In the Classroom
Transforming Graduate Education: A New Vision of the Professoriate The Preparing Future Faculty Program Jason A. Cody* and Michael E. Hagerman Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208-3113 The Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, and The Pew Charitable Trusts have developed a new program to improve graduate and undergraduate education: Preparing Future Faculty (PFF). PFF is a national program intended to encourage innovative thinking about how a graduate program might best provide a comprehensive education for future college faculty. The goal is to help prepare graduate students for the responsibilities they will assume as tomorrow’s college and university faculty and to strengthen their preparation as teachers of undergraduate students. Major funding has been awarded to the graduate schools of five research universities and smaller grants have been made to twelve others to design and pilot programs for integrating carefully planned preparation for faculty careers into existing academic programs. Each of these research universities is working in close partnership with faculty and administrators from local institutions that primarily serve undergraduates. Together, these “clusters” are producing and developing new models to support graduate students in their current responsibilities and prepare them for future ones. Whereas there have been several recent discussions about modifying Ph.D. programs to include stronger connections to industrial models (1–3), there has been little mention of improving the teaching preparedness of graduate students who aspire to become professors. Northwestern Cluster
Partner Institutions The local institution partners for the Northwestern Cluster are Chicago State University (CSU), Lake Forest College (LFC), Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), and Oakton Community College (OCC). These institutions were carefully selected to provide a balanced and diversified representation of higher education venues. Demographics for the institutions involved are provided in Table 1. Graduate student Fellows from all participating departments were paired with faculty mentors from the four partner institutions and participated in a range of supervised experiences intended to provide them with an enhanced understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the faculty. PFF Activities In addition to Mentor–Fellow relationships, the activities of the PFF Program were centered around monthly colloquia held at either Northwestern or one of the partner institutions. A total of 18 graduate student Fellows, 13 graduate student participants, faculty and administrators from the partner institutions, and faculty and administrators from Northwestern attended the gatherings. PFF participants were not involved in direct mentoring but attended and actively contributed to colloquia and informal gatherings. The topics and locations of the colloquia are summarized in Table 2. Through these events, we were able to experience the cultures of the four partner institutions and demystify the profession. In addition, several sessions provided practical advice on enhancing teaching effectiveness and necessary modifications of teaching style endemic to the institutions involved. After the large group presentations (see below) and discussions, we broke up into discipline-based discussion
In September 1994, Northwestern University (NU), a recipient of one of the five major grants, implemented the PFF program. The program brought together the departments of Chemistry, English, History, Mathematics, Physics, and Sociology at Northwestern with the faculty and administrators at four partner institutions. We, JAC and MEH, greatly benTable 1. Demographic Information for Northwestern PFF Cluster Institutions efitted through our involvement as Minority Average Financial No. of PFF Fellows in this program. For us, Institution Type Enrollmenta Students Student a S u p p o r t F a c u l t y PFF represents a new paradigm for Age (%) graduate education with repercussions N U R e s e a r c h , P r i v a t e 7 , 4 5 0 ( u ) 8 0 1 ( u ) 3 0 20 that reach to many facets of higher residential 6,500 (g) 1050 (g) education. This program has indeed stretched our vision of the roles and reCSU Comprehensive, State 7,309 (u) 362 full-time, 90 30 sponsibilities of faculty members. This commuter, 2,692 (g) 115 part-time new vision of the professoriate may residential help to transform graduate education (1995–1996) in the future. *Corresponding author. Current address: Institut des Matériaux de Nantes, Laboratoire de Chimie des Solides, 2 rue de la Houssinière, B.P. 32229, 44322 Nantes Cedex 3 France. email:
[email protected]. Address for MEH is Department of Chemistry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5698. email: Michael.
[email protected].
LFC
Liberal Arts, residential
Private
1,000 (u)
85
NEIU
Comprehensive, commuter
State
7,549 (u) 2,757 (g)
OCC
Comprehensive, community, commuter
State, local
12,000 (u)
au
9
20
315 full-time, 160 part-time
40
29
154 tenured, 468 adjunct
24
30
= undergraduate; g = graduate
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In the Classroom groups. Often the general topics raised during the first part of the colloquia were elaborated with focus on concerns specific to chemistry. Among the many topics, we discussed new curricular innovations and their successful (or not so successful) implementation at the various institutions. These discussion groups provided a crucial arena for expanding our understanding of chemistry and its relationship to other disciplines and to the institutions as a whole.
