Section 8.1 Informing faculty candidates about active engagement strategies and curricular reform during the hiring process
A department can signal the importance placed on good teaching by providing information about teaching before the interview, scheduling a session about teaching during the interview process, and describing and inviting participation in an on-going community focused on good teaching, both during and after the interview.
Providing information about teaching before the interview.
Include information about teaching in materials about the department that are sent with the invitation to interview. At least provide a brief handout summarizing the department's pedagogical perspective and curricular offerings. If active engagement strategies and curricular reforms have been formally described, include a paper and invitation from a faculty author to talk about these reforms and ask questions before or during the interview. If any faculty are studying their students' learning and own teaching practices, include a brief summary of the projects underway and invite the candidate to arrange to meet with such a faculty member teaching a course that the candidate might be asked to teach. If faculty are undertaking formal research on physics learning and teaching, indicate that level of activity and interest by sending a page of references for relevant papers and URLs for websites that the candidate can choose to peruse before coming for an interview. The intent is to inform but not intimidate, so also note that these are resources available for gradually building expertise in teaching over the many years to come; the need to focus immediately on the new faculty member's own research area is both expected and well understood.
Scheduling a session about teaching during the interview.
During an on-campus interview, include a session about teaching. This might involve asking the candidate to teach a class, having the candidate observe at least a portion of a class and meet with some of the students afterwards to hear their perspectives about what and how they just learned, and scheduling a time in which a small group of current faculty members share some aspects of their teaching experiences in courses that the candidate likely would be expected to teach.
Describing and inviting participation in an on-going community focused on good teaching, during and/or after the interview.
Invite the candidate to participate in any formal ways that the department encourages a community focused on good teaching. This might involve providing a handout describing university-wide teaching-related events such as talks and workshops conducted by a campus center for teaching and learning. Also describe department meetings and activities relevant to fostering good teaching and invite the candidate to sit in if one is occurring during the visit. In addition, offer the possibility of electronic conversations about teaching after the interview, with at least one faculty member who might serve as a teaching mentor later should the candidate become a new faculty colleague.