Faculty Learning Communities
2006 Institute and Conference
2006 Institute and Conference Home
New Developer's Institute
FLC Conference
2006 Institute and Conference Home
New Developer's Institute
FLC Conference
The ultimate goal of all Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) is improved student learning. This interactive keynote session will present the findings of a large follow-up study of changes in student learning resulting from faculty participation in FLCs, and will discuss ways that student learning can be assessed as part of an FLC program. Survey respondents (N=395) indicated that their students' learning had improved in several important areas, including developing openness to new ideas, the ability to think holistically and creatively, and problem solving. Faculty based their assessment of learning change on various measurable and more "intangible" outcomes. These will be discussed in full and will serve as a springboard for brainstorming ways that student learning outcomes of FLCs can be evaluated and reported.
Andrea L. Beach is in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership at Western Michigan University, where she teaches in the Higher Education Leadership doctoral program. She is co-author of Creating the Future of Faculty Development: Learning from the Past, Understanding the Present and has published on the variation of faculty work, characteristics of the faculty development community, faculty development priorities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and faculty learning communities. She is currently external evaluator on three federal and foundation funded grants addressing faculty development and faculty learning communities.
This project has been supported in part by a grants from the US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and the Ohio Board of Regents.