Offering Professional Development Opportunities for Faculty on Methods of Developing Critical Thinking in Online Courses

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the how one university created a successful faculty professional development program that offered training and support on how to develop student critical thinking skills. Selected literature related to building student critical thinking skills through online environments are reviewed. Participants attending this presentation will receive an overview of the professional development program and the incentives offered. In addition, information on the Paul & Elder model will be summarized, as it was used in the program. Furthermore, this report will provide at least 3 examples of instruction from online courses at one south-eastern university that reflect the use of the Paul & Elder model for developing critical thinking skills for both undergraduate and graduate level online courses. The participants will be able to use the examples presented for developing online instruction to build student critical thinking skills. Establishing a new faculty professional development program takes time and careful planning. Standards for organizing and implementing a successful faculty professional development program need to be considered. The recommendations to establish professional development opportunities for faculty are separated logically into the steps of preparation, delivery of the workshop or sessions, and post-workshop check points or follow-up. The critical roles played by campus administrators, key faculty, and post-workshop mentors are highlighted as vital partners enhancing the actual professional development session. Some important standards to consider when developing a new professional development program within an university setting include: 1) administration needs to foster an academic climate that supports and encourages faculty professional development, 2) the originators need to ensure that the professional development (PD) program is connected to the university's goals or strategic plan, 3) administration and/or the originators need to develop a worthwhile reward structure for faculty members, and 4) faculty members should be able to individualize the information or training to meet their needs. Of course, the overall goal of most faculty professional development programs is to improve teaching and learning. Generally, when a faculty group is formed, such as in a professional development program, the combined energy created has great potential to not only motivate faculty, but also improve the final product or outcomes of the program. Because of the continued communications and the sense of "community" that comes from an ongoing PD program, accountability and support can help the individual faculty members to be more productive in completing the program successfully. That is what was found in the development of one faculty professional development program, referred to as "The Distance Learning Academy. " This 9 month program focused on supporting faculty in establishing methods for developing student critical thinking skills in online courses. Can we teach “thinking skills” through online courses? For some faculty, offering professional development sessions that are focused on methods of teaching critical thinking skills can possibly reduce the gap between aspirations to teach critical thinking and effective critical