B-1 Factors Influencing Motivation for Faculty Participation in Professional Development in the Area of Teaching

Faculty participation in professional development in the area of teaching varies greatly by institution. While the most important motivations for improved teaching are internal, the literature shows that institutions use incentives ranging from awards to release time advancement to motivate improved teaching. These incentives target a large range of factors that may influence motivation for faculty engagement in development programs with the purpose of increasing participation. Larger and more resourceful institutions generally offer more robust incentives for participation. The nature of small liberal arts institutions with financial constraints often prevents them from such developed systems of incentives. However, there are not enough studies that conclusively inform faculty developers what factors actually motivate faculty to participate in professional development activities in the area of teaching. This mixed methods study seeks to document the motivation to participate in faculty development in four small liberal arts institutions and two large research institutions. We will focus on the literature review and the methodology in this presentation.