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Faculty professional development is an important lever for change in supporting instructors to adopt research-based instructional strategies that engage students intellectually, foster learning-supportive attitudes and habits of mind, and strengthen their persistence in mathematics. Yet the literature contains few well-rationalized models for faculty development in higher education. We describe the rationale and design for a model for discipline-based faculty development to support instructional change, and we detail our implementation of this model as applied to intensive workshops on inquiry-based learning (IBL) in college mathematics. These workshops seek to foster post-secondary mathematics instructors’ adoption of IBL, to help them adapt inquiry approaches for their classrooms, and ultimately to increase student learning and persistence in science and mathematics. Based on observed faculty needs, four strands of activity help instructors develop a mental model for an IBL classroom, adapt that model to their teaching context, develop facilitation and task-design skills, and plan an IBL mathematics course. Evaluation data from surveys and observations illustrate participant responses to the workshop and its components. The model has been robust across 15 years of workshops implemented by three generations of workshop leaders and its features make it adaptive, strategic, and practical for other faculty developers.
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This content will become publicly available on March 27, 2026
Interactive Insights: Active and Experiential Learning in Critical Thinking Faculty Development Workshops
Introduction: Critical thinking is a vital component of postsecondary education. Active learning and experiential learning strategies in the classroom are effective ways to help students develop critical thinking skills. This paper focuses on two faculty development workshops, the purpose of which was to improve critical thinking skills through guided active and experiential learning opportunities. Over the past few years, we developed and facilitated these workshops on various postsecondary campuses, which have produced improvements in the attendees’ classroom assessments and students’ critical thinking skills. These faculty development workshops around critical thinking were designed to equip educators with pedagogical strategies that have been researched to work in relevant postsecondary classroom settings. During these workshops faculty members share their experiences with each other and work together to develop discipline-specific solutions that enhance teaching and learning. As a result, there is an opportunity to increase faculty engagement and interactions, which may lead to the development of a community of educators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2152218
- PAR ID:
- 10608164
- Publisher / Repository:
- The NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) Papers
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Critical Thinking Workshops
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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