Faculty Learning Communities
What is a Faculty Learning Community?A faculty learning community (FLC) is a small group of faculty members who meet together over a period of time to enhance their understanding and practice of some specific aspect of faculty work. Development through a faculty learning community is more targeted, application focused and longstanding community of practice than development through standard, one-time events, such as workshops and round tables. For more info and the underlying scholarship, see the Miami Ohio U FLC site.
NCSC FLC Project Research Reports
All NC State FLC Research Project Reports to date are available in PDF format.
These research reports offer a valuable contribution to the Scholarship of teaching and Learning, not only for other NC State faculty but also for their colleagues everywhere. Other faculty can use these lessons to not have to reinvent the wheel and accelerating their learning curve on these techniques and tools.
The scope and beadth of topics tackled by NC State faculty of all disciplines in their FLC work reflect the creativity and dedication of FLC participants to improve student outcomes.
NCSC FLC Participants' Feedback
As far as NCSC FLC participants' opinions of their experiences, at the conclusion of each FLC, an anonymous "Wind Up" is sent out to all FLC participants. Below are highlights of key questions from the survey to date. As future Wind Up Survey data is compiled, it will be published here as well:
Full Data Sets of anonymous FLC wind up surveys:
Some anonymous qualitative open-ended Wind-Up Survey comments highlights on
"What was the most effective aspect of the FLC for you and your Development?"
2009-2010 FLC Comments:
"dialogue, ideas, and fellowship of other instructors"
"meeting/brainstorming with team"
"the research in reviewing material for my project"
"helped to practice new ideas in the classroom and evaluate them"
"I was able to work on a project that I was interested in and I was able to take it to the next level...."
PILOT 2008-2009 FLC Comments:
"it related directly to my students and my self"
"I learned more about how the students progress coincides, or doesn't, with teaching techniques."
"It helped me to view what I do as an educator rather than as a practitioner of the subject."
"Being able to learn something and right away apply what I had learned. It was also very nice having a help link that was always available to work with you."
" My students benefited from the opportunity of participation in this project. This pushed me to learn new techniques and observe how the students benefit."
"Valuing the teaching and learning process"
"It forced me to take the time to do the work that was being pushed aside. It made us accountable to colleagues."
"I liked the contact with other faculty across the college..."
"I love it. I feel like I have overcome the barrier I had with BB (Blackboard) because I now have easy access with the laptop and ideas to implement that will add to my face-to-face class. I also love that I finally feel a connection of sorts with other educators here."
NC State's Faculty Learning Communities Program
NC State began an FLC program in Fall Quarter 2008 to address internally and externally identified gaps in faculty professional development. NC State faculty through Faculty Flashlight Surveys indicated a need for professional development that included opportunities for application. AQIP feedback also indicated a lack of customized individual faculty development opportunities. FLCs has a key element for a faculty member doing applied research based on their individual concerns and needs, within the FLC's topic or technology umbrella.
The basic structure of the NC State Faculty Learning Communities which run most of the academic year, are:
Each individual FLC member identifying a personalized scholarly "action research" application project to implement during the course of the FLC in their classes under the broad umbrella of the FLC theme or topic.
Research the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning within their field to inform, refine and develop their personal project, as well as revisit when analyzing their results to determine the implications of their findings for practice.
Throughout this intellectual journey of research driven experimentation, each individual FLC member participates in regular monthly group FLC meetings, where FLC members share resources, ideas, frustrations ,as well as training sessions, conferences etc as determined by the group that will advance the FLC's work as a whole.
Additionally, each FLC member has regular 1on1 meetings with the Instructional Designer to address specific concerns, issues and or locate resources or tools needed to advance their individual project.
Each individual FLC member then creates a final scholarly report of their findings. These findings are then usually presented to their NCSC colleagues at the Spring Quarter Professional Development Day. Additionally, these final reports can then be presented at professional education conferences or submitted to scholarly journals for publication to then "give back" to and advance the Scholarship in their field.
Faculty Participation & Demographics
Since the first pilot NC State FLCs were launched in 2008, a total of 23 individual NC State faculty (Approximately 8% of all Full-Time & Adjunct Faculty), representing almost 1/3 of the different subjects (32.1% - 18 of the 56 different subject areas) NC State offers, have participated in at least one FLC, with 8 participating in two years of FLCs and 2 having participated in all three years of FLCs to date. The average FLC composition to date has been 43.8% Full-Time NCSC Faculty and 56.2% Adjunct NCSC Faculty. Each year has seen at least one representative of each of NCSC's 3 academic divisions:
Current and Previous FLC Demographics
FLC Program Refinements
The NC State FLC Program uses an iterative process to incorporate participants' feedback for continuous improvement. As such, there has been adjustments to each year to make sure the program is serving NCSC faculty needs:
2010-2011 Adjustments
2009-2010 Anonymous FLC member Wind-Up Survey comments: "improve timing of communications and meetings" & another "start early with readings and discussions..." as well as verbal discussion at the May 7, 2010 Joint FLCs Science fair Wind Up meeting on wanting more time to collect more data and have more intensive study of the provided books...
