Practices of Teaching Competency Development

Abstract

Teachers play the critical role in improving student learning and achievement. What teachers do in the classroom is crucial in this process. Teaching competencies offer teachers practical strategies, practices, and rules to guide teachers in ways to improve instruction that improves student performance and the quality of the work experience.

Teachers play the critical role in improving student learning and achievement. What teachers do in the classroom is crucial in this process. Teaching competencies offer teachers practical strategies, practices, and rules to guide teachers in ways to improve instruction that improves student performance and the quality of the work experience. This chapter provided examples of current practices of teaching competency development, including international practices (Sect. 5.1), institutional practices (Sect. 5.2), and individual practices (Sect. 5.3). The seven cases illustrated how the aforementioned theories and models have been applied in different real-life scenarios. It is our hope these cases will inspire you to think teaching competency development in higher education in a new way and guide you to undertake your own practice.

5.1 International Practices of Teaching Competency Development

5.1.1 Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education in Central Asia

The pandemic has become a major challenge for the higher education system, requiring teachers to adapt to the online learning environment quickly. Advanced training and consultation of university teachers regarding online learning technologies allow teachers to increase teaching efficiency and develop teaching competencies. In this context, UNESCO supported teacher training institutions to train pre-service teachers and in-service teachers’ teaching competencies. In particular, the UNESCO Almaty Office conducted two online trainings (August, October 2021) for teachers of teacher training institutions in Central Asia.

Goal: Effective implementation of Education for Sustainable Development and Education in the spirit of global citizenship, as well as to increase the capacity of teachers in the field of application distance learning technologies.

With the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have faced new challenges in various fields of activity. The world situation required a quick and urgent response to prevent the rapid spread of the infection. Along with the rest of the world, the education system looked for alternatives and effective teaching methods that could be used in the higher education system at the same time. Online distance teaching has become one of such methods. However, its implementation had some difficulties. In addition to the requirements for the technical equipment of teachers and students, namely the availability of a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone, and a stable Internet connection, one of the main difficulties was the lack of skills in conducting online classes among teachers. Therefore, teachers urgently have had to master distance learning technologies and improve their skills of information and communication technologies. Since 2020, the UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty has organized online training for teachers in Central Asia on the topic “Implementing education for sustainable development through the use of distance learning technologies.” The training was developed to improve the qualifications of higher education personnel.

In addition to tools and services that help teachers quickly adapt to the online learning environment, the training studied topics of the Sustainable Development Goals, teaching methods, competence-based approach, criterion assessment and other topics of interest to teachers. The online training revealed a great interest on the part of teachers in studying the available possibilities of distance learning technologies, including ready-made online services and tools. According to the polls conducted after the training, many training participants used the knowledge gained during the training in their daily practice. In 2021, the UNESCO Almaty Office held two online training (in August 2021 and in October 2021) for teachers at pedagogical universities in Central Asia. The main objectives of the trainings were the effective implementation of education for sustainable development and education in the spirit of global citizenship, as well as increasing the potential of teachers in the field of using distance learning technologies.

For the successful implementation of the set goals a program was developed. Participants included three coaches and groups of willing listeners. The target group of training was teachers at pedagogical institutes and pedagogical universities in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The program was created for 72 h: 36 h of active learning (theory + practical classes, developing and protecting a portfolio), and 36 h of adapting the material and conducting master classes. The program developed content based on the input that surveyed participants provided.

The total number of training participants was 127, including 54 teachers from nine organizations in August and 73 from eight organizations in October. The participants represented three Central Asian countries: the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. After completing the online training, the participants held master classes where they shared the knowledge gained during the training with other listeners. Among the participants were students, teachers, and other stakeholders in these master classes. The number of participants in master classes (approbation, transfer of knowledge, discussion, reflection) was 252 in August and 352 in October.

Today, competency-based education is a priority to meet both the needs of all students and needs of the labor market, considering national socio-economic priorities. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED) are among the most effective tools for mainstreaming 21st-century competencies, especially through training and skills development for teacher educators in this area.

In this context, UNESCO continues to support teacher training institutions for the training of future teachers and professional development. In particular, the UNESCO Almaty Office conducts online training for teachers of pedagogical educational institutions of Central Asia and the South Caucasus to effectively implement ESD and GCED and become key institutional agents of change in the field of sustainable development. In addition, the planned activities help build on the new ESD Roadmap 2030 adopted at the 40th UNESCO General Conference, as well as on its strategic goal and a priority area for capacity-building for teachers and educators in ESD/GCED. The training is also aimed at enhancing teachers’ capacity to use distance learning technologies. During the development of the online training program, the developers focused on the data from the opinion poll of teachers and tried to consider the following methods, technologies, and tools in their training: critical thinking, design thinking, teamwork, competence-based approach, brainstorming, project learning, problem-solving training, storytelling, and criteria-based assessment. During training, Internet services and tools used were ZOOM, Miro board, Google Form, Kahoot, and Wooclap.

The online training program composed of three stages:

• 1. Premodule—2 academic hours (independent acquaintance with the course program, with the Zoom platform, Google Drive, Miro, 17 SDGs, ESD, entrance testing using Google forms, trial connection).

• 2. The main module—36 academic hours (streaming lectures, practical sessions, co-teaching, independent work, portfolio defense, reflection).

• 3. Post module—34 academic hours (updating the portfolio, self-adaptation of course materials, conducting master classes).

According to the idea of the developers, the training was supposed to provide practical skills in the use of materials. Great emphasis placed on practical training of students, both individually and as part of teams, occurred. The main module consisted of streaming lectures held simultaneously for all listeners, and practical sessions in which the participants worked out the acquired knowledge online in real-time. For this, three groups formed for practical exercises. Each group had a separate coach. In turn, within the groups there was a division into subgroups in accordance with the chosen portfolio topic. Each subgroup, which consisted of a maximum of six people, chose a specific SDG to complete practical tasks on the topics of the streaming lecture, and worked out the elements of the portfolio. At the end of the training, each subgroup had to draw up and defend a portfolio constructed on the training materials covered. In accordance with the conditions of the training, those participants who wished to receive a Certificate for 72 h had to conduct a Master Class within a month to share the knowledge gained at the training. Thus, the skills of practical mastery of new material worked out several times in the training. An entrance diagnostic questionnaire had been developed to target the participants’ needs more effectively. According to the survey results, almost all participants (96% of those who passed the survey) were familiar with sustainable development goals. The majority (74% of participants) already had experience in conducting sessions on the topics of the Sustainable Development Goals. This also testified to the practical importance of the developed training course.