Building Bridges The PFF program has created an environment for us to discuss topics extending across all disciplines and also topics specific to our own. An interesting new technology that has been implemented in the PFF program is a novel electronic conferencing system called First Class (FC). The FC system is based on a client–server model, enabling all PFF constituents to exchange messages and electronic documents among each other quite easily and efficiently. At Northwestern, FC is being used in classes to distribute assignments and lecture notes, to receive homework and lab reports, and to serve as a forum for students to communicate with faculty, teaching assistants, and other students in the class. Colloquium Presentation On February 2, 1995, we gave a presentation at the PFF Colloquium at Northwestern University entitled “Impacts of Disciplinary Identity on Discourse within the Global Community”. Our ideas represent a culmination of our liberal arts undergraduate experiences and recent discussions with other fellows and participants in the PFF program. As we discussed themes in teaching in preparation for our presentation, we focused on the current approaches to introductory courses. Interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving and general scientific literacy are becoming increasingly important as science and technology move into frontiers such as biotechnology, environmental sciences, and materials science. A particular challenge for teachers of introductory courses is to identify ways to bring the viTable 2. PFF Colloquium Dates, Locations, and Topics Date
Location
Topics of Presentations/Discussions
6 Oct '94
NU
"Teaching Profession"; "Teaching Portfolio"; "Personal Reflections on the Teaching Profession"
3 Nov '94
NEIU
"Smart Classroom"; "Roles and Responsibilities of Faculty at Public Institutions of Higher Education"; and Panel Discussion
1 Dec '94
OCC
"Taming the Blackboard Jungle"; "A Crash Course on What You Need to Know and Be Able To Do before, during, and after You Enter the College Classroom"
5 Jan '95
NU
"Professionalism, the Academy, and the AAUP"; Case Study: "Climate in the Classroom"
2 Feb '95
NU
"Impacts of Disciplinary Identity on Discourse within the Global Community" (Presentation by JAC and MEH); "The Current Job Market"
2 Mar '95
LFC
"The Richter Scholars Program"; "25 Hours a Day: Faculty Life at LFC"
6 Apr '95
CSU
"Workshop on Black English"
4 May '95
NU
Fellows Reports; Reports from Mentors and Administrators; Second Year of PFF: Perspectives for the Future
526
tality of this interdisciplinary research enterprise into their teaching (4). When we looked back on our experiences both as students and as teaching assistants, we saw introductory chemistry courses taught by chemists for chemists. We thought about the context of introductory chemistry and the many ways that this context influences how the course is taught. Our colloquium discussion focused on several aspects of this context: perceptions of chemistry within our society, ethics of discourse between scientists and the society, the interconnectedness of ideas, and the implications of all of these facts on how we teach introductory courses. Only a few days before our presentation, an entertaining article by Dave Berry appeared (5). The article, entitled “OK, Who Stole the Universe?” contained the following sentiments: “We journalists are extremely impressed with scientists, and we will, frankly, print just about any wacky thing they tell us, especially if it involves outer space. … If astronomers announced that they had, by squinting really hard through their telescopes, detected a harmonica measuring 67 light-years across in a distant galaxy, we’d print this on the front page, with a little chart converting lightyears to football fields so that you, the layperson, would have a better grasp of the story.” This quote expresses quite clearly the importance of recognizing self/other relationships and the impact these relationships have on our teaching effectiveness. As teachers, we must address the setting of self and other especially in introductory courses. Since we can relate to others only through our perceptions of ourselves, we must understand our own perspective and evaluate how we present that perspective to others. Many students in introductory chemistry courses have communicated to us that they are unable to see connections between different topics, detect underlying themes, and perceive the open-endedness of science. As described by Ditzler and Ricci in their article “Discovering Chemistry: Balancing Creativity and Structure” (6), if one hopes to interest aspiring young minds and cultivate their aptitude for science we must convince students that there are indeed many problems to be solved and many questions to be explored. As teachers with advanced degrees, we have the experience and perspective that allows us to see the interrelationships of different aspects of the discipline. We have a responsibility to try to communicate that perspective to students. In the words of Norman Hackerman (7), “We can do better in interesting students in science without making scientists of them. This requires leaving behind the belief that