Faculty Learning Communities
The Institute for Teaching and Learning is in its fifth year of running Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs). Patterned after the model at Miami University of Ohio, these FLCs are either cohort-based or topic-based.
To date, we have organized FLCs for faculty new to the University of Connecticut (cohort-based) and FLCs for faculty interested in learning more about using technology effectively in their teaching (topic-based). The technology FLCs have focused on different faculty groups, first targeting beginners and then advanced users of technology.
Membership is open to faculty who meet the criteria of the cohort or are interested in the topic. Membership varies from ten to fifteen faculty. Meetings are informally structured, usually providing new information and an opportunity to share and discuss. ITL staff share the responsibility for preparing brief presentations on pertinent topics. Guests with special expertise, usually other faculty, are often invited.
FLCs generally last the entire academic year, meeting approximately every two to three weeks, and requiring a minimum of outside preparation. The first semester is usually somewhat more structured, with a syllabus prepared by ITL staff. The second semester syllabus is developed almost exclusively from members’ suggestions.
FLCs provide a learning forum for all who participate, including guests and organizers.
Fall 2007 New Faculty Learning Community
What is it that makes a great teacher? Who are the professors remembered by their students years later? How can a new faculty member get started on the right foot? Share your insights and answers to these questions and much, much more, with your colleagues in the New Faculty Learning Community where we will read and discuss:
- What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain, Harvard University Press, 2004.
Participants will apply the readings and discussions to a teaching/learning project of their choice. The meetings will be held every other week on Wednesdays from 3:30-5:00, starting on September 19th and finishing on November 28th. The dates for the meetings are as follows: 9/19, 10/3, 10/17, 10/31, 11/14 and 11/28. Participants will receive a copy of the book.
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