The answers to the question about the most pressing problems of distance learning showed the following. First, technical issues related to the quality and access to the Internet (58%) caused greatest difficulties, which aggravated educational institutions located in the regions. The second issue was inactive students during classes (42%). Lack of time for teaching distance learning methods (30%) was also noted as one of their significant problems. All these points were considered when developing the training program. During the training, the students mastered the methods, technologies, and tools that allowed effective distance learning, and involved students in the process of discussing and completing assignments. In completing practical tasks, the participants discussed how the proposed methods and tools helped increase students’ active participation and involvement in the educational process. This situation demonstrated the importance of trainings and seminars on distance technologies with a practical orientation and the possibility of further implementation in the educational process.

Analyzing the needs and preferences in the choice of topics for online learning was important. The analysis helped trainers to place greater emphasis on discussing relevant and interesting issues in the learning process. The listeners answered the question of the questionnaire: “What topics within the framework of ESD would you like to study in the framework of this training Distance Education?” The most three important topics for listeners were: interactive exercises (noted by 62% of the listeners), case technologies (56%), and SMART goals (44%). We would like to note that Bloom's Taxonomy, which became the foundation in the methodology for developing assessment criteria in this training program, also aroused significant interest among the listeners with 38% (and ranks fourth in the survey). The listeners’ answers regarding this issue allowed the trainers to facilitate the process of completing practical tasks on the development of assessment criteria using Bloom's taxonomy. Participants could jointly develop educational goals and assessment criteria in groups, expressing their opinions and sharing their practical experience in this direction. Worth noting that during the streaming lecture held on the Zoom platform, all groups participated in the same conference from 10:00 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. At 11:30 a.m.–12:50 a.m., as well as at 2:00 p.m.–3:20 p.m., session rooms were opened for practical sessions, which were held using the Miro application, where forms for completing practical tasks were developed and formed in advance. During the lecture and practical sessions, attendance was checked. An important condition for certification was participation in 80% of the classes.

Mini groups of participants formed during training to develop proposals on how to achieve the SDGs. The facilitating trainers paid special attention to how each person completed even the smaller actions. Regardless, the actions aimed at improving the situation in society, ecology, and economy. As a result, the training participants developed products that could be implemented and thereby, contribute achieving the SDGs. There were proposals for the development of courses, creating schools for a healthy lifestyle, access to on-line visits to museums, teaching the elderly to use online applications, organizing courses for the public, and more. Colleagues formed mini communities, shared their knowledge with each other, and performed group tasks together.

The defense of the portfolio took place on the last day of training in an online format. The portfolio contained ready-made materials suitable for further masterclasses in the field. The participants asked many questions and expressed their opinions and wishes. Worth noting during the defense process, many participants planned joint events and indicated a desire to continue cooperation. Within a month after the training, the participants held master classes in their organizations on the topics of their portfolios.

During on-line training, one of the fundamental problems that obstructed the dynamic process was listeners’ different level of ICT competencies. Participants noted the problem as they were asked to divide into groups according to the degree of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) proficiency at future trainings. As the reality showed before the pandemic, teachers did not actively use ICT in the classrooms. The rapid transition to distance learning revealed such technical problems.

We would like to share a case study to demonstrate difficulties that occurred. In one of the subgroups, there were two older teachers not confident in their ICT skills. They were experienced teachers who knew and taught their subject for a long time and thus, had significant experience and knowledge. Due to their age, before the pandemic, they did not face the need to teach using modern Internet technologies and online tools. During the pandemic organizations created and sent them links to online platforms like Zoom. Teachers logged in using links and conducted classes without actively using possible Internet services and tools. In our training, it was rather difficult for them to carry out practical tasks as they had problems using almost every technology tool. At the beginning they had difficulties with screen sharing, clicking on links, and they did not immediately figure out where the general chat was located. They also had problems working with the on-line whiteboard because it was not clear how to move objects, print text, and place information/images.

Further, when working in services that required initial registration, they also encountered difficulties. The trainers had to devote a lot of time in explaining and demonstrating step-by-step to complete the task (e.g., hover the cursor over an object, press the left/right mouse button, listen to my voice, and move the cursor up, then left). It took a lot of time and slowed down the dynamics of the whole group’s work. Unfortunately, this particular situation was no exception. A significant proportion of older teachers also did not have good ICT skills. Limited skills were due to several reasons:

• Previously, teachers were not required to have knowledge of ICT.

  However, offline training made it possible to do without the specified knowledge.

• Not all teachers are psychologically ready to use ICT in the educational process.

• Lack of clear guidelines on using existing Internet resources and online opportunities existed.

• Lack of time existed for the working teacher. They have a lot of paperwork and reports.

• Lack of a clear understanding that the available technological capabilities would help create their own electronic content (presentations, video lectures, electronic surveys, on-line quizzes, tests, etc.) that could reduce the time (e.g., for checking tests) and increase engagement students existed.

The creators of the training also conducted surveys among students aged 14–23. The survey results indicated that young people were much more interested in learning when a teacher used interactive games, explained complex topics with simple examples, used case studies, motivated with their own stories, and used humor and famous quotes. Young people noted that boring, non-stop lectures did not contribute to better understanding of the materials and were often annoying.

Considering the above, the developers of the training would like more teachers to work on improving the presentation of the material, use interesting forms of online quizzes when assessing the level of assimilation of the material, conduct online brainstorming sessions, and use design thinking approaches in the learning process.

