the practice of teaching (Ely and Ragland, 1989). This begs the question, “Where do faculty acquire the training and experience necessary to be effective in the classroom? ” University faculty find themselves in a situation where they feel competent within their technical field; however, their technical competency may not prove to be adequate preparation for teaching (Bowman et al., 1986). This results in most new faculty finding they have a strong need for professional development in order to build and improve their teaching effectiveness. Assistant Professor, Agricultural Education Determining the Professional Development Needs of Faculty in a College of Agriculture