Does Faculty Development Enhance Teaching Effectiveness?

Abstract

Academic dentists and members of the practice community have been hearing, for more than a decade, that our educational system is in trouble and that the profession has lost its vision and may be wavering in the achievement of its goals. A core of consistently recommended reforms has framed the discussion of future directions for dental education, but as yet, most schools report little movement toward implementation of these reforms in spite of persistent advocacy. Provision of faculty development related to teaching and assessment strategies is widely perceived to be the essential ingredient in efforts to introduce new curricular approaches and modify the educational environment in academic dentistry. Analyses of the outcomes of efforts to revise health professions curricula have identiied the availability and effectiveness of faculty development as a predictor of the success or failure of reform initiatives. This article will address faculty development for purposes of enhancing teaching effectiveness and preparing instructors for potential new roles associated with curriculum changes. Its overall purpose is to provide information and insights about faculty development that may be useful to dental schools in designing professional growth opportunities for their faculty. Seven questions are addressed: 1) What is faculty development? 2) How is faculty development accomplished? 3) Why is faculty development particularly important in dental education? 4) What happens when faculty development does not accompany educational reform? 5) Why are teaching attitudes and behaviors so dificult to change? 6) What outcomes can be expected from faculty development? and 7) What does the available evidence tell us about the design of faculty development programs? Evidence from systematic reviews pertaining to the teaching of evidence-based dentistry, strategies for continuing professional education, and the Best Evidence in Medical Education review of faculty development outcomes are presented to answer this question: does faculty development enhance teaching effectiveness? Characteristics consistently associated with effective faculty development are described.

Outcomes from the Health Resources and Services Administration's Dental Faculty Development Program

“…7,17 Needs assessment and anticipatory planning should drive faculty development methodology and content. 10 Regardless of content, effective faculty development programs tend to use experiential learning over lecture, provide faculty feedback, offer opportunity to apply skills quickly, use peers to model teaching, facilitate interaction to build relationships, use a diversity of learning experiences, and apply post-program skill assessment. 10 Future research is needed to establish the impact of faculty development initiatives on practice change and patient outcomes.…”

“…10 Regardless of content, effective faculty development programs tend to use experiential learning over lecture, provide faculty feedback, offer opportunity to apply skills quickly, use peers to model teaching, facilitate interaction to build relationships, use a diversity of learning experiences, and apply post-program skill assessment. 10 Future research is needed to establish the impact of faculty development initiatives on practice change and patient outcomes. Authors note faculty want development opportunities to improve their teaching and likelihood for promotion and tenure, many students/residents were interested in developing academic skills, and military and private practitioners are interested in support transitioning to the next phase of their professional careers.…”

“…9 Strengthening teaching skills and calibration maximizes both faculty and trainee experiences. 10 Due to the varied nature of faculty development content and implementation, outcome evaluations tend to focus on faculty satisfaction, attitudes, knowledge, skills, academic activities, and professional networking, but not practice change or patient outcomes. 2,10,11 In 2012, HRSA utilized the Public Health Service Act Title VII, Section 748 (42 U.S.C.…”

“…10 Due to the varied nature of faculty development content and implementation, outcome evaluations tend to focus on faculty satisfaction, attitudes, knowledge, skills, academic activities, and professional networking, but not practice change or patient outcomes. 2,10,11 In 2012, HRSA utilized the Public Health Service Act Title VII, Section 748 (42 U.S.C. 293k) legislation to create the first funding opportunity focused solely on the development of faculty at dental training institutions.…”

Effect of advanced simulation training with digital feedback on dental faculty’s competency in tooth preparation: A pre-post design

“…Therefore, it is necessary to provide standardized tooth preparation training in a simulated environment for new preclinical instructors in order to prepare them better for teaching assignments and further improve their relative clinical competence [4]. Generally, faculty development for clinical instructors in dental education has been demonstrated to be effective in improving teaching performance [5,6]. In addition, the necessity for faculty development has been recognized by many dental schools [7,8].…”