To solve the above problems of teachers with a low level of ICT competence of teachers, we offered the following solutions (as competence develops from basic to advanced):

• Know the current digital educational resources on the Internet.

• Select and use the necessary tools and resources to work under the assigned training objectives.

• Confidently use the selected distance educational tools and services (e.g., online platforms, online boards, online educational services).

• Process and present information in an effective form for solving educational problems and compose their own educational content.

• Choose the form of transmission of information to students.

• Effectively use tools for organizing student learning activities (e.g., testing programs, electronic workbooks, systems for organizing student learning activities).

• Organize various alternative forms of online student work by combining available resources. Create unified programs on one topic using various online resources, and Design Thinking methods.

• Share knowledge of online educational technologies with other teachers and recommend the most successful and effective tools. Conduct collaborative training with other teachers from different institutes and countries.

• Select content suitable for the most effective distance learning technology that are of interest to students.

In conclusion, we would like to note that feedback received from the participants of the training indicates that this kind of training was an effective way to develop Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED). With such platforms, teachers not only learned new distance learning technologies, but also exchanged knowledge, and created communities of like-minded people who would be able to implement new ideas and projects in the interests of ESD and GCED. According to the feedback of the training participants, they created communities to discuss the SDGs. The course material generated from the training was actively used in work. Online tools presented at the trainings were integrated, and participants had publications on the topics of the SDGs and GCED. Teachers needed to improve their soft skills and competencies, and such trainings provided them an opportunity to do it. They practically pumped-up skills and tested various tools including online services and tools. The training program developers hoped that the knowledge transferred during the training regarding SDGs helped teachers conduct their online classes more interestingly and effectively.

5.2 Institutional Practices of Teaching Competency Development

5.2.1 Three-Stage Developmental Path of Teaching Competencies

Problems and Challenges

Shandong University of Technology (SUT) is located in Zibo, Shandong Province. It is a multidisciplinary university focusing on science and engineering. Students in Electrical Engineering and Automation and Electronic Information Engineering programs must take “Analog Electronics” as a foundational course. The course is designed for the second-year students and includes 64 credit hours and four credits. Students must also take Advanced Mathematics, Introduction to Physics, and Electric Circuits as prerequisites that provide them with fundamental electrical knowledge and skills to build and assess basic circuits. Students enjoy collaborating and experimenting with new technologies, and many gain knowledge from literature reviews and independently analyzing and solving problems. However, students may find applying theories to the practical problems challenging because the course focuses on new concepts and formula derivation. Furthermore, students have limited opportunities in the course to perform experiments making it harder to develop skills in solving complex engineering problems.

As a result, traditional teaching-centered classroom instruction with only summative assessments at the end can no longer meet students’ needs. Technology-enhanced instruction provides students with flexible, individualized, and independent learning opportunities. Teachers who take advantage of technology and innovative teaching methods can effectively motivate students and enhance their independent learning skills and outcomes. Some issues instructors encounter in implementing technology-enhanced teaching are as follows:

• (1) Outdated teaching philosophy and lack of technology integration pedagogy.

• (2) Inadequate competencies in designing and developing digital learning resources, particularly video editing software.

• (3) Insufficient proficiency in using “circuit simulation” software.

• (4) Inadequate skills in effectively using Learning Management System (LMS) and its tools in teaching.

• (5) Lacking experience in using technology to motivate students and encourage online interaction.

• (6) Insufficient capabilities for analyzing and utilizing educational data.

Strategies for Promoting Teacher’s Teaching Competencies

As a result, SUT proposed the following three phases for developing teaching competencies. In phase one, teachers first must become aware of the benefits of using technology in teaching. Then, they begin to incorporate technology tools into their teaching and grasp the principles of applying technology in curriculum. In phase two, teachers have intermediate technology integration skills in teaching. They develop instructional content in the course and build relevant digital resources. In the last phase, teachers design, implement, and evaluate technology-enhanced instruction, exhibiting advanced skills in applying technology in teaching.

Promoting Awareness of Applying Technology in Teaching (Phase one)

This phase emphasized the benefits of using technology in teaching. It encourages teachers to study pedagogies of technology integration and assists them finding characteristics and requirements of using technology in teaching. Teachers could recognize new teaching approaches by studying Bloom’s Taxonomy and technology attributes. Teachers attended several conferences, meetings, and training programs to improve their awareness of technology integration in education. Teachers could shift from a “teaching-centered” to a “learning-centered” approach, integrate in-class and out-of-class activities, use formative and summative evaluations, and adopt online synchronous and asynchronous channels using technology.

SUT teachers have a preliminary understanding of the technology-enhanced teaching methods to provide learner-centered, competency-based, and continuously improved education for their students. Methods include flipped classrooms and connecting pre-class, in-class, and after-class activities and assignments. SUT also invited experts and experienced teachers to provide training on how to organize an effective technology-enhanced classroom.

Curriculum and Information Technology Integration (Phase two)

This phase involves setting up a curriculum team, organizing instructional content, building curricular resources, improving teachers’ competencies in designing and developing online instructional resources, and using “virtual circuit simulation experiment” software. The curriculum team for this phase comprises five groups: curriculum planning group, video recording and editing group, question bank group, experiment design group, and Q&A group. The curriculum leader is in charge of summarizing essential instructional content in the course. The video recording and editing group are responsible for recording and editing videos around knowledge points. The question bank group is responsible for creating exam banks and designing homework. Finally, the experiment design group oversees designing experiments using “virtual circuit simulation experiment” software.

Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, the curriculum team develops learning outcomes, proposes learning content, and creates appropriate assessments. The team also determines the teaching approach, implementation plan, and learning guides. Video lectures, PowerPoint slides, electronic teaching plans, virtual simulation software, experiment films, and other instructional tools are used throughout the course. Various assessments used in the course included online exams, online assignments, in-class questions, group discussions, circuit design, virtual experiments, and physical experiments.

