C2L Faculty Development

Northwestern Connecticut Community College highlights

Pace UniversityAnd

Norwalk Community College

#1 What did you find most interesting or impressive about this practice? What did you really like about it? What

did you learn by reading about this practice?

O Collaborative Practices: We were drawn to both of these practices because they work with cohorts of faculty across disciplines. We feel this approach provides a unique opportunity to foster collaborative learning and mentorship among faculty.

O Pace – The Teaching Circles consist of three meetings throughout a semester with a group of 10 faculty who are committed to using ePortfolio in an upcoming semester. The goals for the 3 sessions are to: introduce you to all the capacities of the eP, exchange ideas about pedagogical issues surrounding it; explore best practices, and plan for using it in the following semester—for a specific course and for designated assignments.

O Norwalk – In the ePortfolio Introductory Workshop we work with 10-15 new faculty per semester. Our main goal for these workshops is to stir faculty enthusiasm for ePortfolio, get them to understand how to use them in their classes, why they should be using them and the best pedagogy to use in implementing it with their students.

#2 What questions does it raise? What would you want to know more about?

O Frontloading: Both Pace and Norwalk do the majority of their faculty development workshops before faculty actually integrate ePortfolio into their courses.

O Does this provide a key opportunity to build shared trust, motivation, and language in advance?

O Could this create disconnect between theoretical applications and actual practice?

#3 Did you see evidence in the posting that demonstrated that the practice was effective? If so, what

evidence was most persuasive? Why?

O  Faculty responsiveness: Both Pace and Norwalk surveyed faculty in some format and were able to use what they learned to continue to improve their faculty development process going forward. In both cases, faculty found the workshops worthwhile, and that bodes well for sustainability and future buy-in.

#4 Think analytically: Assuming this practice is effective, what factors in its design might make it so? Does it

demonstrate any of the Angelo principles we’ve discussed? Does it suggest other principles?

O Angelo: Builds shared trust, motivation, and language. Frontloading development allows faculty to “begin with the end in mind” and thus plan systematically. These practices model the kind of collaborative learning and reflective thinking that we hope to build with our students.

O Integrative Learning: Because of the cross-disciplinary nature of the workshops, these faculty development models seem uniquely designed to give birth to integrative learning through faculty collaboration with a common tool, ePortfolio.

#5 Think about your own faculty development practices: How is this approach similar or different? What could you

borrow or adapt to use on your own campus?

“Don’t borrow, steal!” – Robert Frost

OAs we planned our faculty development model at NCCC, we were already familiar with Pace’s Teaching Circles, and we share the tradition of cooperative Center for Teaching activities with Norwalk. So, we knew we wanted to create a collaborative faculty development program across disciplines and programs. This also supports our holistic approach to student portfolio construction.OOne key difference is that we plan to work with each cohort of 10 faculty for a year while they actively implement ePortfolio into their classes in two consecutive semesters.

#5 Think about your own faculty development practices: How is this approach similar or different? What could you

borrow or adapt to use on your own campus?

“Don’t borrow, steal!” – Robert Frost

OAs we planned our faculty development model at NCCC, we were already familiar with Pace’s Teaching Circles, and we share the tradition of cooperative Center for Teaching activities with Norwalk. So, we knew we wanted to create a collaborative faculty development program across disciplines and programs. This also supports our holistic approach to student portfolio construction.OOne key difference is that we plan to work with each cohort of 10 faculty for a year while they actively implement ePortfolio into their classes in two consecutive semesters.