Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dr. Melodie Rowbotham presented her research “The Impact of Faculty Development on Teaching Self-Efficacy, Teaching Skills and Retention” during The Teaching Professor Conference in Boston May 31.
Rowbotham is an associate professor in the SIUE School of Nursing and is coordinator of Faculty Development. She is an Illinois Education Research Council (IERC) Faculty Research Fellow and her research is partially funded by the IERC.
The 75-minute session was attended by more than 100 faculty from across disciplines. The research looked at how faculty development programs influence teacher self-efficacy and self-evaluation of teaching skills.
Research participants were full-time SIUE faculty. They attended a two-day workshop during Summer 2013 and met five times during the ensuing academic year. They completed surveys at both the beginning and the end. The control group was also full-time SIUE faculty, but they only completed the surveys.
“We learned that faculty development does positively impact our teaching,” Rowbotham said. “Although we are busy with all of our responsibilities, taking time for faculty development is important.”
The experimental group discovered that as teachers they:
- Developed more active learning activities
- Were more engaging with students
- Were more open to dialogue and questions
- Created a more positive learning environment
- Were more aware of the various types of learners in classes
- Were not afraid to try something new
Rowbotham thought her presentation was received positively. “The presentation also included details about a faculty development program, and many faculty who attended the workshop asked for more details after the presentation,” she said. “I was able to network and possibly develop research partners with other universities. I was also invited to Saudia Arabia to help a new all-women university with its faculty development.”
A certified nurse educator, Rowbotham earned a bachelor’s in nursing from Brigham Young University in 1988. She achieved both her master’s in nursing and doctorate in adult education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1999 and 2007, respectively. Following a nine-year teaching stint at UMSL, the O’Fallon, Mo., resident has been a member of the SIUE faculty for the past six years.
Each year, The Teaching Professor Conference features sessions around these seven topical areas:
- Instructional Design
- Activities that Engage Students
- Teaching Specific Types of Students
- Instructional Vitality: Ways to Keep Teaching Fresh and Invigorated
- Teaching and Learning with Technology
- Creating Climates for Learning
- Faculty Development
The three-day conference is designed with learning opportunities to enrich the teaching practice. There are preconference workshops that provide hands-on learning, plenary sessions keynoted by nationally recognized experts, selected concurrent sessions on a range of relevant topics and poster presentations highlighting the latest research.
Photo: Melodie Rowbotham, associate professor in the SIUE School of Nursing.