Brigham Young University
Faculty Center

Faculty Development Plan
Church History and Doctrine
June 1998

Part I: Self-assessment

As a faculty member of the Department of Church History and Doctrine, I see that I have some particular strengths which can be helpful to the students and to the university. I also have certain areas where I could direct my efforts in order to become better in teaching, scholarship, and citizenship. Below is a discussion of my abilities and concerns.

A. Teaching

1. Strengths: Generally, I have good rapport with the students. Usually in class and outside of class I am able to talk about things which are important to them and how family history (or D&C, or whatever) influences our lives. I feel excited about the things I have discovered in preparing the class material, or in my own research, and I am usually able to communicate that enthusiasm to the students. In addition, I feel compassion towards my students, and a desire for them to succeed.

2. Concerns: I would like to develop a better ability to elicit discussion in class with more probing and thought-provoking questions. More knowledge of Church History, D&C, etc., to feel more comfortable teaching these subjects. I am establishing a program of directed reading under the tutelage of [name of mentor].

B. Scholarship

1. Strengths: Writing comes fairly easily to me, once I have studied and thought out the ideas. I have an analytical mind which strives to find logical connections between data or issues. This is good especially for Family History research, but this strength also helps me in my other research and writing. I also have had training in statistics which is useful in carrying out research in both the Family Sciences and Family History areas. In addition, because of my educational background, I find that I have a variety of interests for research. I not only have the ability and interest to do Family History research, I also see myself as one who can contribute to the Church’s desire to strengthen families because of my background in Family Sciences. Both of these areas of scholarship can be helpful in building up the Kingdom of God.

2. Concerns: I do not always see the "big picture" and ask the "big questions" because I spend so much time examining the details of a project. Because of this, I sometimes lose my focus for a project, and do not progress as rapidly as I would like. I also would like to know more about how to do historical research since I have never really done that before. I am more of a "numbers" person in the social sciences, and have never really written historical papers. I also need to increase my reading in the area of Family History and Local Historical research.

C. Citizenship

1. Strengths: I feel very strongly that one of the more important aspects of being at BYU for me is to live a life worthy of the "calling" of teaching at BYU. I regularly attend the devotionals, faculty meetings, and the inservice meetings in the college. These have usually been quite inspirational to me. I also see myself as a good "team player" when I have served on committees at other universities and in the National Council on Family Relations, and look forward to contributing in a similar manner to the department or college.

2. Citizenship opportunities:

a. In the past year, I have not had much opportunity to serve in college or department committees, which I have appreciated. However, I will be very willing to participate on a limited basis on departmental or college committees.
b. I currently serve on the Executive Committee for the Marriage Study Consortium, a group of scholars from around the country who meet and work on the assessment tool: Relationship Evaluation (RELATE).
c. I have regularly attended the devotionals, faculty meetings, and inservice meetings offered by the college and department.
d. Service to the community: Singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; speaking at ward family history firesides.
e. Membership and participation in the National Council on Family Relations.

3. Concerns: I would like to continue to participate in activities available at the university.

Part II: Professional Goals

A. Teaching

1. Philosophy of Teaching:
The most important purpose of teaching is to assist students to learn the material which will be useful to them in enhancing their lives. There is more than one way to teach and more than one process of learning. Many students have been socialized to "learn" passively in a lecture setting, simply by listening, taking notes, and then memorizing the notes in order to take an exam. However, this method is not always the best way to learn, and for some students may even be detrimental because their learning styles need more interaction and involvement with the teacher, the other students, and most importantly, the subject material. Research about the learning process has shown that students retain the information they have learned more when they have personal involvement with it, rather than passively listening and memorizing.

My assumptions about teaching and learning have been undergoing changes over the years. As a student I was particularly well-equipped to be successful in the traditional method of teaching which was used by most of my teachers: listen, memorize, and take an exam. I liked that method because I was very rarely called upon to really think about issues that were connected with the subject, or those connected with me. I could sit and listen to the interesting things the teachers said, and all I needed to do was incorporate the text and the notes into my brain so that I could explain it back to the teacher just as it was explained to me. That process was relatively easy for me.

