classroom (Garland 1983). This prepares instructors for a future of peer review in the discipline
that improves their teaching styles with benefits for the instructors, the students, and the
institution.
To develop graduate instructors, current trends in undergraduate programs offer the
interesting example of learning communities. Learning communities provide new opportunities
to bring students together to increase the educational experience, create classes that move beyond
fulfilling requirements, and engage students more with the material (Angelo 1999; Baker 1999;
Sanders 2000). Departments could form learning communities to educate graduate students about
pedagogy. These communities could function similar to faculty coordinators by providing
advice, teaching seminars, and evaluating instructors throughout the semester (Darling 1990; Fox
1996). The benefits of a learning community would include increased faculty participating in the
training of instructors, socializing graduate students to communicate about pedagogy, and
introduce new students to teaching evaluation early in their careers.
One example of this type of learning community is the Preparing Future Faculty
programs (PFF). PFF programs increase awareness about the diversity of careers in academia
while developing communication channels between research and teaching universities (Adams
2002; DeNeef 2002). One of the most valuable aspects of the PFF program is the confidence
boost it provides to graduate students by increasing their productivity in terms of researching and
teaching (Bashara 2002; Tice 1998).
In a survey of PFF participants, many attribute their
success to their involvement in PFF programs. The participants stressed that once they had a
better understanding of the institutional, teaching, and research requirements, they were
comfortable in the performance of their obligations (Adams 2002; DeNeef 2002).
While the PFF programs are an important step, they lack studies investigating the effects
and responses of faculty and universities, both those who employ PFF programs and those who
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Convention