At SUT, the learner-centered instructional design encourages students to learn independently, provides them with opportunities to practice what they have learned, and assists them in developing their knowledge and solutions to practical challenges. Helpful instructional design resources include students’ self-study work sheets. Instructional design templates provide assistance in the course. Faculty can use the instructional design templates to analyze essential teaching context, situational factors, teaching content, instructional goals, instructional resources, and activity plans. Furthermore, building technology-assisted curricular resources for students is needed. Resources such as micro-course videos, question banks, software for “virtual circuit simulation experiment,” supplementary instructional resources, and MOOC-specific resources assist in learning the material.

Innovative Technology Integration in Teaching (Phase three)

Innovative technology integration in this phase led to innovative teaching approaches, instructional design, and teaching evaluation. SUT applied flipped classroom, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning approaches in their teaching. SUT also provide opportunities for students to apply theoretical knowledge in their physical and virtual experiments. The team also designs various projects for students to complete on their own. The following are brief introductions of the many innovative approaches:

• Flipped classroom: Purposefully connecting pre-class, in-class, and after-class activities and assignments.

• Problem-based learning: Guiding students to learn to ask questions and using those questions to guide instruction.

• Collaborative learning: Promoting various group projects and rotating group leaders.

• Combining teaching and experiments: Encouraging applying theoretical knowledge in experiments, internships, projects, and exams.

• Virtual experiments: Applying virtual simulation in the entire curriculum.

• Promoting learning on three levels of cognition: Concept discussion-application of foundational theories and principles-collaborative group work.

• Project-based design: Students complete the projects independently with scaffolding support.

• Application of innovative teaching in practice: Cultivating students’ innovation by integrating instructional activities with research and science competitions.

SUT encourages students’ interest in autonomous, collaborative, and research-based learning by using diverse teaching methodologies on distinct course topics. As a result, students improve their analytical and problem-solving skills at the same time.

Innovative Instructional Design and Course Delivery. SUT also adopted the hybrid teaching mode to guide students with inquiry-based and personalized learning. Online synchronous and asynchronous opportunities are provided to help connect before-class, in-class, and post-class activities. Varied activities in the class include learning guidance, lectures, tests, discussions, project design, simulations, content presentation, and extension activities. These activities enhance students’ capacities to learn, consider, express, collaborate, query, and solve problems. Besides, SUT also used many evaluation methods such as student participation, learning satisfaction, exam pass rate, and accomplishment of learning outcomes. The evaluation findings help adjust teaching strategies as needed.

Innovative Teaching Evaluation. Additionally, SUT developed its comprehensive evaluation system to promote formative evaluation and competency development. Evaluation criteria to grade each assessment is used. Formative and summative assessment account for 50% of the final grades. Summative assessment is a closed-book exam at the end of the semester. In contrast, formative assessment comprises of class interaction, online tests, online self-directed learning, physical experiments, flipped classroom, assignments, and virtual simulations. Teachers assign challenging discussion topics and projects to help students enhance their capabilities and innovations to solve complicated engineering problems.

Impacts of Faculty Development

Faculty development strategies at SUT, such as training on technology use, hybrid teaching, and instructional monitoring, have improved the faculty’s technology integration and course facilitation skills. The faculty’s efforts are recognized with many provincial teaching awards, and students have highly rated this lab. Through the implementation of the young teacher training plan, young faculty have grown rapidly and received several awards in teaching competitions.

Team members effectively integrate technology into their teaching and skillfully use online teaching platforms and instructional tools. According to a recent poll, more than 95% of teachers felt they could skillfully develop micro-lessons, analyze the data collected in-class activities, and offer timely feedback to students. At the same time, they have also developed their instructional design capabilities and earned awards in instructional design and innovative teaching competitions.

On the other side, students also demonstrate more enthusiasm toward class activities and their grades have improved yearly, thus decreasing failure rates. The survey results indicated that more than 92% of students were satisfied with the course. The change also has led to enhancing their learning interests, independent learning, vocal expression, teamwork, and problem-solving capabilities.

Reflections on Team-Based Strategies Summary

The three-phase strategies for developing SUT teachers have led to the continuous development of their teachers’ competencies in instructional design, technology usage, course delivery, teaching evaluation, research, and innovation. As the team comprises of engineering faculty, further study should determine if the team-based strategies might work in other disciplines or universities. Furthermore, SUT needs to improve its online teaching platforms and smart classrooms to encourage the use of technology in teaching. The university should also monitor activities such as visiting physical or virtual classrooms, expert reviews, and student evaluations. Finally, the university should regularly hold instructional design contests, micro-course competitions, young teacher lecture competitions, and other technical competitions to encourage their instructors’ continual progress.

5.2.2 Teaching Competency Development in Blended Learning

Yangzhou University is a comprehensive university in Jiangsu Province. Since 2007, the university has promoted online teaching initiatives and trained its teachers to teach and deliver online and hybrid courses. Their instances of hybrid teaching have been included in UNESCO’s “Hybrid Teaching White Paper.”

Problems and Challenges

Yangzhou University analyzed its educational data on the online platform from 2007 to 2015 in 2016 to evaluate its curriculum development and implementation. Although they found that online courses have been extensively offered at the university, many online courses did not provide opportunities for students to apply new knowledge inside or outside the classroom. There were also limited teacher feedback and online interaction in their online courses. Furthermore, they found that the university’s policy on online teaching focused more on the number of online courses rather than the quality assurance of the online offering. As a result, teachers have passively used the online learning platform, which was not an essential component of their teaching.

At the same time, most of their teachers lacked sufficient training in designing and teaching online courses. The university primarily organized faculty development opportunities, and faculty did not take many initiatives to apply training content and technology to their teaching. As a result, Yangzhou University decided to offer new initiatives to promote their teachers’ digital literacy and hybrid teaching competencies and to engage them in effective and sustainable faculty development opportunities.

Teaching Competency Development Strategies at Yangzhou University

An “Online + Onsite” Mode of Digital Literacy Development

With the rapid development and widespread use of technology, many school administrators have realized that faculty is the key to the effective use of ICT in education. Therefore, Yangzhou University has adopted an “online + onsite” training mode to motivate faculty and promote their digital literacy.