As a teacher, I recognize that there are students with varying levels of interest in the subject, and varying levels of ability to listen and parrot back what the teacher said. While there is nothing particularly wrong with telling the students what I know and think about a particular topic, there are many different ways students can arrive at that information themselves. They will be more likely to "own" their discoveries and remember the material. My goals are to incorporate these methods of learning more in my own classes. Students can teach each other and learn together during small and large group discussions. In addition, many assignments can be "hands-on" experiences which help them develop certain skills, knowledge, and understandings that they would not otherwise have. The other important task is to develop better ways to assess learning beyond the typical examinations. Assessment is an important indicator to the student where their strengths and weaknesses are, and therefore is a vital aspect of teaching which also needs to be examined and enhanced.
2. Goals and plans to accomplish them:

a. Short-Term: i. Develop the course which I will be teaching in Fall 1998. This course is particularly good for group activities and discussion because many of the topics we will discuss deal with "real life" in families, and real decisions each of us make about our lives and families. I want to use more small group discussions and also individual assignments which require critical thinking on the part of the students. I will find out from other faculty members the methods they use in their teaching, and will also study books on teaching and group activities.
ii. Work on the Family History course to incorporate different methods of learning. I would particularly like to change my methods of assessment, perhaps adding in a "pre-assessment" and also more hands-on quizzes or sections of the exams which allow the students to demonstrate their family history knowledge better.

b. Long-Term:

 i. Study more consistently on Church History and the Doctrine and Covenants. I will do some directed reading with YYY as my mentor, and will examine more fully the things that would be most helpful to my students the next time I teach Doctrine and Covenants.
ii. Get my notes more organized for my classes so that I’ll be able to prepare for class in a quicker manner, and have the resources I need right at hand. It will entail more research on particular topics, getting copies of what the Church Leaders say, etc.
iii. Work on better assessment strategies for each of my classes, and focus on ways to get the students to write more, without my having to grade more! I will study some examples from other teachers, and will also read books about teaching and assessment and try to incorporate the ideas in my teaching.

B. Scholarship

1. Research Interests:
FAMILY SCIENCES: My research in the past has been focused on strengthening families by examining issues of premarital and marital relationships. I will continue to do some work in this area through the years since I am involved in a consortium of scholars developing assessment and counseling tools for premarital and marital relationships. We just recently developed the Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE) which is being used in many parts of the country. We are most interested in helping premarital couples to assess their own relationships and to learn how to increase their relationship satisfaction so their later marital relationships will be more likely to succeed. This research agenda is associated with the goals of the university and my department because the consortium members are striving to understand what is most successful and most harmful for the relationships we study. We also are sharing that information with families through our publications, counseling, and workshops.

FAMILY AND CHURCH HISTORY: My focus for research recently has shifted somewhat by my developing interest, teaching, and activity in the field of Family History and Genealogy. This field is also important to the mission of the department, university, and the Church. Redeeming the dead is one of the three dimensions of the mission of the Church. My research agenda in this area is to develop ways to make Family History more interesting and accessible to students, Church members, and others throughout the world.

2. Goals and plans to accomplish them:

a. Become an Accredited Genealogist for England through the Family History Library. In order to accomplish this goal, I must spend a great deal of time (1,000 hours) researching and studying the family history references and records and pass the accreditation exam. I am using this goal as my Faculty Development Seminar Scholarship project, and plan to complete the process before the summer of 1999. [adjusted]
b. Research local history in England to understand how the records of the Church, along with the records found from government and other churches, can help us understand more about the growth of the Church in England during the 19th century. Funding for this project has been provided by the Religious Studies Center, and will include some research in the record offices and archives in the U.K. in the summer of 1999. This will be an ongoing project for the next 2 to 3 years, and will probably lead to either several publications or a monograph.
c. Make Family History more accessible and interesting to students and people in the Church. Two ways to contribute to this field are:
• Develop a computer program and/or handbook to help people create genograms, which can enhance and motivate individuals’ interest and connection with their ancestors. At least one article can be written describing genograms, and then if interest is high enough, I will try to find funding to develop a computer program or a handbook for making genograms which could be published and sold. 

• Gathering information about early Church Members in England which could be shared with others in book or CD form. (This is a long-term goal.)

d. Continue to participate with the Marriage Study Consortium as a researcher and as part of the executive committee.

