Faculty Development Plan
Nursing
May 20, 1998
The developmental plan is divided into three sections: Citizenship, Scholarship and Teaching. Each section contains four parts: Philosophy, goals and resources needed. The teaching project and abstract for the scholarly project are attached.
Citizenship
Philosophy
Mosiah 2:17 "…that ye may learn that when ye are in the service
of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Giving of
one’s self is the pattern of the gospel: individual sacrifice for individual,
family, church, community and the world is the goal of my life. There have been
times when the only thing I could do was to receive from others. Times of poverty
and ill health. I vowed then to make use of every minute to contribute to the
welfare of others when possible. Although both are necessary to experience,
I do not want to be more of a receiver than a giver. In the eyes of Father I
am a constant beggar and I am grateful for each breath. My lowly gifts are probably
nothing more than the crudest child’s drawing and worthy only of the round
file. I have faith that like the many drawings saved in scrapbooks, my gifts
are valued by Father.
Citizenship at the college of nursing is a pleasure as well as a responsibility. How nice to be expected to be part of the planning, development and evaluation of one’s workplace. Few organizations allow this. Citizenship in the community and the world is a self-expectation. I must give something back for all I am given. My personal abilities are not enough to change the world so I rely on collaboration and connection with others. It is only through living the gospel and being open to revelation that I can hope to find the right solutions on which to collaborate.
Strength and Weaknesses
The Lord has led me here and I am willing to do whatever is necessary to build His kingdom. I have many opportunities to serve on state and national committees. Saying no, and having eyes bigger than my time capacities are my biggest weaknesses. Wanting to implement good ideas as soon as possible often leaves me over committed and feeling pressured.
Goals
My career has centered on taking ideas and finding the way to bring them to fruition. This usually means engineering an environment with appropriate supporters for the idea to flourish. Coming to BYU has been like a little kid being given a gift certificate at a candy store. There are so many people interested in ideas and the resources to nourish them.
• My main goal in 1999-2000 will be to find ways to limit and focus my citizenship in the world. My many interests must be narrowed. I will find someone to takeover the Rural Nurse Connection and focus on building the Rural Health Online Magazine (RHOM), a peer reviewed journal. I will continue as the chair of the communications committee. Including others in the RHOM project and then finding someone to take over within eighteen months is the plan. The communications chair should last one more year.
• Working on college communities as asked will continue.
• Participating in the state advisory committees for rural health and telemedicine seems basic to my position.
• Peers request more knowledge about using active learning and the Internet. I would like to help. One on one consultation and small classes or web pages and discussion groups are other ways to support faculty.
• I would like to work with JoAnn Abegglen and Debra Mills to advocate for the critical thinking thread.
Resources needed:
Time and opportunity to participate
Technological support as needed
Scholarship
Philosophy
"Truth is the knowledge of things as they are, and as they were
and as they are to come." D&C 93:24. Truth has existed from the beginning
and man is attracted to truth as magnets are to iron. Individuals are challenged
with learning the truth for themselves. This motivating force comes from our
first estate, and in a way is evaluated in the second and third. Thus learning
or discovery is a spiritual odyssey. Truth can be viewed as one thing, a continuum
that circles on itself. Learning (by faith and study) requires one to be widely
read as man tends to divide up truth into smaller pieces. The pieces of truth
discovered by man must overlap as genealogy lines do. Staying within one’s
discipline would limit one’s quest for truth.
Learning is one of the most exciting activities of my life. It sure is nice to be given time and resources to learn more. The sifting through knowledge by research and then disseminating it is difficult, demanding and vital to the solidification of personal understanding.
The creativity process is a type of Godly behavior that brings both joy and pain. True joy is only possible with creation. Therefore, I personally must be involved in creativity at all times in order to maintain an emotional balance.
Strengths and Weaknesses
I love to learn and the more I learn the more I want to learn. I’ve been given the gift of being able to integrate other’s ideas into a new concept or method. I become very excited about ideas and love to share them with others. Thus, it has been relatively easy to make presentations. My experience with rural health, computer phobia and distance education seems to be in demand right now. My collaborative skills enable me to make partnerships for study.
I do not have a Ph.D.; professional writing is scary. I haven’t learned how to balance priorities here at the university yet. Beginning a new schooling period in a new discipline has me worried. Worrying about the quality and quantity of my work often saps my creativity and energy.
Goals
I submit my individual will to the Father regarding the discovery of truth. Often times my goals are not those of the Father. I do not know the Lord’s overall plan, but I will work hard on the pieces I do understand. The need for discipleship and humility are basic to discovering truth so I must work first on these concepts.
• This summer I begin a doctorate program in instructional psychology and technology. I plan to complete this in four years.
• The definition, theory, model and methods of critical XXX, XXX and I are working on could provide a lifetime of discovery. We have outlined three research projects that begin next fall and continue forward with the population studied.
• Group processing via telecommunications also provides a research interest. I begin a study of this during the summer. At some point these two fields of study may become one. I have been invited to become part of a research team in IP&T along these lines.
