Senior Educational Developers Institute 2013
Case Study #1
A participant in a workshop explodes with opinions that question the validity and efficacy of the educational developer’s practices, content, and approach. The participant is a colleague of the developer, who was “forced” to attend. How might the developer respond to this situation?
(this group kindly provided key aspects of a good response)
· Incorporate the colleague’s “voice”
· Model good practice by defusing the emotions of the situation while valuing dissent and diversity
· Rely on and engage others’ opinions through group activities
· Be nimble, flexible, and non-defensive
Case Study #2
A contract faculty member has been told by his Dean to seek help from the teaching/learning centre to improve his teaching. The Dean has asked the developer to report progress back to her, and has made it clear that this teacher’s continued employment is contingent upon improvement. The challenge is that this faculty member wants to engage only through email, and will not agree to meet with the educational developer. How should the developer proceed?
Case Study #3
Your institution has implemented a new quality assurance process, and the senior administrator of this process has emailed you (an educational developer) asking for specific, detailed notes about an individual faculty member. How should you reply?
Case Study #4
During a discussion among senior administrators, an issue arises about which you (an educational developer) have inside information gathered during various confidential meetings with faculty. Your information would have a significant impact on the understanding of the administrators about the issue at hand. What should you do?
Case Study #5
During a dialogue with a teacher about a pedagogical matter, it becomes clear that she has plagiarized a student’s work and published it under her own name. How should you (as an educational developer) respond?
Case Study #6
Ownership and intellectual property can be an issue within the educational development community as much as it is among the professoriate—how should the following scenarios be handled?
· A conference presentation that is a centre initiative: whose names should be on it and who can use it afterwards as part of his/her own publication record?
· Who is acknowledged on centre resources/workshop materials that have been revised by various individuals?
· A casual conversation over lunch in the centre inspires a blog post: who is acknowledged?
· A new educational developer takes over a session previously delivered by another ED in the centre; how is the originator of the materials acknowledged?
· A new grad student in the centre wants to work alone on what are usually collaborative projects because he wants to be able to publish them under his own name only.
Cast Study #7
In a workshop, a faculty member goes on a rant about how international students cheat, plagiarize, are illiterate, and are of no benefit to their program. How should you (as the educational developer leading the session) respond?
Case Study #8
Your educational development team realizes that although you are consultants on universal instructional design, your teaching/learning centre is physically inaccessible. How can this be addressed in the short and long terms?
Case Study #9
You have been offered a contract position to offer teaching workshops in a country in which your sexual orientation is considered illegal, where participants are segregated by gender, and the sessions are only broadcast to the opposite sex group with no face-to-face interaction permitted. How would you respond?