The case for faculty development: A realist evaluation

Extract from Abstract:

Context
It seems logical to suggest that investing in educators will lead to improved educational outcomes. However, in the case of faculty development, it is unclear how these benefits arise and decisions about investment typically have little basis in evidence. The aim of this realist evaluation was to understand the mechanisms by which investment in faculty development may lead to improved educational outcomes for staff and students.

Methods
This realist evaluation involved three phases: the development of an initial programme theory based on existing peer-reviewed literature (Phase 1), which was used within 32 realist interviews with key stakeholders at 17 UK medical schools (Phase 2), to underpin the creation of a series of recommendations for faculty development programme designers (Phase 3).

Conclusions
This study deepens our understanding of the role of context in faculty development through the realist methodology employed and extends pre-existing knowledge to provide insights into evidence-based interventional strategies that may be effective. In particular, faculty development leads need to develop a clear implementation strategy, improve transparency of cashflow, establish effective formal or informal communication systems and evaluate the efficacy of their faculty development initiatives.

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