Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

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2009-2010 FLCs

To join or learn more about these FLCs, contact the facilitators listed below.

(NEW) Promoting Teaching Excellence and Quality Student Learning in Integrative Studies

Facilitators:
Kirk S. Kidwell, Assistant Professor/Assistant Director Center for Integrative Studies in Arts and Humanities, kidwell@cal.msu.edu
Rocio Quispe-Agnoli, Associate Professor/Director, Center for Integrative Studies in Arts and Humanities and Department of Spanish and Portuguese, quispeag@cal.msu.edu

This FLC proposes to help integrative studies faculty understand better the role and importance of integrative studies and how they might best teach such courses. FLC members will review the literature on general education and integrative learning, investigate best teaching practices, and explore the unique challenges and opportunities such courses pose for the faculty who teach and the students who enroll in these courses.

The primary audience for this FLC are faculty currently assigned to teach integrative studies courses in IAH, ISS, ISB, or ISP, as well as faculty who are interested in teaching integrative studies courses or who have been assigned to teach such courses in the future.

The FLC’s 2009-2010 goal is to develop a working bibliography of relevant integrative learning and general education literature, and to work collaboratively to develop an understanding of the role of integrative studies at MSU, how to best teach such courses, and how to enhance the excellence of MSU’s integrative studies approach to education.

FLC meetings are held on Fridays from Noon – 2:00 p.m. during Fall and Spring semester. (Please contact one of the co-facilitators for location information.)

Fall dates are as follows:

• September 18
• October 16
• November 13
• December 4
  

Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Facilitators:
Geoff Habron, Associate Professor, Fisheries and Wildlife and Sociology (habrong@msu.edu)

This FLC perceives a need to cultivate critical conversation at MSU regarding how to infuse sustainability into teaching and learning across all colleges. This includes fostering campus-wide familiarity and facility with competency-based learning and portfolio assessment.

The primary audience for this FLC is faculty, advisors and staff interested in sustainability and promoting the specialization.

Members plan to build a network of faculty, staff and advisors with familiarity with sustainability competences and program implementation; increase familiarity and use of pedagogies, content, and strategies that promote sustainability across the curriculum; refine existing competencies; generate and test assessment rubrics; and build capacity for competency assessment using electronic portfolio input and review systems.

Fall dates are as follows:

• Sept. 11, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Oct. 9, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Oct. 30, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Nov. 13, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Dec. 4, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

FLC meetings are held in room 152, Natural Resources.

Teaching and Learning Abroad

Facilitators:
Inge Steglitz, Assistant Director of Study Abroad (steglitz@msu.edu)
James Lucas, Assistant to the Dean, International Academic Student Life (lucasjam@msu.edu)

In response to recommendations by the MSU Study Abroad Task Force Report and in the spirit of Internationalizing the Student Experience, there is a need for an on-going discussion related to best practices and pedagogy for education abroad instruction (before, during, and after the student’s experience), research on this topic, and development of resources to support MSU faculty and staff.

This FLC is designed to provide a forum for such discussion and resource development. The goals for 2009-2010 FLC members include developing on-line resources that support high quality study abroad experiences and developing a series of workshops designed to assist program leaders with study abroad program development.

Though FLCs are intended primarily for faculty, we would like to invite anyone to submit an application for membership who…

• currently leads or aspires to lead a study abroad program
• orks with study abroad students before and after their program participation
• would like to participate as we work toward advancing excellence in teaching and learning abroad

Interested? Apply here (Microsoft Word .doc document).

Quality Issues in Online Learning

Facilitators:
Cathleen McGreal, Associate Professor, Psychology (mcgreal@msu.edu)
R. Joy Durding, Instructor, Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures (durdingr@msu.edu)

There is considerable interest in improving the quality of online and blended courses at Michigan State University. Each year at the Spring Institute the eproducers at the Virtual University offer a workshop on Blended Learning. Our FLC is resource for those attending this workshop to meet with other individuals across various disciplines who are incorporating technology into their teaching. Although the focus is on online learning the range is from fully online classes to blended enriched courses. There is considerable variation in terms of experience and so the FLC functions at times as a source of support and mentoring.