RESULTING CHANGES: Data collection/Literature - Began FLCs in July 2010 to first do a series of "book club" meetings with assigned readings in the respective FLC books to give a more solid foundation in the literature before starting the project. Can then have up to three quarters (fall '10, Winter 2011 & Spring 2011) to implement projects and or revise and collect additional data.
2009-2010 Adjustments
2008 Pilot Anonymous FLC member Wind-Up Survey comments: "More participation in group meetings."; "Make meetings mandatory-- you gave us a list of meeting dates and times before we agreed to be part of the community. That should be a collective agreement among the community."
RESULTING CHANGES: Monthly Group Attendance - To boost consistent monthly group FLC meeting attendance, had participants indicate a day/time availability on their FLC applications. Then attempted to match up topic interest with day/time groupings. Also emphasized importance of group meeting attendance with FLC participants only being able to miss 1 group meeting otherwise would be asked to withdraw from FLC and return hardware compensation.
2008 Pilot Anonymous FLC member Wind-Up Survey comments: "The ending presentation to the non-participants needs attention."; "The sharing session with other faculty and staff was not well executed."
RESULTING CHANGES: Final Project Results Presentation - Had a "break out session" for poster presentations for the April 23, 2010 NCSC Professional Development day. Advertised this in the Development Day agenda. Also had a follow-up FLCs "Science Fair" on May 7, 2010 in 149 Fallerius for those who wanted to hear more/could not make the Development day.
Based on verbal discussions at the wind-up April 2009 Joint FLC meeting on lack of specific shared literature...
RESULTING CHANGES: Beginning with 2009-2010 FLCs, all FLC participants will receive a relevant book form the scholarship of the subject area. This will then hopefully provide a shared and broader common foundation int he literature for all FLC participants.
2010 - 2011 Faculty Learning Communities
In early June 2010, the annual call for applicants for the 2010-2011 Faculty Learning Communities was sent out by the DL Department. the applications were sent via e-mail and hard copy to all full time and adjunct faculty. based on Applicants' topical interest and time availabilities, two Faculty Learning Communities will be running for 2010-2011 (see below). The ePortfolios FLC held their Kick-Off Meeting July 16, 2010 & the Redesigning Courses FLC held theirs July 23, 2010. Again, FLC participants who complete their project will receive hardware tools as compensation as well as relevant book(s) to inform/utilize int heir project.
The work of each FLC will be shared via online mini video capsule highlights and their scholarly reports:
2010-2011 Faculty Learning Communities Final Project Reports
Improving Learning with ePortfolios FLC
Facilitator: Mike Welker, History Adjunct & Interim Coordinator, DL Department
Chris Barker (TND - Tech/Workforce Division)
Janny Nauman (Chair, Humanities & Speech Instructor)
Jen Phenecie (ECE - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Book Given to all FLC members:
The Learning Portfolio: Reflective Practice for Improving Student Learning by John Zubizarreta (2009 – Jossey-Bass)
Hardware compensation:
Choice of: Western Digital 500Gb My passport Elite USB Hard Drive or SimpleTech 1Tb USB Hard Drive
Redesigning Courses to Address High Risk Students FLC
Facilitator: Mike Welker, History Adjunct & Interim Coordinator, DL Department
Charis Bower (Adjunct, English & Writing - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Steve Edgehouse (English & Writing - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Deb Hysell (Chair & Instructor, English - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Pam Henney (Adjunct, English - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Barb Keener (Adjunct, Writing & Math - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Dr. Ron Pagano (Adjunct, Psych & Sociology - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Margaret Puckett (Coordinator & Instructor, FYE - Bus. Liberal Arts Ed. Division)
Teresa VanDorn (HSV - Health Science & Public Service Division)
Books Given to all FLC members:
Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An integrated Approach to Designing College Courses by L. Dee Fink
Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn’t Fit All by Gregory & Chapman
Hardware compensation:
Choice of: Western Digital 500Gb My passport Elite USB Hard Drive or SimpleTech 1Tb USB Hard Drive
2009 - 2010 Faculty Learning Communities