only those with deep interest in the field are intellectually capable of grasping its rudiments and of recognizing the importance of science to the entire human species.” How do we make a difference? Many of the obstacles we face as teachers of science stem from a failure to recognize the interconnectedness of ideas and people and the social and historical context of our subject. “We have to give the future scientist an abiding sense of the value of literature and the arts; and at the same time we have to give those whose preoccupation lies with the liberal arts a glimpse of the methods, the depth, and the inspiration of science” (8). If we want to make a difference, new directions for teaching general chemistry should employ strategies in course design that make a concerted effort to develop a coherent relation between science and the humanities along with an appreciation for the splendor of scientific discovery. New course design should encompass the larger institutional goals stated by J. B. Platt (9) of enabling students to develop their abilities to understand the world about them and find a satisfying place in it, and to provide the society at large with the skilled and understanding leadership needed to conduct its affairs.
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In the Classroom Summary of Personal Experiences in PFF
JAC I am a fourth-year graduate student doing research with J. A. Ibers on new solid state transition-metal tellurides. I have aspired to teach chemistry at the undergraduate level since I was a student at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. Because I ascribe to the liberal arts philosophy, I hope to teach in that setting. Wayne Svoboda, a faculty member from Northeastern Illinois University, served as my mentor for the year. We had biweekly discussions throughout the fall semester that included pedagogy, issues specifically found at NEIU, and general issues in the occupation of teaching. In the spring semester, I was involved in the planning of a first-semester introductory course. I gave five consecutive lectures in the course (with demonstrations) that covered two chapters of the text. Students in the course completed teaching evaluation forms which were very helpful. In addition, Wayne observed every lecture and gave welcome constructive criticism. To complete my involvement in the course, I scheduled office hours to meet with students, wrote pertinent exam questions, and conducted two review sessions. In order to have a broader experience of the culture of the institution, I observed departmental and Academic Affairs Committee meetings. The counter-cultural nature of the program is evidenced by my personal experiences. At the outset of the program, I received unenthusiastic support from my research advisor. Only because the program was consistent with my personal goals was I permitted to participate. My advisor was concerned about the potential for this program to become all-consuming and add to the time necessary to complete my research and degree. I was able to contain my involvement, including travel time, to just under one hundred hours spread over the academic year. I was able to reap considerable benefit from the program without a huge time commitment.
feedback, student advising and tutoring, committee involvement, issues of tenure and promotion, and duties of the department chair. In the upper-level inorganic course, we team taught a collaborative learning project that involved the use of new inorganic structure modeling kits (10) to enhance students’ understanding of crystal structures and bonding in solids. In the general chemistry courses, I gave a total of five lectures and designed, administered, and graded a quiz over the course material. Students from this course completed teaching evaluation forms that provided crucial feedback on my teaching effectiveness. I also gave a seminar to the ACS student affiliate group at LFC, which focused on my graduate research and perspective of graduate life. Many of the chemistry majors who attended the seminar plan to attend graduate school and stated that they found the seminar insightful and fun. My total time commitment was near 130 hours. Benefits of PFF The benefits of the PFF program, both tangible and intangible, are copious and diverse. Perhaps most importantly, this program has given us the time, space, and vehicle to discuss methods of balancing and integrating the demands of teaching, research, and service. PFF has provided a forum for intellectual growth and critical reflection on our system of higher education and graduate training. The lasting friendships with members from departments outside of our own will continue to provide an avenue for discussion of interdisciplinary and collaborative learning and teaching methods. An additional tangible benefitis the job opportunities that we have been able to pursue because of the experience gained from the program. JAC has accepted a sabbatical replacement position as Visiting Assistant Professor at Lake Forest College and MEH has accepted a Camille and Henry Dreyfus fellowship in chemistry at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, working with M. P. Eastman.
