Scaling up the SIMPLE Design Model for Faculty Development: Lessons Learned

This NSF DUE-funded project has supported the scaling and study of the SIMPLE model for faculty teaching development. The SIMPLE model provides a framework for ongoing teaching development in discipline-specific peer groups (SIMPLE groups) designed to support instructors as they learn about and try new research-supported interactive teaching strategies. Over the life of the project, SIMPLE groups have been active in six STEM departments at a large public research university. Studying the implementations in these six departments provided an opportunity to identify lessons learned for best practices in creation, leadership, and support of ongoing teaching development groups. This paper describes the lessons learned through this project and data that support them. Background and Motivation While existing literature supports the value of active and student-centered teaching practices for improving learning, retention, and engagement in post-secondary education, adoption of these practices has been slow in STEM disciplines [1, 2]. The primary goal of this NSF WIDER project was to study the impact of discipline-based faculty learning community model for teaching professional development. The SIMPLE model, which is described in further detail below, provides a structure for ongoing faculty-led teaching development. Designed to be adaptable and require little in the way of infrastructure, the SIMPLE model supports faculty as they learn about, implement, and revise evidence-based teaching strategies. Broadly speaking, these teaching strategies may be characterized as active, inquiry-based, and student/learnercentered. SIMPLE groups meet on a regular basis over at least one academic year to become familiar with new teaching strategies and to receive support and feedback as they work to innovate in their own teaching. The structure of the SIMPLE model is motivated by literature on professional development in K12 and higher education, as well as by literature about faculty learning communities [3]. In particular, the model of an ongoing faculty development community to which participants bring their own challenges has been demonstrated to be effective in K-12 spaces [4]. Ongoing professional development (rather than a one-time intervention) has been shown to improve sustained impact in higher education [5, 6]. The guiding principles of the SIMPLE model, which were identified based on the results of a preliminary NSF project that studied STEM teaching development groups [7], are as follows: ● Sustainable -Groups are small (typically 4-6 people) to reduce logistical challenges and have low (or no) infrastructure costs and low barriers to entry, thereby facilitating longterm sustainability. ● Incremental change -Participants are encouraged to undertake small, manageable changes in their teaching rather than engaging in a full overhaul their approach. The model emphasizes that a series of small changes leads to larger, sustainable change. ● Mentoring -Groups are designed to provide mentoring from a group leader who has experience with student-centered teaching, as well as to encourage peer feedback and support across group members. ● People driven -Participants bring their own teaching challenges to the group and identify potential ways to address those challenges from a menu of options introduced and discussed by the group. ● Learning Environments -The teaching development emphasizes active and studentcentered teaching and learning while remaining open to the wide range of strategies that fall within that category.