scholarly journals Planning, Implementing, and Assessing an OER Faculty Learning Community: A Facilitator’s Lens

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mary Jo Orzech
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Center Staff ◽  
Faculty Learning Community ◽  
Faculty Learning ◽  
Comprehensive College

A librarian-led Faculty Learning Community (FLC) focused on Open Educational Resources (OER) can be a practical, low risk way to sustain campus-based OER programs during and after initial start-up. Creating a space for sharing teaching successes and challenges is an important goal in the iterative journey toward open. The experiences and trust fostered in an FLC can help grow awareness of and commitment to adopting, deepening, and expanding a culture of openness. FLCs provide an opportunity to lean into open that enhances cross-campus relationships, identifies gaps, and emphasizes collegiality while moving toward enriched teaching and learning. They provide a launching point for sharing pedagogical practice, and a valuable venue for new ideas. Key strategies for planning, implementing, and assessing a multidisciplinary OER faculty learning community are highlighted. Practical advice is emphasized to support successful outcomes that can be easily replicated. Ten top takeaways are summarized from a year spent facilitating an OER FLC in a four-year, public, comprehensive college that included the shift to online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it concludes with suggested next steps for continuing the OER conversation among faculty, students, librarians, instructional designers, teaching and learning center staff, administration, and other stakeholders.

scholarly journals Growing Lemon Trees from Lemons: Lessons Reaped from a SoTL Faculty Learning Community's Research "Failures"

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linh Dich ◽  
Karen M Brown ◽  
Jeff H Kuznekoff ◽  
Theresa Conover ◽  
John P Forren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Faculty Learning Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning Research ◽  
Faculty Learning

Failure can be central to faculty research; however, failure produces a vehicle for learning. Through an interdisciplinary faculty community, the authors supported each other in facing, learning from, and overcoming “failed” aspects of research projects. This article reports obstacles encountered in conducting Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research and the role of a faculty learning community in overcoming these challenges. Research pitfalls included lack of student participants, non-significant findings, expectations for understanding related course content, technology issues, use of deception, determining the research question, and managing bias. Ultimately, the faculty learning community engendered a foundation for successful research projects by shared inquiry into these research “failures.” 

Analyzing a faculty learning community strategy based on a process-genre approach supported by videos to develop the writing competence of English teaching students

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviana Rojas Caro ◽  
Beatriz Moya Figueroa ◽  
Tania Tagle Ochoa ◽  
Mónica Campos Espinoza ◽  
Lucía Ubilla Rosales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Step Cycle ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Faculty Learning Community ◽  
Faculty Learning ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Writing Competence

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this inquiry is to analyze the impacts of a teaching and learning strategy designed and implemented by a Chilean Faculty Learning Community (FLC) intended to develop the writing competence of student-teachers of an English Teaching Program. The FLC-led strategy was implemented through an eight-step cycle based on the process-genre approach and supported by educational videos. FLC members guided this cycle during writing sessions at the four levels of the English Linguistic Competence course at Universidad Católica de Temuco. The FLC implemented this experience to address the challenge of serving diverse students’ learning needs and meet the requirements of the national English proficiency standards required by the Chilean Ministry of Education. The FLC examined this experience focusing on students’ writing tasks results and their perceptions of the use of videos in the process, oriented by an impact and evaluation framework of teaching innovations and an action research design. The ages of trainee English teachers who participated in this innovation range between 18 and 22 years old. Students’ writing tests results were analyzed and compared to the suggested CEFR outcomes per level. Moreover, students shared their perceptions towards the use of videos through focus groups. Results show that most students improved their writing performance, especially in content and organization. Furthermore, students perceived that videos helped them contextualize their writing process and contribute as a support resource embedded in classroom activities. Overall, this experience helped the FLC members identify changes resulting from the innovations and areas of improvement.

Beyond Textbooks

2019 ◽  
pp. 182-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley S. J. Farmer
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Academic Needs ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Good Starting Point ◽  
Reference Tool

Textbooks can serve as a good starting point for learning concepts or serve as a reinforcing reference tool for students. However, to address the various academic needs of students, as well as to affirm the richness and depth of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions in online courses, online instructors should complement and supplement textbooks with other resources in various formats. Education has a growing need for digital resources, starting with digital textbooks, and expanding to other kinds of educational resources. Open educational resources, in particular, provide cost-effective and flexible tools for teaching and learning.

Towards Contextual Experimentation: Creating a Faculty Learning Community to Cultivate Writing-to-Learn Practices

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Chang ◽  
Kavita Rao ◽  
Maria L. Stewart ◽  
Cynthia A. Farley ◽  
Katherine Li
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Writing To Learn ◽  
Faculty Learning Community ◽  
Faculty Learning
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