An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching
written by
Alice R. Olmstead
In this thesis, we will explore approaches to faculty instructional change in astronomy and physics. We primarily focus on professional development (PD) workshops, which are a central mechanism used within our community to help faculty improve their teaching. Although workshops serve a critical role for promoting more equitable instruction, we rarely assess them through careful consideration of how they engage faculty. To encourage a shift towards more reflective, research-informed PD, we developed the Real-Time Professional Development Observation Tool (R-PDOT), to document the form and focus of faculty's engagement during workshops. We then analyze video-recordings of faculty's interactions during the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop, focusing on instances where faculty might engage in pedagogical sense-making. Finally, we consider insights gained from our own local, team-based effort to improve a course sequence for astronomy majors. We conclude with recommendations for PD leaders and researchers.
University:
University of Maryland, College Park
Academic Department: Physics Pages 333
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=14059">Olmstead, Alice R.. "An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching." Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park, 2016.</a>
![]() A. Olmstead, , Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park, 2016, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454).
![]() A. Olmstead, An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching, Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park, 2016, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454>.
![]() Olmstead, A. (2016, June 23). An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching (Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park, 2016). Retrieved February 15, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454
![]() Olmstead, Alice R.. "An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching." Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park, 2016. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454 (accessed 15 February 2025).
![]() Olmstead, Alice R.. "An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching." Ph.D. 23 June 2016. University of Maryland, College Park, 2016. 15 Feb. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454>.
![]() @phdthesis{
Author = "Alice R. Olmstead",
Title = {An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching},
School = {University of Maryland, College Park},
Type = {Ph.D},
Month = {June},
Year = {2016}
}
![]() %A Alice R. Olmstead %T An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching %R Ph.D %D June 23, 2016 %P 333 %I University of Maryland, College Park %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454 %O Physics %O application/pdf %O Ph.D ![]() %0 Thesis %A Olmstead, Alice R. %D June 23, 2016 %T An assessment of professional development for astronomy and physics faculty: Expanding our vision of how to support faculty's learning about teaching %B Physics %I University of Maryland, College Park %P 333 %8 June 23, 2016 %9 Ph.D %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14059&DocID=4454 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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