History and Goals
The CTL piloted Faculty and Professional Learning Communities (FPLCs) in the fall of 2011. FPLCs bring together educators from different disciplines to discuss, reflect, and collaborate on a teaching and learning topic of mutual interest. FPLCs pursue the shared goals of participants, model peer learning practices, and promote lifelong learning in an atmosphere of mutual support and discovery.
Who participates?
Anyone with a teaching role: Faculty, part-time lecturers, adjunct faculty, graduate students, instructional librarians, and staff educators.
How big are the groups?
FPLCs are typically 6 – 12 people. Teaching Circles are about half that size.
How often do groups meet?
FPLCs meet weekly throughout most of an academic quarter. A few continue beyond. Teaching Circles meet less often, but over a longer period of time.
What are the goals of an FPLC?
- to support you and your work as teaching scholars and staff educators
- to share resources and expertise
- to encourage evidence-based decisions about teaching
- to sustain and strengthen the UW teaching community.
What are the roles and expectations of participants?
Participants attend the sessions, assist in developing the FPLC’s agendas and group goals, and contribute to session discussions and activities. After the FPLC concludes, we encourage each group to submit a brief summary of group goals, discussion topics, outcomes, and next steps to be shared on the CTL website. We also hope that participants will share what you have learned in other venues, so that colleagues can learn from your expertise and experience. Sharing out could mean serving as a facilitator for a future FPLC, teaching a workshop, contributing a blog entry or teaching strategy to the CTL web site, presenting a poster, publishing in a journal or newsletter, or leading a discussion among colleagues.
What is CTL’s role in a learning community?
We help form the FPLCs and provide space in which to meet. We provide or find facilitators, and provide resources as needed. The facilitator is responsible for organizing and facilitating group activities and conversations. After the conclusion of the FPLC, the CTL follows up with participants periodically to discover how their new knowledge, as a result of participating in the FPLC, has impacted or transformed their teaching as well as their students’ learning.
Past FPLCs
Winter 2013 (Full descriptions)
- Leading Large Classes
- Service-learning in Study Abroad
- “Flipping” the Classroom
Fall 2012 (Full descriptions)
- Integrating Leadership Education
- Engaging Students in Large Classes
- “So you think you can’t dance?” Arts-based Pedagogies
- Flipping the Classroom
Summer 2012 (Full description)
- Fostering Future Faculty (for graduate students and post-docs)
Spring 2012 (Full descriptions)
- Engaging Students in Larger Classes (50 – 200)
- Engaging Students in Larger Classes (200 or greater)
- Exploring Service Learning
- Fostering Future Faculty (for graduate students and post-docs)
- Leading Dynamic Discussions
- Pedagogy in Study Abroad Programs
- Social Media for Learning
- Supporting English Language Learners in the Classroom
Winter 2012 (Full descriptions)
- Canvas Course Management
- Engaging Students in Large Classes
- Interactive Theater as Pedagogy
- Leading Dynamic Discussions
- Social Media for Learning