Session 4: Building the capacity of Ontario’s colleges
Chair: Dr. Joe Mior
Dr. Mary Overholt
Developing and Supporting the Dual Professionalism of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Faculty Members
This qualitative, exploratory study is focused on how teachers in Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) are prepared to teach. Using focus groups and semi-structured interviews, I sought the perspectives of front-line staff within academic development units and academic leaders to create a detailed depiction of how teacher preparation and development currently happen in CAATS. In this study I worked collaboratively with the experts on teaching and learning and teacher training to develop a shared understanding of the present state of CAAT teacher training and gain insight into their perspectives on where CAAT teacher training should go next. The specific research questions I sought to answer through this study were: 1. How do CAATs, through the mechanism of their institutional academic development units, support the development of their faculty members as dual professionals to be both subject-matter experts and excellent teachers, with the goal of improved learning for students through more effective teaching? 2. What are the perceptions of academic development unit staff of current teacher training at CAATs? 3. How can the system of teacher development at CAATs be strengthened? Using Activity Theory as my main theoretical framework as well as the structure for my interview protocol, I worked with participants in this study to collaboratively map the activity system of teacher preparation both at individual institutions and across the CAAT system as a whole. Overall, CAATs provide basic teacher training—on planning and conducting lessons, designing course materials, and setting up courses on Learning Management Systems (LMS)—for faculty members, but lack resources to support faculty members’ subject-matter expertise. CAATs can work together, under the direction of senior leadership, to develop better support both for educational developers and CAAT faculty members. CAAT academic development units can collaborate to create a provincial CAAT teacher training curriculum or credential that can be implemented at the institutional level to ensure consistency as well as the necessary level of institutional focus for faculty development.
Dr. Derek Stockley
Decanal Leadership in Ontario Colleges
This session will highlight research conducted on decanal leadership in Ontario Colleges, with a focus on pathways to the role and ways in which we can prepare and support those who take on this important position in the ecosystem of college leadership. The session will be based on a case-study conducted involving Humber College.
Dr. Tim Fricker
Barriers to Student Success: Early Engagement and Good Data
This dissertation is about the student success problem: institutional retention rates have remained low for decades and clear evidence about why and how to support more students to persist and graduate is elusive. Using three years of data from one Ontario College, this dissertation investigates the relationships between the characteristics of students at the time they enter college, participation in academic advising, and student success. The contributions to the literature include an example of unique methods; new findings related to student success; and evidence of the practical use of college administrative data. Seven implications and next steps for researchers, practitioners and leaders are identified: improving institutional data collection practices; more focused evaluation of academic advising; purposeful outreach to students who do not engage early in admissions or transition processes; continued efforts to work with students to (re)define student success; new investments in research infrastructure; stronger emphasis on good research methods; and new campus commitments to relationship rich education.