Author(s):
There is a recent impetus for the transformation of undergraduate science instruction which would enrich student learning of science for a large portion of a diversifying United States population. Although there is vast literature on the efficacy of PD for improving student learning at the K–12 level, scarce evidence exists for it at the undergraduate level. This lack of evidence makes it difficult to determine if PD for higher education science faculty (instructors, hereafter) has improved student learning, and which PD characteristics and features most likely improve student learning. Using research from K-16 science education, the first PD framework for instructors which can improve student learning has been proposed. The framework is only composed of characteristics and features that have been shown to improve student learning, and it guides every aspect of the design, implementation, and evaluation of PD. Our institution was recently awarded an IUSE grant to implement the framework in a type of PD for instructors known as learning communities. Learning communities have a facilitator, resemble a focus group, and allow instructors to have conversations centered on instruction and student learning. Preliminary findings from the first of our three-year learning communities project include: (a) every instructor (n=20) at our institution is participating, (b) instructors experimented with different instructional approaches, (c) instructors believed strategies impacted student learning, (d) instructors stated that learning communities provided a much-needed forum to discuss shared challenges, and (e) the first learning community cohort has independently sustained itself apart from the original project.