Applications for 2009-2010 Faculty Learning Communities were distributed via e-mail and via hard copy in campus mailboxes the first week of Fall Quarter 2009. Based on the applications returned by the deadline of 9/25/09, there was interest and time availability that matched up for two Faculty Learning Communities - Improving Learning with PowerPoint & Improving Learning with Active Learning. These groups worked with their peers to do scholarly research projects related to each community's theme for seven months from September 2009 - April 2010. They presented their project research to the NC State community at the April 23, 2010 Professional Development day and at a FLC "Science Fair" May 7, 2010. Their final scholarly reports are below:
PRELIMINARY 2009-2010 FLC Participants Anonymous Wind-Up survey - Full Data Set
Improving Learning with PowerPoint
Facilitator: Mike Welker, History Adjunct & Interim Coordinator, DL Department
Chris Barker (TND)
"Improving Understanding of Basic Essay Organization with PowerPoint"
-Pam Henney, Adjunct Instructor, English (ENG)
phenney@ncstatecollege.edu
"Using PowerPoint for Review Games" -PDF
- Amy Tyree, Adjunct Instructor, Biology (BIO)
atyree@ncstatecollege.edu
"Powerpoint for Kindergarten Parents Community Education"
- Heiden Eichorn, Adjunct Instructor, Early Childhood (ECE)
heichorn@ncstatecollege.edu
"Best Practices of Using Powerpoint for Online Content"
- Rob Slabodnick, Respiratory Therapy (RES)
rslabod@ncstatecollege.edu | 419.755.4891 | 324 Health Sciences
Books Given to all FLC members:
Powerpoint for Teachers: Dynamic Presentations & Interactive Classroom Projects by Ellen Finkelstein & Pavel Samsonov (2007, Jossey-Bass)
The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within by Edward R. Tufte (2007, Graphics Press)
Hardware compensation:
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Netbook laptop
Improving Learning with Active Learning
Facilitator: Mike Welker, History Adjunct & Interim Coordinator, DL Department
"Creating a 21st Century Classroom to Support Active Learning"
- Judy Slabodnick, Adjunct Instructor, Education (EDU)
jslabodnick@ncstatecollege.edu
Teresa VanDorn, Human Services (HSV)
tvandorn@ncstatecollege.edu | 419.755.4867 | 328 Health Sciences
"Improving Elluminate Sessions with Active Learning"
- Deb Hysell English (ENG)
dhysell@ncstatecollege.edu | 419.755.4874 | 253 Bromfield
"A Minor Study to Determine the Effects of Post-Class Quizzes on Exam Scores in Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory Classes"
- Cheryl Becker, Adjunct Instructor, Biology (BIO)
cbecker@ncstatecollege.edu
Book Given to all FLC members:
Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom by Charles Bonwell & James Eison (1991, Josey-Bass)
Hardware compensation:
iPod touch (16Gb) w extended AppleCare 2 year warranty
2008-2009 NC State Pilot Faculty Learning Communities
Two NC State Pilot Faculty Learning Communities were initiated by the Distance Learning Department in 2008. A call for applicants was put out at the end of Spring Quarter 2008 and the Communities were initiated with a kick off meeting on September 17, 2008 at the Kehoe Center. The Communities ran from Fall Quarter 2008 thru Spring Quarter 2009. Both FLCs presented their individual projects to the NC State community on the Faculty/Staff Development Day, April 24, 2009. Below are digital versions of the FLC participants research and findings. All FLC participants who successfully completed their project received Dell Mini laptops. No books were given to FLC participants.
Wind Up Anonymous Survey of 2008-2009 Pilot FLC Participants Experiences in their FLC
Improving Learning with Blackboard Faculty Learning CommunityFacilitator: Mike Welker, DL Dept. Establishing Best Practices for Teaching Hybrid BUS & FIN courses
-Suzanne Carmack, Adjunct Instructor BUS/FIN
Utilizing Blackboard to Enhance Learning Outcomes, Performance Evaluation & Accountability in ECE119
-Heiden Eichorn, Adjunct Instructor, ECE
A Research Project to Evaluate the Effectiveness of online Assignments in Completing a Major Class Assignment in PSY250 Abnormal Psychology
-Robert Lewis, Associate Professor, PSY
Improving Student Self-Reflection and Assessment in a Clinical Setting via Video with Blackboard
Jen Phenecie, Asst. Professor, ECE
Using Blackboard for Different Homework Methodologies in ELE224
Paul Silinsky, Adjunct Instructor, ELE, MTH & PHY
Using Blackboard as a Tool in the Blended Learning Model
-Amy Tyree, Adjunct Instructor, BIO
Improving Learning with Elluminate Faculty Learning CommunityFacilitator: Deb Barkhurst, DL Dept.
Using Elluminate synchronous online sessions to reinforce classroom Learning in CIS 190
-Kathy Eaken & Tammy Crain, Adjunct Instructors, CIS
Using Elluminate to Enhance an Online Literature Class
-Deb Hysell, Associate Professor, ENG
Using Elluminate for Virtual Adjunct Office Hours to Increase Faculty to Student Communication
- Dr.Ron Pagano, Adjunct Instructor, SOC & PSY
