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Developing Faculty Learning Communities at Two-Year Colleges

Collaborative Models to Improve Teaching and Learning

This book introduces community college faculty and faculty developers to the use of faculty learning communities (FLCs) as a means for faculty themselves to investigate and surmount student learning problems they encounter in their classrooms, and as an effective and low-cost strategy for faculty developers working with few resources to stimulate innovative teaching that leads to student persistence and improved learning outcomes. Two-year college instructors face the unique challenge of teaching a mix of learners, from the developmental to high-achievers, that requires using a variety of instructional strategies and techniques. Even the most experienced teachers can find this diversity demanding. Faculty developers at many two-year colleges still rely solely on the one-day workshop model that, while useful, rarely results in sustained student-centered changes in pedagogy or the curriculum, and may not be practicable for the growing cohort of part-time faculty members. By linking work in the classroom with scholarship and reflection, FLCs provide participants with a sense of renewed engagement and stimulate collegial exploration of ways to achieve educational excellence. FLCs are usually faculty-instigated and cross-disciplinary, and comprise groups of six to fifteen faculty that work collaboratively through regular meetings over an extended period of time to promote research and an exchange of experiences, foster community, and develop the scholarship of teaching. FLCs alleviate burnout and isolation, promote the development, testing, and peer review of new classroom strategies or technologies, and lead to the reenergizing and professionalization of teachers. This book introduces the reader to FLCs and to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, offering examples of application in two-year colleges. Individual chapters describe, among others, an FLC set up to support course redesign; an “Adjunct Connectivity FLC” to integrate part-time faculty within a department and collaborate on the curriculum; a cross-disciplinary FLC to promote student self-regulated learning, and improve academic performance and persistence; a critical thinking FLC that sought to define critical thinking in separate disciplines, examine interdisciplinary cross-over of critical thinking, and measure critical thinking more accurately; an FLC that researched the transfer of learning and developed strategies to promote students’ application of their learning across courses and beyond the classroom. Each chapter describes the formation of its FLC, the processes it engaged in, what worked and did not, and the outcomes achieved. Just as when college faculty fail to remain current in their fields, the failure to engage in continuing development of teaching skills, will equally lead teaching and learning to suffer. When two-year college administrators restrain scholarship and reflection as inappropriate for the real work of the institution they are in fact hindering the professionalization of their teaching force that is essential to institutional mission and student success. When FLCs are supported by leaders and administrators, and faculty learn that collaboration and peer review are valued and even expected as part of being a teaching professional, they become intrinsically motivated and committed to collaboratively solving problems, setting the institution on a path to becoming a learning organization that is proactive and adept at navigating change.

Even institutions where faculty are not expected to publish may find writing
groups helpful. Boice (1995) argues that helping earlycareer faculty develop
good writing habits will help them to develop good teaching habits. He suggests
that ...

The Power of Problem-based Learning

A Practical "how To" for Teaching Undergraduate Courses in Any Discipline

Problem-based learning is a powerful classroom process, which uses real world problems to motivate students to identify and apply research concepts and information, work collaboratively and communicate effectively. It is a strategy that promotes life-long habits of learning.

The University of Delaware is recognised internationally as a centre of excellence in the use and development of PBL. This book presents the cumulative knowledge and practical experience acquired over nearly a decade of integrating PBL in courses in a wide range of disciplines.

This ""how to"" book for college and university faculty. It focuses on the practical questions which anyone wishing to embark on PBL will want to know: ""Where do I start?""–""How do you find problems?""–""What do I need to know about managing groups?""–""How do you grade in a PBL course?""

The book opens by outlining how the PBL program was developed at the University of Delaware--covering such issues as faculty mentoring and institutional support--to offer a model for implementation for other institutions.

The authors then address the practical questions involved in course transformation and planning for effective problem-based instruction, including writing problems, using the Internet, strategies for using groups, the use of peer tutors and assessment. They conclude with case studies from a variety of disciplines, including biochemistry, pre-law, physics, nursing, chemistry, political science and teacher education

This introduction for faculty, department chairs and faculty developers will assist them to successfully harness this powerful process to improve learning outcomes.

