Cross-Disciplinary Professional Development at Community Colleges

Community college teaching is a complex endeavor requiring not only the mastery of disciplinary knowledge but also the pedagogical skills needed to serve this diverse population of students. While many community college faculties are hired with advanced academic degrees, professional experience or both, many often have not had formal pedagogical training. Thus, the challenge for institutions is to determine how best to support faculty in their teaching. This article reports on one college's attempt at such support. The participants in this study were full-time community college professors engaged in an elective four-semester cross-disciplinary professional development program. This study investigates what these professors perceived to be the benefits and drawbacks of cross-disciplinary professional development, particularly with regard to group peer observation. Data were collected through online surveys, the results of which were complemented by responses in participants' applications to the program, written reflections and assignments, and exit interviews. The data were recursively coded, categorized, and analyzed through constant comparison method. This article highlights the benefits and drawbacks of cross-disciplinary professional development, particularly in the context of peer observation in faculty learning communities. The findings suggest that departments and college centers for teaching and learning may provide different but complementary forms of pedagogical faculty development.