Abstracts - Earli

I 2030 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: 1.58SymposiumGrounding faculty development in an evidence-based theoryChair: Alenoush Saroyan, McGill University, CanadaOrganiser: Mariane Frenay, Universite catholique de Louvain, BelgiumOrganiser: Alenoush Saroyan, McGill University, CanadaDiscussant: Kirsten Lycke, University of Oslo, NorwayThe general perception that university teaching does not require any expertise is still very muchalive despite a well established tradition of faculty development in most North-American andsome European universities. This can be explained by the fact that faculty development until nowhas, to a large extent, been an ‘a-theoretical’ activity. The observation that only few formaltraining programmes exist throughout the world that train faculty developers and that most peopleactive in the field develop their interest in this area through diverse careers in and out of academia,explains why faculty development until now still is very much influenced by the ‘ad hoc’paradigm (Light, 2003) in which university teachers gain expertise by trial and error. In order tofurther strengthen this field, we set out to develop a comprehensive framework that could be usedto design, implement and assess faculty development initiatives. We found justification in thisundertaking on several counts.. First, there is a vital need for a better understanding of whatfaculty development involves and how one can build an effective faculty development practice.Such a model should offer an inclusive framework for analysing practices across diverseinstitutional contexts. Second, a conceptual model can support the evolution of facultydevelopment, both as a field of practice as well as an area of scholarship and research by guidingthe initial and continuing education of faculty developers and by providing the context for framingresearch questions. Third, a valid framework can be used for organising external evaluations andreviews of educational units, their strategies and activities. In the symposium we will present thismodel and describe the comparative research process which led us to this development. We willalso discuss the outcome of quantitative and qualitative approaches we have taken to date tovalidate the model.A comparative study of faculty development in Europe and North-AmericaMariane Frenay, Universite catholique de Louvain, BelgiumAlenoush Saroyan, McGill University, CanadaJean-Jacques Paul, Universite de Bourgogne, FranceAnette Kolmos, Aalborg University, DenmarkBuilding on a 3-year mobility project between seven institutions from Canada and Europe, thispaper will outline, from the comparison of 5 countries, how faculty development has developedand is now implemented in those specific contexts. Results of these comparisons show howdiverse and evolving the field is at present time, not only regarding the level of experience andexpertise reached, but also regarding the way it is organised as a result of complex influences ofboth institutional and national levels. This paper describes past events that gave rise to facultydevelopment practice in those countries and the current contextual factors that are contributing tothe development and practice of faculty development. We will provide an overview of structures– 524 –