A Systematic Training Program to Promote Hybrid Teaching Competencies

Yangzhou University also developed a systematic training program to promote teaching competencies. The training program considers classroom delivery issues, teachers’ pedagogical and technical challenges, and diverse needs in implementing hybrid teaching. The training program’s 14 themes cover the instructional design, development, implementation, and evaluation phases (see Table 5.1). The program helps teachers develop skills in hybrid teaching, teaching evaluation, quality assurance, and personalized instruction based on learning analytics.

Table 5.1 Training modules for developing hybrid teaching competencies at Yangzhou University

At the same time, Yangzhou University offered hybrid training for faculty to learn on their own time online and then gather to discuss their experiences. Teachers meet initially to learn about the training goals and tasks, and then complete the program online over 15–20 days. They meet again to share their experiences and discuss cases of hybrid teaching. The program provides teachers with an excellent opportunity to experience hybrid teaching from the student perspective, which may be used later as a model for their hybrid teaching later.

Innovative Training Methods to Motivate Faculty

To encourage teacher participation and ensure the effectiveness of their training, Yangzhou University adopted a system that allows teachers to schedule appointments based on their availabilities. The program used the inquiry-based approach to engage and guide teachers with questions and problems. Ninety-five percent of the teachers have completed the trainings.

The training program also employs various activities such as discussions and seminars to engage teachers. Each training theme focuses on a particular topic and engages teachers with questions at hand. In addition, teachers can gain hands-on experience with new technology throughout the training to apply it to their classrooms. Teachers can also connect with each other using various communication tools such as WeChat and QQ. Furthermore, Yangzhou University has collaborated closely with its industry partners, such as LMS suppliers to offer collaborative and sustainable training for their teachers.

Impact and Summary

The hybrid teaching initiatives at Yangzhou University have greatly motivated teachers to participate in the hybrid teaching training and apply it to their classrooms. Since spring 2015, the university has offered the program 119 times, with 2625 participants and a 100% satisfaction rate. Faculty have found that the training classes and online QQ groups are excellent forums to share their hybrid teaching experiences. Though the pandemic significantly disrupted the educational experience, teachers who had completed the trainings earlier expressed that they had the least impact due to their hybrid training experience. In addition, the flexible and targeted training program has positively influenced the academic community on campus. Yangzhou University and its teachers have won many national and provincial awards in teaching reform competitions and others.

In summary, faculty are critical in implementing new educational initiatives and reforms. Collaborative support from departments, librarians, instructional designers, faculty developers, and instructional technologists is essential to support faculty design and deliver compelling learning experiences for students.

5.2.3 Teaching Competency Development in Local Professional Community

Regional Community for Teacher Development

Yantai University is a comprehensive university in Shandong providence, which Peking University and Tsinghua University have jointly built. Yantai University has led the efforts of establishing the alliance of universities in Northern Shandong Province to expand its academic impact, facilitate school-enterprise collaboration, and promote regional economic and social development.

Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai are the three major cities on the Jiaodong Peninsula in Northern Shandong Province. The three cities are close in proximity with comparable situations. Therefore, establishing the university alliance in this region can significantly encourage further academic exchange and collaborations.

Current Situations and Challenges

All the allied universities have established their teacher development centers and identified the unique approaches to promoting teacher development. Each university has its programs and lessons gained in developing academic programs and faculty development. The experience makes them eager to collaborate and exchange ideas and recommendations.

To promote teacher development, the alliance of universities in Northern Shandong Province established to encourage and support programs and services such as new faculty programs, teaching consultations, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and regional resource sharing. Historically, teachers at Yantai University have been placed a greater priority on their research, and many do not spend as much time on teaching competency development. Therefore, the regional community for teacher development can greatly help its community members exchange best practices, new SoTL research studies, teaching pedagogies, and teaching techniques. In this way, each member university effectively and efficiently supports its faculty.

College teachers should continuously enhance their professional knowledge and abilities to meet the growing need for interdisciplinary research. This regional community for teacher development provides an excellent platform for teachers to meet other teachers from various disciplines. The relationship helps them expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge. Teachers are encouraged to reflect on their experiences within the regional community. They can address difficulties through collective wisdom, resulting in enhanced teaching competencies. Teachers have volunteered to engage in community activities, and the community operates through a shared responsibility to assure equal rights.

Building Regional Community of Practice for Faculty Development

The alliance holds high-end forums and general meetings of all members regularly. The alliance committee oversees hosting and organizing meetings, and the committee chair is elected on a rotating basis. The alliance meetings usually involve new faculty development, faculty training programs, curriculum development, teaching competitions for young teachers, and the establishment of faculty development centers. All members participate in the meetings and discuss issues on teacher development.

The alliance also creates an expert database that includes recipients of teaching achievement awards, principal investigators of teaching research projects, excellent teachers and their teams, and others. Those experts have joined task forces to support faculty development by advising faculty development, training teachers, reviewing teaching awards, evaluating teaching and research projects, and so on. In addition, the alliance has also organized and offered several webinars by inviting experts from top universities such as Peking and Tsinghua universities.

At the same time, a teaching practice platform exists to promote widespread communication within the alliance. New teachers engage in activities such as curriculum development, creating micro-courses and MOOCs, and more. Topics such as these considerately improves their ICT skills in teaching. Students also benefit from the network as they can choose from various courses offered by numerous universities within the alliance.

The Impact of Regional Community for Teacher Development

The alliance of universities in Jiaodong Peninsula is the first regional community for teacher development in Shandong Province. The high-quality resources and best practices have contributed to faculty development in the region and serve as models for others in the country. The establishment of the alliance encourages regional universities to co-create and share resources among its members. It also greatly enables them to collaborate with other faculty and students. Finally, the allied cooperation aids its member universities in effectively promoting curriculum development and faculty development.

