Educational Developers Caucus (EDC) 2014: Conceptions of the Profession
TITLE: Perceptions and Indicators of an Institutional Culture that Values Teaching
AUTHORS: Lori Goff (McMaster University); Erika Kustra (University of Windsor); Paola Borin (Ryerson University); Peter Wolf (University of Guelph); Jill Grose (Brock University); Debra Dawson (Western University); Donna Ellis (University of Waterloo); and Sandy Hughes (Wilfrid Laurier University)
ABSTRACT: There are increasing demands and pressures to find metrics that account for the quality of student learning and teaching. While there is a shifting focus to measure and document the achievement of learning outcomes, we advocate for identifying and developing processes that can also demonstrate the value, importance, and enhancement of the quality of teaching that our institutions provide. A culture with improved teaching quality is likely to improve student learning (Cox, McIntosh, Reason, & Terenzini, 2011). Continuing from preliminary work presented lasted year (EDC 2013), we have developed a survey instrument, Teaching Culture Perception Survey (TCPS), adapted from an Institutional Management in Higher Education report (IMHE) (Hénard & Roseveare, 2012). The survey identifies indicators that aim to measure the perceptions and value an institution places on the quality of teaching. The goal is to develop a process that will enable post-secondary institutions to find new opportunities to build a culture that values teaching and learning-centered philosophies. The proposed project is a unique process to examine, maintain and enhance the quality of teaching in post-secondary education. There are no existing large scale surveys of organizational culture regarding teaching quality in Canada. Participants will have an opportunity to share their insights into the political terrain, provide feedback on the survey, identify additional indicators to consider, and discuss ways in which the work could be expanded beyond Southern Ontario. We believe the project model could be adapted and piloted for broader use with colleges and universities more broadly, with potential for national impact.