The FLC will itself also function as a hybrid/blended community through our ANGEL Group site.

The proposed audience includes individuals actively engaged in online or blended course preparation or teaching.

The 2009-2010 FLC goals are to integrate course readings into individual projects. In addition, group projects will be added to the Learning Object Repository (LOR) created by the 2008-2009 FLC so that members can benefit through these shared learning objectives.

FLC meetings are held on Fridays from 9:45 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. during Fall and Spring semester at Snyder-Phillips Hall.

Fall dates are as follows:

• September 18
• October 16
• November 13
• December 4

Science Writing: Teaching and Learning

Facilitators:
Terri Trupiano Barry, Visiting Assistant Professor, Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures (barryter@msu.edu)
Michael Orth, Associate Professor, Animal Science (orthm@msu.edu)

One of the most common complaints of prospective employers of graduating seniors in the sciences is their inability to write well. In fact The National Commission on Writing reported that companies may spend over $3 billion dollars to help remedy deficiencies in the writing skills of their employees (Report of 2004). We believe that by creating a cohort of teachers in the sciences and writing, we can begin to ameliorate this problem on our campus.

The FLC’s 2009-2010 goals include reading and discussing readings on student-centered learning and teaching portfolios; observing FLC colleagues’ classes; creating a website for designing effective writing assignments in the sciences; and developing ways for more collaboration across colleges to implement more writing in the sciences.

All meetings are 12:00 - 2:00 PM in 218 Bessey Hall.

Fall dates are as follows:

• October 23
• November 6
• November 20
• December 11

Effective Teaching in Large Classes

Facilitators:
Fred Jacobs, Associate Professor, Accounting and Information Systems(jacobs@bus.msu.edu)
Jon Stoltzfus, Instructor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (stoltzfu@msu.edu)

Virtually every MSU student enrolls in at least one large class during their first two years, with the University offering numerous large classes across almost all disciplines. Effective instruction in large classes typically demands instructional approaches that are different than those that work in classes of 30-50 students, and faculty who teach large courses may not be familiar with some of these methods for engaging large classes. This Learning Community is designed to facilitate discussion among those who teach large classes to share best practices with other instructors. This FLC has the potential to affect the learning of many students across the MSU campus.

The FLC’s 2009-2010 goals include visiting the classes of faculty who have been recognized for their work with large classes, followed by structured debriefings; exploring how faculty teaching large classes are evaluated, and disseminating best practices.

All meetings are held at 2:00 PM in room 13 of the Business Library.

Fall dates are as follows:

• Thursday, October 15 at 2:00
• Thursday, November 12 at 2:00
• Thursday, December 3 at 2:00

Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment

Facilitators:
Fayyaz Hussain, Assistant Professor, Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science (hussain3@msu.edu)
Richard Lee, Specialist-Advisor, Supportive Services Program (leer@msu.edu)

This FLC is designed to be an experiential and personal exploration of one’s understanding of how our encounters in life impact not only us but others in the classroom and beyond. The format is intended for every participant to be not only a learner, but also an instructor. This FLC is based on the premise that the more we learn about ourselves, the more effectively we can interact with those who are different from us. By sharing experiences and life-changing incidents through activities, guest speakers, special readings and inter-group dialogue, it is anticipated that each person will proceed along a course of reflective self-development. Differences discussed may include; class, gender, gender identity, race/ethnicity, age, religion, capabilities and others. The ultimate goal is that each participant will leave with a toolbox of useful methodologies to integrate healthy and productive approaches into their pedagogies as they relate to living in a diverse world.

Given below is our schedule for our meetings for this semester.

• September 11, 2009
• October 9, 2009
• November 13, 2009
• December 11, 2009

All meetings are scheduled in Mason Seminar Room (149 West) in Snyder Phillips Hall at 11:30-1:30 P.M.

If you have questions or comments, please contact the Office of Faculty and Organizational Development, at 432-2033 or facdevel@msu.edu.