The regional community for teacher development has also helped regional institutions in their attempts to establish teacher development centers. Based on the experience of other member universities, those teaching centers have clearly specified their roles, offered more faculty development programs and services, and played a more vital role in training their faculty.

Summary

As there are no existing models or norms to follow, this regional community for teacher development has promptly adjusted its operation plans based on formative input and results. Thus, teacher development in regional community encourages efforts to build more comparable communities for faculty development and establish a set of adequate standards and procedures.

The uneven state of faculty development within the alliance is a roadblock to effectively forming a regional community for faculty development. Although the regional community’s fundamental structure has been established, more comprehensive and practical solutions are needed to balance member institutions’ efforts to improve faculty teaching competencies. Furthermore, critical is to develop a systemic mechanism for developing regional communities for teacher development. More efforts are needed to find new approaches to developing regional communities and supporting innovative curriculum design.

5.2.4 Teaching Competency Development in Learning Community

Founded in 1958, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities (IMUN) is a comprehensive university located in Tongliao, in the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. With a diverse range of academic programs, including 79 undergraduate programs, IMUN has graduated over 190,000 students. Intending to become one of the top regional universities in China, IMUN has made significant efforts to promote its educational reform and teacher development. There are two challenges in developing teachers’ teaching competency in IMUN.

First, deeply rooted teacher-centered teaching philosophy. Teachers in higher education have long been accustomed to the teacher-centered teaching philosophy that places them at the center of the stage with students as the audience. Teachers have placed a greater emphasis on how to teach and finish a teaching assignment than on students’ ability to engage, reflect, and apply what they have learned. Traditional teaching methods failed to motivate students, stimulate their curiosity, or develop their learning potential, making it difficult to cultivate their independent learning skills, teamwork, or innovation spirits.

Second, four essential professional competencies are underdeveloped. The first issue is a lack of definition of teaching competency. Influenced by the wrong historical value of emphasizing “research” above “teaching,” new teachers have not had sufficient teaching competency nor aware of the importance of cultivating this skill. Teaching is regarded as a simple task and faculty have been teaching the same way for years without much improvement or innovation. As a result, teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching has waned, and they have gradually burned out their teaching interest and creativity. Second, an insufficient competency of incorporating ICT in teaching exists. Applying ICT tools in the traditional classroom is an effective approach of innovative teaching in the information age. However, many teachers are not able to innovate their instruction with technology. Third, engaging students with obsolete teaching methods have been used. Teachers are accustomed to the traditional teacher-centered approach and unaware of other innovative teaching approaches. Teaching approaches such as inquiry-based, discussion-based, or problem-based methods can open opportunities for improved student learning. Instead, lectures dominate the classroom with little attention for students’ reactions. Fourth, there are inadequate competencies to adjust teaching promptly. As a result, many college teachers cannot actively adapt their teaching in response to changes in the external environment. For instance, the worldwide COVID pandemic has forced many educators to adopt online instruction quickly without much planning and support. Without reflecting on their current teaching and the ever-changing environment, they cannot timely adjust and update their teaching methods or skills based on the formative feedback.

Developing Teaching Competency in Learning Community

Strategies used to develop teaching competency in learning community include developing standard-based faculty development, promoting instructional research and practice, enhancing technology integration skills, incorporating teaching competitions into faculty development programs, and establishing institutional incentives to promote faculty development.

Developing Standard-Based Faculty Development

IMUN released several institutional policies to support their faculty development such as the Pre-employment Training Plan for New Faculty and Implementation Plan for Faculty Competency Development. Those policies established standards for teacher development, linked pre-employment and on-the-job trainings, offered on-campus and off-campus training options, and delivered training via both in-person and online platforms. Those approaches have greatly changed teachers’ teaching philosophies by broadening their horizons and enhancing their teaching competencies.

To enhance their learning-centered teaching pedagogies, new teachers at IMUN must complete a semester-long training program. The program includes various activities such as seminars on foundational theories and pedagogies of teaching in higher education, classroom observations, and teaching skills practice and assessment.

New instructors must submit a three-year teaching development plan after passing the exams approved by their department before sent to the Teacher Development Center. The Center staff works closely with the faculty to provide support. The provost’s office randomly selects several new faculties to offer teaching demonstrations and only those who have passed the demonstration can begin teaching. Three hundred and sixty-seven faculty have given teaching demonstrations in the past five years, with an initial pass rate of 81.2%. Since 2015, IMUN has sent 614 faculty to attend trainings in various locations. In addition, more than 40 educational experts have been invited to provide intense training sessions for their faculty. IMUN also purchased many online faculty development training resources to support their faculty development.

Promoting Instructional Research and Practice

To encourage faculty to apply educational research to their teaching practices, IMUN published their Management Plan of Educational Research and Practice, and allocated funds every year to support faculty in conducting instructional research based on their teaching. Faculty have also been encouraged to apply for regional and national educational research funding. IMUN faculty have received 217 regional and national funding in the last five years for their academic research projects. The IMUN Teaching Development Center has also collaborated with various colleges, departments, and other key offices on campus to invite educational experts and receipts of various teaching awards and funding to share their experiences. Since 2015, IMUN has sponsored 133 teaching workshops with more than 5200 participants. They have also scheduled 23 teaching observations with a total of 2400 participants. Those research projects and instructional practices have greatly improved their teacher teaching competencies.

Enhancing Technology Integration Skills

As part of their teaching reform initiatives, IMUN released their Hybrid Teaching Implementation Plan and offered trainings to enhance their teachers’ skills of integrating technology in teaching. Since 2016, a total of 476 teachers have attended 12 training sessions. In addition, more than ten national experts shared cases and examples of the effective use of technology in teaching. Those trainings have encouraged faculty to actively apply technology in their hybrid teaching by using both in-class and online platforms, as well as engaging students through pre-class, in-class, and after-class activities.