MEH
Conclusion
I am a fourth-year graduate student doing research under K. R. Poeppelmeier on novel thin films for photonic applications. Like JAC’s, my career objective is to teach undergraduate chemistry. I completed my undergraduate degree at North Central College, a small private liberal arts college in Naperville, IL. I aspire to obtain a tenure track position at an institution like North Central, and thus my interest in the PFF program focused on enhancing my teaching skills and promoting my understanding of faculty roles and responsibilities. M. Lee Thompson, Chair of the Chemistry Department at Lake Forest College, served as my PFF mentor. Lee and I had weekly meetings starting in early September and continuing throughout the academic year. He is a gifted teacher and scholar with over 30 years of teaching experience and exudes an honest pride for the liberal arts education. I believe he is thankful to have the opportunity to influence young minds in an environment that encourages scholarly pursuits. He taught me early on that each class has its own distinct personality and one of the challenges of good teaching is to motivate and cultivate that class identity. I have been involved in a variety of activities at LFC, including observing course lectures and labs, attending faculty meetings and lunch seminar, collecting teaching materials (course syllabi, quizzes, exams, faculty handbook, lab handbook, textbooks, and study guides), and classroom teaching. More specifically, I have learned about course design, course lectures and support materials, assessment and
Programs like PFF are not part of the typical graduate curriculum. As a result, there is reluctance from some advisors to encourage their students to participate. Since financial support of graduate students is dependent upon the research grants of the individual advisors, which in turn are dependent on the quality and quantity of significant results obtained by graduate students, the faculty reluctance is primarily an economic one. While most of the faculty would not deny a student involvement in this program on grounds of principles, many of the advisors became professors without the benefit of such a program. Unlike other disciplines involved in PFF, a highly developed chemical industry exists, which provides an alternative career path for graduate students in the Ph.D. program. However, while our graduate training prepares us for entering the chemical industry as competent and accomplished researchers, many new chemistry Ph.D. graduates are not pursuing careers in industry or as faculty at research universities. In fact, many graduate students desire to teach at universities and colleges with missions, philosophies, and resources that overlap more closely with those of the partner institutions. Programs like PFF and the models they create and promote are essential in training graduate students whose goal is to pursue a career at these institutions. Significant changes in the culture of graduate studies will be slowly achieved. However, we are inspired by the fact that the number of NU chemistry graduate students who plan to be involved in the
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In the Classroom PFF program next year has increased from two to nine. We hope that our descriptions of the merits of this program will persuade graduate faculty to take a more active role in the development and implementation of this new vision for graduate education.
Literature Cited 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Carol Simpson Stern, Dean of the Graduate School of Northwestern University. Without her unceasing enthusiasm, this program would not have taken flight. M. Ellis and F. Fischer, PFF coordinators, were extremely helpful and encouraging. We thank our research advisors, J. A. Ibers and K. R. Poeppelmeier, for supporting our desire to participate. Finally, we would like to thank our mentors, W. Svoboda and M. L. Thompson, for their extremely helpful discussions, guidance, and insight.
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7. 8. 9. 10.
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Armstrong, J. A. Issues Sci. Technol. 1994, 10, 19–22. Hanson, H. P. Issues Sci. Technol. 1995, 11, 16. Holden, C. Science 1995, 268, 358. Ellis, A. B. CHEMTECH 1995, 25, 15. Berry, D. Chicago Tribune Magazine; Jan. 29, 1995; p 30. Ditzler, M. A. Ricci, R. W. In New Directions for General Chemistry: A Resource for Curricular Change from the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum; Lloyd, B. W., Ed.; Division of Chemical Education, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1994; p 37. Hackerman, N. In Innovation and Change in the Chemistry Curriculum; Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation: Arlington, VA, 1993; p 25. Bronowski, J.; Mazlish, B. The Western Intellectual Tradition; Harper & Row: New York, 1960. Platt, J. B. The First Twenty Years; Harvey Mudd College: Claremont, CA, 1995. Mayer, L. A.; Lisensky, G. C. ICE Solid-State Model Kit; Institute for Chemical Education: Madison, WI, 1994.