• Keeping up with the literature in community health is necessary to function as an instructor.
• The creative process of teaching online will continue with revision of courses, and web pages. XXX and I have created a model for teaching community health that needs to be implemented more completely and evaluated over time. The knowledge is to be disseminated in order to improve community health education as a whole. Experimentation with pedagogues will provide excitement to everyday labors.
• Our work with the family project needs more research and dissemination
• Two presentations a year and three article submissions
• Work with the counseling department and insurance companies on a health promotion program using technology will begin next year. Once developed research on effectiveness will be possible.
• Work with XXX on the information management strand.
Resources
1. Time and resources to complete the education process. Statistics are only offered MWF during the morning hours.
2. A laptop computer with speakers and graphic capabilities for working at home and for presenting. The laptop is a tool as much as an overhead projector. Information management requires a computer and so it should be demonstrated in classes, not just in one room of the college.
3. A zip drive for transferring large programs from home to office.
4. More memory for the office computer both ROM and RAM. It does not handle graphics well and causes me major frustrations daily. The lack of memory has prevented quality products.
5. Authoring software.
6. Campus connections with resources for developing services for students.
7. CAM corder for experimenting with communications online (in preparation for Spring 1999 course).
8. Mentoring with the research process so I don’t make a mess.
Teaching
Philosophy
"Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy
getting get understanding." Prov: 4:7
Teaching others is basic to our responsibility as Father’s children and
yet is one of the highest achievements of man. The teacher helps pass the truth
onto others. The teacher cannot give truth, but can demonstrate discovery processes.
I see my role as a transporter and catalyst for those seeking the truth. It
is fairly easy to read material, but that is not learning. Learning requires
making meaning out of new knowledge and being able to incorporate it into one’s
value system. That is when knowledge becomes wisdom. This requires activity,
time, multiple representations of the concepts, and practice. The teacher brings
concepts, opportunities and students together, shepherds the process and helps
the learner to evaluate the experience. Teaching is not lecturing, expounding
or professing. Teaching is enabling. Learning is often a painful process so
students need to be supported during their seeking process.
It is easy to forget one is a blockhead at the university. I must always strive to remember ideas and not people are important. I am just another learner along the path towards wisdom. I may be required to point out the path boundaries, but more often than not I can point the right direction for others to follow and help them as they stub their toes on the rocky path to wisdom. Activity-based, reality-based, and problem-based learning are the best methods I know at this time for teaching nursing. Because these methods take more time to learn, I must also teach students how to find the information they need in the future to become competent nurses. I will be unable to give them all they need to know, for it has taken me a lifetime to become the little that I am. I can give them the principles of critical thinking, gospel service, methods of practice and information management.
Community health concepts are often the same as those of the gospel. Sometimes students do not find theory and soft touch as exciting as technology. A good instructor can help students integrate the concepts so that wherever they practice: home, hospital or community, they will be better people and have greater vision of their purpose in life. To hear students say "I learned more about myself than nursing" is a sign of success for I am teaching students that they are the tool they will use most as nurses. I want to help students become more excited about their lives and opportunities for service.
I believe that the mission of the university is not limited to the boundaries of Provo. Members all over the world need the principles of the gospel and community health taught here. Self-improvement can occur at all ages and in all places of the world. Combining technology with spiritual instructors can change the lives of students on the other side of the world. Rural and disadvantaged people need BYU. I want to be part of that learning experience.
In order to be a spiritual teacher, I must constantly seek to improve myself.
Strengths and Weaknesses
My enthusiasm for active, project-based learning keeps me abreast of current educational models. Using the Internet to increase student control of their learning process, increase faculty freedom and depth of materials available brings variety to the college of nursing. I love working with students on individual issues and helping them discover the best within themselves. I have lots of energy and am not afraid to work hard. Bringing gospel principles into nursing education is the greatest treat of my educational career.
This type of student is new to me and they do not like my teaching methods. I must learn to adjust and bring the students along into contractual, problem-based learning. I need to provide a rigid container in which the students can experience flexibility safely. I must practice writing syllabi. I still have many community partnerships to make and need to devise new methods of working with professionals that are beneficial for all.
Goals
• Continual spiritual learning through obedience, faith and study
• Incorporate evaluative studies of my teaching: face to face and online
• Daily literature review
• Experimentation with methods for teaching and evaluation should help me find my voice as a teacher
• Bear testimony, pray for students
• Develop community relationships for clinical experiences
• Develop and provide a rural health course (multi-university collaborative, telecommunications) in Spring 1999
• Work with mentor to improve skills
• Visit classes of successful teachers and discuss methods with them
Resources
1. Faculty development center resources
2. Dialogue with instructors
3. Access to technology, library and other resources
4. Opportunities to teach
5. Administrative support for online instruction: philosophical, vocal, resources: financial, equipment, connections with other campus bodies so there is knowledge and synchronous development.
Signatures
Mentor
Dean
Date
Date