Chapter Summary The author compares lecture and problem-based learning (
PBL) teaching methods in a course for junior-level dietetics majors. Students are
shown to achieve comparable test scores on a nationally administered exam.
Student evaluations of the course are different for PBL and lecture-based classes
. Introduction Dietetics, like many other professions, requires a certification
examination upon completion of the four-year undergraduate program and a six-
to nine- ...

Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Group Work that Works to Generate Critical Thinking and Engagement

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a unique, powerful, and proven form of small-group learning that is being increasingly adopted in higher education. Teachers who use TBL report high levels of engagement, critical thinking, and retention among their students. TBL has been used successfully in both small and large classes, in computer-supported and online classes; and because it is group work that works, it has been implemented in nearly every discipline and in countries around the world. This book introduces the elements of TBL and how to apply them in the social sciences and humanities. It describes the four essential elements of TBL – readiness assurance, design of application exercises, permanent teams, peer evaluation – and pays particular attention to the specification of learning outcomes, which can be a unique challenge in these fields. The core of the book consists of examples of how TBL has been incorporated into the cultures of disciplines as varied as economics, education, literature, politics, psychology, and theatre. The authors explain why they felt a need to change how they taught and why they chose TBL. Furthermore, each chapter provides examples of the assignments and exercises they use to help their students achieve the specific learning outcomes of their courses. At a time of increasing course sizes, and emphasis on learning outcomes, TBL offers the means to meet such demands while connecting students to their coursework, and stimulating their intellectual engagement.

John W. Pelley and Kathryn K. McMahon A variety of skills are needed to
effectively organize and conduct a team-based learning (TBL) activity. For a
teacher who is accustomed to instructing through conventional lectures, it may
take some time to become comfortable with the different role required of a TBL
facilitator. In contrast to a lecturer, who synthesizes and delivers expert content,
the TBL facilitator guides and encourages students to articulate their
understanding of the presented ...

Cooperative Learning in Higher Education

Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy

Research has identified cooperative learning as one of the ten High Impact Practices that improve student learning. If you’ve been interested in cooperative learning, but wondered how it would work in your discipline, this book provides the necessary theory, and a wide range of concrete examples. Experienced users of cooperative learning demonstrate how they use it in settings as varied as a developmental mathematics course at a community college, and graduate courses in history and the sciences, and how it works in small and large classes, as well as in hybrid and online environments. The authors describe the application of cooperative learning in biology, economics, educational psychology, financial accounting, general chemistry, and literature at remedial, introductory, and graduate levels. The chapters showcase cooperative learning in action, at the same time introducing the reader to major principles such as individual accountability, positive interdependence, heterogeneous teams, group processing, and social or leadership skills. The authors build upon, and cross-reference, each others’ chapters, describing particular methods and activities in detail. They explain how and why they may differ about specific practices while exemplifying reflective approaches to teaching that never fail to address important assessment issues.

If you’ve been interested in cooperative learning, but wondered how it would work in your discipline, this book provides the necessary theory, and a wide range of concrete examples.

Bullying in Schools

Bullying involves some three-quarters of a million children in the United Kingdom. For many victims the misery extends over many years and affects every day of their lives. Most people are aware of bullying yet the subject has been strangely ignored. This, the first major book devoted to bullying examines these questions: What is bullying? How does it happen? Who is likely to be involved? Where does it take place? What are the causes? And what can be done about it? The solutions offered independently by the contributors challenge the stereotype assumptions about bullies and victims and are essentially practical, suggesting strategies for establishing an ethos by which schools can become safe places for pupils, parents and teachers.

The solutions offered independently by the contributors challenge the stereotype assumptions about bullies and victims and are essentially practical, suggesting strategies for establishing an ethos by which schools can become safe places ...