Impact and Implications of an Intensive Faculty Education Pro ...

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Abstract

The rapid growth in higher education in Saudi Arabia and the changing demographic of students within a global, dynamic context has prompted a need for continuous faculty education that focuses on cognitive or thinking skills in the teaching and learning process. As systematic faculty education is still relatively new in the country, few studies have been published on the overall impact or effectiveness of such programs. This study examined the learning impact of the Core Competency Training Program (CCTP), a four-day intensive faculty education program (n = 207), at a public university in Saudi Arabia. Participant data were analyzed over a three-year period using statistical analyses (t-test) of a pretest and posttest research design based on the six levels of the cognitive domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The results showed a statistically significant gain in the cognitive domain overall with a noticeably higher impact in the lower order levels. The lower order thinking levels showed the most significant gain. The researchers found that the competency-based faculty program benefitted the participants overall in the immediate short-term; however, more in-depth, longitudinal faculty development is needed to evaluate long-term impact on the cognitive domain and effect on students. Recommendations and implications for future faculty education programs that are more comprehensive, aligned with individual faculty needs, and include “real-world” assessment conclude the study.