Faculty development program evaluation: a need to embrace complexity

• Main Authors: Fernandez N, Audétat MC
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2019-04-01
• Series: Advances in Medical Education and Practice
• Subjects: Faculty Development Program Evaluation Structuration Theory
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/faculty-development-program-evaluation-a-need-to-embrace-complexity-peer-reviewed-article-AMEP

Nicolas Fernandez,1 Marie-Claude Audétat21Centre for Pedagogy Applied to the Health Sciences, Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada; 2Unité des Internistes Généralistes et Pédiatres (UIGP), Unité de développement et de recherche en éducation médicale (UDREM), Faculty of medicine, University of Geneva, Centre Médical Universitaire, Genève 4 1211, SwitzerlandAbstract: Faculty development is essential for renewing and assisting faculty to maintain teaching effectiveness and adapt to innovations in Health Professions educational institutions. The evaluation of faculty development programs appears to be a significant step in maintaining its relevance and efficiency. Yet, little has been published on the specific case of faculty development program evaluation in spite of the availability of general program evaluation models. These models do not measure or capture the information educators want to know about outcomes and impacts of faculty development. We posit that two reasons account for this. The first is the evolving nature of faculty development programs as they adapt to current reforms and innovations. The second involves the limitations imposed by program evaluation models that fail to take into account the multiple and unpredictable outcomes and impacts of faculty development. It is generally accepted that the outcomes and impacts are situated at various levels, ranging from the individual to the institutional and cultural levels. This calls for evaluation models that better capture the complexity of the impacts of faculty development, in particular the reciprocal relationships between program components and outcomes. We suggest conceptual avenues, based on Structuration Theory, that could lead to identifying the multilevel impacts of faculty development.Keywords: Structuration Theory, complexity theory, identity development, organizational norms, interpersonal relationships, program assessment