Improving Faculty Development through Peer Coaching, Learning Communities and Mentoring.

Institutions of higher education have long sought to provide a variety of faculty development activities and programs to improve teaching practices, yet more research is needed to examine the effectiveness of the many different faculty development activities. The purpose of this chapter is to examine three faculty development programs that engage faculty members through interactive activities while addressing their individual professional development needs, focusing on examples of peer coaching, learning communities and mentoring as types of faculty development programs at higher education institutions. In addition, we will highlight the experiences of a faculty member in her community versions of each of these techniques in their faculty development program.