Below is a short description of my dissertation research, which I began in September 2007 and completed in June 2012.

Links:
– Iqbal Dissertation Summary 2012 (PDF, 6 page coloured newsletter format)
– Abstract (350 words)
– Download dissertation at: UBC’s Online Repository (cIRcle)

Dissertation Title

Faculty Members’ Professional Growth in Teaching Through the Summative Peer Review of Teaching and Other Departmental Practices

What

My dissertation research was a qualitative study in which I investigated faculty members’ understandings and experiences of the summative peer review of teaching and examined the relationship between summative peer review and professional growth in teaching. A second objective of this study was to explore departmental practices that support/hinder a culture that values teaching. To read an abstract of the dissertation, click here.

Why

I was drawn to the summative peer review of teaching because little research has examined the relationship between summative review and professional growth in teaching. This study will help identify the ways in which elements of academic culture affect Canadian faculty members’ understandings and experiences of the summative peer review of teaching.

How

For this study, I conducted 30 semi-structured in person interviews with pre-tenured faculty members and tenured faculty members at a research-intensive Canadian university. Participants were recruited from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts; three departments in each faculty were represented in this study.

I used Atlas.ti to code and categorize the data and engaged in an ongoing process of analysis that began with the first interview and continued as I drafted and revised the dissertation.

Theoretical Framework

In this project, I employed and studied the concept of academic culture. I take culture to be a pattern of shared beliefs, values, and underlying assumptions that are displayed in attitudes, behavioural norms, rituals, and other symbolic activities (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2008; Bunch, 2007; Quinlan & Åkerlind, 2000; Trowler, 2008). I presume culture to be dynamic, diverse, and tied to broader societal, historical, and political contexts.

My work was informed by existing research on institutional, departmental and disciplinary cultures. I was also inspired by (and made extensive use of) O’Meara, Terosky and Neumann’s (2008) framework for professional growth in faculty careers.

Executive summary

I created an 6-page, coloured newsletter as the executive summary of dissertation. See Iqbal Dissertation Summary 2012.

Supervisory Committee 

Dr. Thomas Sork, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Education, UBC (co-supervisor)

Dr. Gary Poole, School of Population and Public Health (co-supervisor)

Dr. Amy Metcalfe, Educational Studies (committee member)

Faculty Members’ Professional Growth in Teaching Through the Summative Peer Review of Teaching and Other Departmental Practices

This study investigated the ways that summative peer review of teaching contributes to tenure-track faculty members’ professional growth in teaching. It also explored other practices that support or hinder a departmental culture that values teaching.

Using the lens of academic culture, I drew on literature about the peer review of teaching, department culture, and professional growth in academic careers to inform this research. Thirty tenure-track faculty members from six departments and two faculties participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Participants were asked about their experiences of summative peer review, how they understood the relationship between peer review and their growth as instructors, and departmental practices that contribute to a culture that values teaching.

Participants had varied and inconsistent experiences of summative peer review of teaching. They reported multiple purposes (evaluative, formative, supplement to the student evaluations of teaching) that frequently conflicted. With few known guidelines that direct peer reviews and insufficient clarity as to their purpose, faculty members conducted summative reviews based on a personal sense of “what was best.” Given the demanding nature of academic careers and an institutional reward system that favours research over teaching, peer reviews were primarily limited to classroom observations and engaged few faculty members in dialogue. Such summative peer reviews appeared to make minimal contribution to professional growth in teaching.

The study did find numerous other departmental practices conducive to a culture that values teaching, i.e., informal collegial conversations about teaching and team teaching. Faculty members who partook in these grew as instructors. Results demonstrated that academic values and norms (i.e., collegiality and autonomy), disciplinary traditions pertaining to collaboration, and institutional rewards influenced how faculty members pursued professional growth as teachers.

Below is a short description of my dissertation research, which I began in September 2007 and completed in June 2012.

Links:
– Iqbal Dissertation Summary 2012 (PDF, 6 page coloured newsletter format)
– Abstract (350 words)
– Download dissertation at: UBC’s Online Repository (cIRcle)

Dissertation Title

Faculty Members’ Professional Growth in Teaching Through the Summative Peer Review of Teaching and Other Departmental Practices

What

My dissertation research was a qualitative study in which I investigated  faculty members’ understandings and experiences of the summative peer review of teaching and examined the relationship between summative peer review and professional growth in teaching. A second objective of this study was to explore departmental practices that support/hinder a culture that values teaching. To read an abstract of the dissertation, click here.

Why

I was drawn to the summative peer review of teaching because little research has examined the relationship between summative review and professional growth in teaching. This study will help identify the ways in which elements of academic culture affect Canadian faculty members’ understandings and experiences of the summative peer review of teaching.

How

For this study, I conducted 30 semi-structured in person interviews with pre-tenured faculty members and tenured faculty members at a research-intensive Canadian university. Participants were recruited from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts; three departments in each faculty were represented in this study.

I used Atlas.ti to code and categorize the data and engaged in an ongoing process of analysis that began with the first interview and continued as I drafted and revised the dissertation.

Theoretical Framework

In this project, I employed and studied the concept of academic culture. I take culture to be a pattern of shared beliefs, values, and underlying assumptions that are displayed in attitudes, behavioural norms, rituals, and other symbolic activities (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2008; Bunch, 2007; Quinlan & Åkerlind, 2000; Trowler, 2008). I presume culture to be dynamic, diverse, and tied to broader societal, historical, and political contexts.

My work was informed by existing research on institutional, departmental and disciplinary cultures. I was also inspired by (and made extensive use of) O’Meara, Terosky and Neumann’s (2008)  framework for professional growth in faculty careers.

Executive summary (coming soon)

Supervisory Committee 

Dr. Thomas Sork, Senior Associate Dean, Faculty of Education, UBC (co-supervisor)

Dr. Gary Poole, School of Population and Public Health (co-supervisor)

Dr. Amy Metcalfe, Educational Studies (committee member)

Faculty Members’ Professional Growth in Teaching Through the Summative Peer Review of Teaching and Other Departmental Practices

This study investigated the ways that summative peer review of teaching contributes to tenure-track faculty members’ professional growth in teaching. It also explored other practices that support or hinder a departmental culture that values teaching.

Using the lens of academic culture, I drew on literature about the peer review of teaching, department culture, and professional growth in academic careers to inform this research. Thirty tenure-track faculty members from six departments and two faculties participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Participants were asked about their experiences of summative peer review, how they understood the relationship between peer review and their growth as instructors, and departmental practices that contribute to a culture that values teaching.

Participants had varied and inconsistent experiences of summative peer review of teaching. They reported multiple purposes (evaluative, formative, supplement to the student evaluations of teaching) that frequently conflicted. With few known guidelines that direct peer reviews and insufficient clarity as to their purpose, faculty members conducted summative reviews based on a personal sense of “what was best.” Given the demanding nature of academic careers and an institutional reward system that favours research over teaching, peer reviews were primarily limited to classroom observations and engaged few faculty members in dialogue. Such summative peer reviews appeared to make minimal contribution to professional growth in teaching.

The study did find numerous other departmental practices conducive to a culture that values teaching, i.e., informal collegial conversations about teaching and team teaching. Faculty members who partook in these grew as instructors. Results demonstrated that academic values and norms (i.e., collegiality and autonomy), disciplinary traditions pertaining to collaboration, and institutional rewards influenced how faculty members pursued professional growth as teachers.