Faculty Transformation: Three Forms of Inquiry to Increase Staff Capability for Teaching with Technologies

Our paper sets out the actions that we consider necessary to achieve the aim of increasing staff capability for teaching with technologies in an institute of higher education. Since choosing to teach appropriately with technologies follows-or should follow-from the more fundamental fact of inquiring into teaching practice, we suggest that we need to create a culture that supports and rewards three distinct forms pedagogical inquiry: the scholarship of teaching; scholarly teaching; and reflective practice. Creating a culture of inquiry has the potential to overcome three professional development challenges; the first is the lack of formal training for teachers in higher education; the second is staff resistance to the training that is offered; and the third is the difficulty of creating a culture of the scholarship of teaching. We believe that creating a culture of three forms of inquiry has the potential to engage all teaching staff in reflective teaching practice. Furthermore, if pedagogical inquiry occurs in the appropriate manner, then staff will be able to choose to use technologies in a manner commensurate with making teaching and learning "better".