Incorporating Teaching Competitions into Faculty Development Programs

To promote their teacher teaching competencies and enhance learning outcomes, IMUN hosts institutional teaching competency contests on various topics, including instructional design, micro-lesson creation, syllabus development, quality teaching materials, and lectures. In the past five years, 1063 faculty have participated in a series of teaching competitions, which have substantially motivated teachers to develop and facilitate engaging and effective technology-enhanced learning experiences. At the same time, many instructors benefit from the rich teaching experience of others, thus allowing them to update their teaching methods continuously.

Establishing Institutional Incentives to Promote Faculty Development

IMUN also issued many policies and established a system to acknowledge teachers’ efforts to improve themselves. For example, they set up 43 teaching awards in eight categories to inclusively recognize diverse accomplishments. The awards apply in their tenure review or for other recognition. Since 2015, more than 400 faculty members have won teaching awards for their exceptional teaching efforts and skills. Those incentives have greatly motivated teachers to invest more time into teaching and research that continuously enhances their teaching.

Summary

IMUN’s faculty development efforts have helped faculty transform from a “teaching-centered” to “learning-centered” instructional approach. Teachers are able to use technology to connect “pre-class,” “in-class,” and “after-class” activities, which enhances student learning outcomes and independent learning capabilities. IMUN’s faculty development model for hybrid teaching educational reform is used at other universities. In addition, the university has also received many national prizes in recognition of its teaching reform efforts.

Many faculties have improved their teaching methods and integrate technology tools into their teaching as a result of their efforts in teacher development. Student ratings of outstanding teachers have steadily increased from 89.9 to 98.38% over the last five years. A few exceptional teachers have been identified, and their examples of using technology effectively in teaching are extensively shared with other universities and teachers. More than 54 faculty have received national and regional teaching awards, and several invited to share their experiences at national teaching conferences.

At the same time, IMUN’s faculty development efforts also improved learning experiences and outcomes. According to a research study, 93.7% of students felt that hybrid teaching increased learning quality while 92.6% of faculty believed it improved teaching effectiveness. Further, 83% of experimental classes performed better than the control classes. The number of students admitted to the graduate school grew by 98.6 from 431 in 2015 to 856 in 2020. In addition, students have also won many national and regional prizes in various competitions. The employment rate of their graduates has continued to increase from 87.6 to 93.5%.

IMUN teachers’ competencies in integrating ICT tools into their teaching have significantly improved thanks to their learning-centered faculty development efforts. During the pandemic, the university’s teaching has remained unaffected as the teachers have already been prepared to teach online. Students rated their remote learning experience with a student satisfaction rate of 93.8%. The preparation and training activities of the IMUN faculty demonstrate success.

5.2.5 Teaching + Learning Commons at University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Located near the coast of the Pacific Ocean, UC San Diego is the southernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California. The university is proud to have a diverse undergraduate student body with various ethnicity and age groups. In 2020–2021, UC San Diego enrolled 31,842 undergraduate students and 7,734 graduate and medical students. The top three ethnicity groups of the university’s undergraduate student body are Asian/Asian American (37.1%), Chicano/Latino (20.8%), and White (19.0%). Other ethnicities include 17% of International Citizen, 3.0% of African American, 2.5% of Undeclared/Missing, 0.4% of American Indian, and 0.2% of Native Hawaiian (UC San Diego, 2022). The average age of undergraduates is 21 years old, including 41.1% of 19–20 years old, 35.7% of 21–25 years old, 18.8% of 16–18 years old, and 4.1% of 25+ years old (UC San Diego, 2022). The university embraces the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in its endeavors that are included in its strategic plan (UC San Diego, 2021).

Teaching + Learning Commons

Teaching + Learning Commons at UC San Diego (the Commons) was founded in 2016. The Commons was developed to advance student success by transforming educational practices so that all members of our student and faculty communities can thrive. Informed by Adams and Love’s (2009) faculty development framework, the Commons reinforces deep teaching and learning by fostering positive learning experiences for all students and faculties of all backgrounds and identities, not limited to a different gender, race, age, and ethnicity group, and social-economic status.

The Teaching + Learning Commons is affiliated with Executive Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs Office at UC San Diego. The Commons consists of six hubs: Academic Achievement, Experiential Learning, Writing, Digital Learning, Education Research + Assessment, and Engaged Teaching. The first three are student-based among the six hubs, and the latter three are faculty-based. The following section introduces the three faculty-based hubs. It explores how these hubs engage with activities to support teaching at the campus.

The Digital Learning Hub supports online courses and online programs. The hub has a team of instructional designers and works closely with the faculties and information technology department. Through working one-on-one with faculties who plan to or are teaching online or hybrid courses, this team supports the faculties in improving their online teaching skills (e.g., helping faculties design courses to meet the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion course design rubric), developing instructional materials, and providing technical support about using online teaching platform.

The Education Research + Assessment Hub supports course-level assessment, program-level assessment, teaching effectiveness, and research projects. The team of this hub includes a director, data specialists and assessment specialists, and others. The hub adopts an evidence-based and equity-focused approach when conducting research design and data analysis.

The Engaged Teaching Hub mainly provides teaching consultation and classroom observation for faculties. The hub has a team of education specialists and postdoctoral fellows. They organize workshops and courses regularly to introduce new teaching methods and popular teaching tools to the faculties. This hub aims to improve teaching by engaging faculties in using evidence-based, learner-centered, and equitable teaching practices. This team sometimes also takes the Education Research and Assessment Hub report and provides other personalized solutions for the faculty to improve their teaching effectiveness.

Actions to Promote Teaching for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

A Data-Driven Approach

Combining equity-focused and evidence-based approaches in all services, the Commons at UCSD encourages all faculties to assess and reflect on whether their teaching practices contribute to student learning outcomes. The Education Research and Assessment Hub (ERAH) under the Commons has access to campus institutional data and learning management system (LMS) data. ERAH gathers evidence of teaching effectiveness by collecting data from students’ learning outcomes and survey feedback. For example, the hub support faculties in designing experiments using empirical research methods, developing, and administering surveys, sampling student artifacts, and supporting data analysis. Machine learning methods such as topical modeling and sentimental analysis help understand the text data generated from student open-ended survey questions. For quantitative data analysis, student data are disaggregated among different student groups (e.g., first-generation, under-represented students). In this way, feedback and learning outcomes of minoritized students are not ignored. Faculties also must pay attention to whether teaching strategies are effective in helping all students to be successful. The ERAH applies evidence-based and equity-focused principles throughout the project, including research design and data analysis.

