New QUBES Research
The Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) project is beginning a research project that may be of interest to you regarding how participation in a unique long-term online model of professional development (PD) impacts the adoption of scholarly approaches to teaching. Part of the QUBES mission has been to develop an online community of biology faculty across the United States who are interested in increasing the quantitative skills of their biology students. To achieve this goal, QUBES has developed Faculty Mentoring Networks (FMNs), that we characterize as a long-term, low-intensity PD model. FMNs bring together a small group of faculty who participate in brief bi-weekly online meetings for several months. Participants are supported by content and pedagogy mentors who facilitate conversation both synchronously and asynchronously via use of video conferencing and the QUBESHub, a virtual platform developed through the QUBES grant.
With this research project, we aim to explore how participation in the QUBES FMN PD model affects attitudes and practices of sharing of curricular materials. We also hope to determine if participation in a QUBES FMN alters the barriers and/or incentives related to the sharing of curriculum materials online. Identifying these mechanisms will contribute to the body of knowledge on the development and implementation of PD for college faculty. Additionally, these mechanisms will inform Open Education Resource best practices for increasing teaching scholarship in the digital age.
We would like to invite you to participate in this research study by participating in a survey about your experience with professional development. If you are interested, please click on the link for additional information:
https://utk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6r6z6yVlGryUwJL
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact members of the research team, Kevin Kidder (kkidder@utk.edu) or Sondra LoRe (sondra@utk.edu).
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