A comparison of pre-post workshop course outlines following participation in a faculty development workshop

This thesis research examines the integrity and effectiveness of a course design workshop by exploring Workshop artefacts for the presence of valued Workshop concepts: (i) analysis of course content, (ii) learning outcomes, (iii) instructional strategies, (iv) assessment, and (v) alignment. Two analyses were undertaken. The first analysis laid the groundwork for the second analysis that examined the pre and post-Workshop course outlines of participants for the presence of valued concepts. A detailed document analysis was used in both analyses. The results of this research suggest that (i) what was actually taught at the Workshop was aligned with valued concepts, and (ii) the participants’ post-Workshop course outlines showed, in general, an increased grounding in valued concepts underpinning the Workshop. Both the findings of this research and the methodology employed are significant to the field of faculty development where there has been concern that development activities are often superficially evaluated.