Programs and Learning Communities

The Teaching + Learning Commons also partners with other units on campus to offer programs and build learning communities for faculties to increase teaching awareness of equity, diversity, and inclusion on campus.

Inclusive Classroom Workshops. The university has established the Center for Advancing Multidisciplinary Scholarship for Excellence in Education (CAMSEE). CAMSEE includes researchers, librarians, educational technologies, and others from diverse disciplines. The goal of this center is to encourage research on teaching and thus, improve program (especially STEM programs) development in the information age by improving students learning interests and achievement. The Commons collaborates with the CAMSEE to offer workshops on creating an inclusive classroom (https://camsee.ucsd.edu/events/inclusive-classroom.html). The two half-day workshops support faculties learning strategies for creating an inclusive classroom and guidance on creating course materials that address the diverse needs of students.

Anti-Racist Pedagogy Learning Community. Facilitated by the Commons Engaged Teaching Hub, the anti-racist pedagogy learning community is a quarter-long learning community. Fellows and facilitators meet every other week to discuss and reflect on what and how teaching practice can promote the well-being of all students on campus, particularly those minoritized students.

Summary

Teaching + Learning Commons discussed in this case provides a good example of developing teaching competencies on campus from institutional perspective, specifically preparing instructors for equity, diversity, and inclusion in teaching practice. The strategies discussed above (e.g., equitable teaching training provided in Engaged Teaching Hub) could ensure that all students feel supported so that they freely learn and explore new ideas, feel safe to express their views in a civil manner, and respected as individuals and members of group. Other educational practitioners can use this case as an example to intentionally incorporate these inclusive teaching strategies to help students view themselves as people who belong to the community of learners in a classroom and the institution.

5.3 Individual Practices of Teaching Competency Development

5.3.1 Teaching Competency Development for College Physics Lab Sessions

Shihezi University (SU) is located in Shihezi, Xinjiang Province of China. The university has 94 undergraduate programs in 11 fields including economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management, and art. With a total of 32 credit hours and 16 lab projects, the General Physics Laboratory Course is a required lab course for 31 undergraduate programs such as science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine at Shihezi University (SU). The course aims to develop students’ abilities to perform independent experiments, analyze and research, connect theory with practice, and innovate. By the end of the course, students can:

• (1) Explain measurement errors and correctly process experimental data.

• (2) Measure fundamental physical quantities.

• (3) Explain physical experimental methods and use them in experiments.

• (4) Articulate features of instruments in the laboratory and use them correctly.

• (5) Apply experimental operation techniques in experiments.

The General Physics Laboratory Course is offered to students majoring in science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Students enrolled in this course have diverse backgrounds and expectations. Some challenges include:

• (1) Limited pre-lab resources. Teachers must invest a lot of time in preparing for the lab experiments, evaluation criteria, and other online resources.

• (2) Difficulty in designing lab content to meet all students’ needs due to their different backgrounds.

• (3) Promoting students’ innovative skills.

• (4) Carrying out hybrid teaching during the pandemic.

Faculty ICT Competency Requirement

To effectively design and deliver this course, faculty are expected to have ICT competencies in teaching. These competencies consist of (a) using ICT tools in teaching, (b) enhancing instructional design and teaching skills, (c) developing digital resources for physics experiments, (d) applying research studies in teaching with digital instructional resources, and (e) integrating ICT technologies into physics experiments. Faculty members who are currently teaching this course may not have all the essential ICT competencies; therefore, they may need to enhance their pedagogical knowledge of utilizing ICT in teaching, improve technical skills in using ICT tools, and develop skills in translating research into physics experiments.

Strategies to Enhance Faculty’s Teaching Competencies in the Information Age

The lab teaching team applied the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework to develop teaching competencies such as pedagogical and technical skills in applying ICT tools in teaching. Specific strategies include:

• (1) The team developed a TPACK-based teaching framework for the General Physics Laboratory Course and specified requirements for teachers.

• (2) The team revised the lab content to promote students’ comprehensive development. In addition to content in the textbook, added were a series of experiments on force, heat, light, electricity, and modern physics. The lab’s content and hours also adjusted to accommodate students’ needs. The redesigned experiments allow students to progress through various levels and themes of experiments with support.

• (3) Based on the analysis of current problems, the team also created online instructional resources such as micro-courses and developed effective online learning environments for students. For example, they have used the virtual simulation system to facilitate pre-class, in-class, and post-class activities. The system enables students to conduct experiments at any time and location. Students can gain theoretical knowledge through virtual demonstration during the live synchronous session. Students can also schedule their online physics experiments through an online registration system. Different tracks of online experiments have been developed for various colleges, and students can select their personalized modules based on their needs. Students can also submit their experiment reports online, and faculty can provide timely feedback to students.

• (4) To promote students’ innovative capabilities, lab team members introduce physics competitions for students, and guide them by integrating competition content into their lab experiment activities.

The Impact of the Teaching Reform

The above strategies have enhanced competencies in applying ICT in teaching and improved learning outcomes. Students rated the course more positively and showed great enthusiasm for physics and experiments. Students’ grades have also significantly improved, and they won many awards in physics competitions. Table 5.2 describes the occurrences that happened before and after the professional development.

Table 5.2 Teaching results before and after the teaching reform

Summary

This case provides a good example of individual instructor’s practice of applying TPACK framework to train college instructor’s ICT competencies to fulfill the teaching requirements during pandemic. Teaching effectiveness has been significantly improved after the training. Students performed better and were more engaged in learning. This case showed that teaching competency development will not only benefit instructor’s teaching (e.g., efficient teaching) but more importantly benefit students and promote efficient learning.