Six UA faculty who are learning facilitators

Want to Increase Student Success? Join a Faculty Learning Community.

The Office of Academic Affairs invites applications to participate in one of UA’s three 2020 Faculty Learning Communities, also known at FLCs.

Six UA faculty who are learning facilitators
FLC facilitators for 2020 are Dr. Cecil Robinson, Community Health Sciences; Dr. Kristina McDonald, Arts and Sciences; Dr. Betty Key, Nursing; Dr. Mary Meares, Communication and Information Sciences; Dr. Derek Williamson, Engineering; and Dr. Charles Clark, Arts and Sciences.

“Faculty Learning Communities offer a unique opportunity for faculty and staff who share a passion for teaching and providing quality student experiences to engage in projects that ultimately lead to increases in student success,” said Dr. Kristina McDonald, FLC facilitator and associate professor in psychology. “These ‘grassroots’ projects are identified by faculty/staff and are executed and assessed through FLC member collaboration and support. Project findings will be disseminated across campus for broad adoption and through the scholarly literature, thus contributing to the research programs of the participants.”

The three FLCs for 2020 are:

  • Improving Student Learning: The S13 Project
  • Communicating about Race and Diversity
  • Engineering Education (EE) Research: Improving STEM Education and Engineering Formation

Overview

A UA FLC is a small group (six to eight members) of multidisciplinary faculty who build community by engaging with each other around central topics related to teaching and learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Through work in the FLC, each member is expected to implement a teaching and learning project and produce scholarship around teaching and learning.

Timeline

The FLCs will last 12-18 months, starting in January 2020.

  • Spring 2020: Learn about/discuss core topics, design an improvement project, identify publication/presentation outlets, meet every two to three weeks.
  • Fall 2020: Implement project, collect data, meet to support implementation every three to four weeks.
  • Spring 2021: Analyze data, refine/redesign implementation, submit results for presentation/publication.

Benefits

FLC members will develop community with like-minded faculty across campus and enjoy free food. Members will receive support to improve teaching and the scholarship of teaching. To support community-building, each FLC will be provided group travel funds to attend a national conference together. To support professional development, each member will receive $2000 upon successful completion of the FLC.

For more information and to apply, go to http://flc.ua.edu/. Applications are due by midnight on Nov. 15.