Conceptual Framework: COVID-19 created an “all hands on deck” mindset among higher-education instructors and support staff that led to significant burnout (Costa, 2021) and lower participation in professional-development offerings (Baker & Lutz, 2021)—due to sheer exhaustion or a desire to be “done with” reliance on centers for teaching and learning (CTLs).
Before instructors slip away to chalk-and-talk ways, CTLs can reach them regularly, with bite-sized just-in-time programming to “reimagine, reconnect, and restart” professional development when, where, and how instructors will best receive it. Come learn about—and experience—miniature single-idea workshops built on psychological principles that engage, support, and develop colleagues—by creating space for feelings of autonomy, competence, and belongingness.
This session arose from conversation among POD Network members around the need to bring professional development into the spaces where instructors are most comfortable, given observations of faculty burnout, low attendance at events, and lack of time. The “sparkshop” concept (Frary & Focarile, 2018) creates shorter-than-usual professional development offerings but leaves open a path toward even smaller, more flexible, single-idea, just-in-time professional development. We’ll share supportive practices that leverage self-determination theory (SDT) (Stupnisky, BrckaLorenz, Yuhas, & Guay, 2018) from a social-emotional learning (SEL) perspective, using the “10 and 2” conceptual framework within universal design for learning (UDL; Tobin & Behling, 2018) to establish regular, small, focused, achievable interactions for instructors. Learning
Outcomes: By participating in this session, you will be able to:
- determine the location, length, pacing, content, interactions, and frequency of micro-development offerings to optimize instructor engagement; and -
- model the just-in-time single-topic professional-development format for your own work.
Session Activities: Come prepared to be part of the conversation—equal parts demonstration, proof-of-concept, and collaborative meaning-making. We’ll start with a “why this, why now” introduction to micro professional development (10 minutes). Then each facilitator will share a hands-on micro session:
- Teach from Your Back Pocket: Discover “bite-sized” teaching strategies and consider potential topics via a small-teaching lens. We'll model retrieval practice as a scalable “back pocket” strategy that requires minimal prep (5 minutes).
- Pay Yourself First: Self-determination makes professional development “stick.” Learn how quick, identity-relevant reflection prompts can set the stage for deeper values work (5 minutes).
- Reignite the Spark: Meaningful learning and behavioral change occur through brief, regular, and engaging practice. Learn to thread educational development throughout colleagues’ lives using LMS pages, apps like Discord, group chats, puzzles—and even a garden cart—to re-start tired brains (5 minutes).
- Now, Go, Go, Go! Why do we act on 17 micro-sessions better than one big session with 17 parts? Learn the evidence supporting the micro approach: perceived competence, autonomy, agency, belonging, normalizing struggle, scaffolding, and iteration. Oh, and driver’s education, too. (5 minutes)
Our ending conversation (15 minutes) involves idea sharing from the audience and determines concrete next steps for micro-development programming in participants’ own colleges and universities. Participants will have an opportunity to opt-in to further collaboration and dialogue. A collection of digital resources and a one-page resource sheet will also be provided as take-aways.
Shared Session Notes
