Promoting scholarship in faculty development: Relevant research paradigms and methodologies

Abstract

Prior research on faculty development faculty development has been overly constrained by adherence to the positivist research paradigm and a mechanistic view of how faculty development programs impact participants, their learners, and patient care. We propose a broader conceptual framework for research on faculty development that encompasses examination of two communities: the one created in the faculty development activity and the one that exists in the workplace where participants are educators, researchers, and clinician/scientists. Using this expanded framework, we argue that future research will need to incorporate four research paradigms research paradigms: positivist, post-positivist, interpretivist, and critical theory, using their associated research methodologies. Each paradigm and methodology is described along with examples from research on faculty development. Three less well-known research methodologies are also included: educational design research, success cases, and sustainability narratives. We conclude by showing how readers might begin to undertake scholarship in this area.