C. Citizenship

In addition to the above mentioned activities, good citizenship requires service to the department, college, university, and larger community. My goals in this regard are:

1. Attend all faculty meetings, and to regularly attend faculty inservice meetings, symposia, and devotionals which are available in the college and university. The experiences of meeting with faculty and learning from them have been some of the most important I have had while on campus.

2. Participate in committee assignments or other responsibilities as opportunities arise.  Participate more fully in national or international scholarly societies, including conference attendance and presentations. I need to join a genealogy-related organization this year to get myself more involved in that field.

D. Personal Goals on Productivity Management

 In the next year I would like to read a book or attend a seminar about time management, which may help me to learn tools to be more productive. I would like to be more organized in the use of my time, always remembering that the priorities I have will guide how I use my time. One major priority for me is my relationship with Heavenly Father, including the time and energy I spend on improving my own health and happiness. The second major priority is my family, which for me includes my extended family. My next priority is to use my hours at work in a profitable way, including preparations for classes, teaching, research, and service to others. The next priority in my life is my participation in the Tabernacle Choir, which necessitates a great deal of planning of my time since 10-15 hours per week are used in association with Choir activities. Keeping these priorities in mind, the following are the goals I have set for myself:
1. One area where I need improvement is in organizing my files. Papers have a tendency to get misplaced too easily in my office. With that goes the problem that I forget to do some important things that may have been written on those papers which get misplaced. I tend to try to just keep things in my head, and I’m not always successful! One way in which I can improve is to ask others about filing systems, and then to organize the papers according to when I need to accomplish a task, and what to do with the paper once the task is accomplished.

2. The second thing I would like to improve is to prepare for classes, including writing exams, overhead transparencies, etc., at least a day before I teach the subjects. Then, I will have more time to incubate the thoughts, and proofread papers, before I have to discuss them with students, or before I have to send handouts to be printed.

3. The third improvement is to set aside at least 1-2 hours per day to read and write. This is important for both teaching and research. Most things I teach I have had to learn from nearly "ground zero," so reading to prepare for class is very important. In addition, I need to read more in order be able to write. During the Spring and Summer terms I will have more time for this than I normally would when I teach a lot in Fall and Winter.

4. I would also like to spend at least 5 hours every week working on Family History, with special focus on preparing for the accreditation examination.

Part III: Relationship between my goals and university expectations

According to its mission statement, Brigham Young University "is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life." Students are to be taught the truths of the gospel, along with receiving instruction in their chosen fields and in general education. I see my mission here at Brigham Young University as being a facilitator and motivator for student learning, particularly in the area of gospel scholarship. My goals for teaching are related to the university’s expectations because I want to learn and do more with Family History. Redeeming the dead is one of the three dimensions of the mission of the Church, and thus is important both as a topic at university and as a desire that students should carry with them after being at BYU. My goal of learning more about the scriptures and the words of the prophets will help me in preparing courses which can help to perfect the Saints, as we are able to apply the teachings of Christ in our own lives and with our families.

Similarly, my goals for scholarship are closely allied to the mission of the university and the mission of the Church. My desire is to carry out scholarly research which will help individuals at BYU as well as throughout the Church to strengthen their eternal families, including their ancestors and descendants. This goal will be met as I share my research in Family and Church History with others, and as I continue to work with the Marriage Study Consortium and in other areas of Family Science to promote the values set forth by the prophets in the Proclamation on the Family.

The resources needed to accomplish my goals include both time and money:

• I have been released from teaching responsibilities in Spring and Summer 1998 so that I can work on my research and teaching goals prior to my third-year review. This extra time will be very helpful to me, and will make possible several projects which otherwise would not happen.

• I would prefer to have no new courses to teach, after I add the course in the Fall. Each semester I have had a new course, so my writing time has been diminished during the past year.

• Money to carry out the research is also necessary. As mentioned earlier, one project has been funded by the Religious Study Center, which will allow me to go to the archives and record offices where I can find the original records.

• Along with the money for my own travel and activities, I also will need the Department’s support for a research assistant and a secretary to help me with my teaching activities for at least two semesters each year.