Thread by @karenraycosta

okay something's been bugging me...a #FacDev thread...

I would argue that #FacDev is a huge area of opportunity in #HigherEd (or we could say it's completely broken-you choose).

This is data from the first #OLCAccelerate session I attended yesterday from the neuromyths study that @BrianCDelaney, @MDMillerPHD, & Kristen Betts shared. Obviously there are concerns across the board here, but I work with faculty.

#FacDev

My own observations are that #FacDev is often demoralizing for faculty. They're told what's wrong with their teaching. Their teaching strengths are treated as irrelevant. The amount of stress they carry and meet in their classrooms is ignored. It's often boring.

I'm faculty too, of course. I have died many deaths from people reading slides to me.

We know more about what works in teaching and learning, about how the brain learns, than at any point in human history.

But in my own experiences in #ProfDev and #FacDev, the model continues to be "talks," where an "expert" reads slides or lectures at me for 45 minutes or god forbid longer.

When that person is lecturing about how to use active learning in the classroom or getting students' attention, that approach is particularly confounding. Right? Or no? Do as I say, not as I do?

Yesterday I heard someone say that lecturing at students is not effective, but then acknowledge that they were lecturing. "But this is a conference presentation, not a classroom."

What's the difference? Am I missing something? Do students' brains learn differently than ours?

I worry so much about the lost opportunity of showing faculty how to use active learning in their classrooms, rather than telling them.

#FacDev

I guess I'm just here to say that I wish there was a heck of a lot more show in #FacDev and a lot less tell. And that our faculty learners themselves had more space to show. That we'd model guide on the side for them and finally release sage on the stage.

I attended a great session yesterday on UDL with @DrMBartlett, @terpprof, and @ThomasJTobin. It was 30-minutes. Maybe one slide? I feel like the chat led the session rather than any presenter. It was fun and organic. I had a sense of agency in that space.

One of the topics that came up was ADHD and neurodiverse learners within the UDL framework. As you know, a key tenet of UDL is that rising tides lift all boats. Creating accessible learning benefits all learners.

It got me thinking about #FacDev.

I would say that 90% of #FacDev is not accessible for folks with ADHD and neurodiverse learners.

A 45-minute lecture is not it.

That could be an interesting place to start. Am curious about more conversations about UDL for faculty learners.

If you are giving a 45-minute "traditional" lecture or talk (or longer), that talk is not accessible for ADHD/neurodiverse learners. So design for those folks, and everyone will benefit. Everyone will experience more agency in #FacDev. Everyone will learn more effectively.