Faculty Learning Communities

Classroom Technology

This FLC explores technology available from outside sources and evaluates their potential for use at the University of Utah.  We will examine technology including student response systems (clickers), systems to detect plagiarism, system to aid in the grading of student work, video feedback systems, etc.  No system is appropriate for all classroom situations and therefore the FLC will discuss if and when they are appropriate.  These recommendations will be given to the Directors of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE), Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) and the University Online System (U Online) as well as be available on the CTLE website.  For faculty members interested in specific types of classroom software or in classroom softwear in general, this FLC will let you voice how and when classroom software is used within the University of Utah system. 

Community Engaged Learning (CEL)
Sponsored by the Bennion Center and CTLE

Best practices too often reflect common practices. This group will meet monthly to form a teaching cohort committed to discovering the “next” in community engaged learning (CEL). We will read and discuss articles that challenge our conceptions of community engaged pedagogy and confront complex issues that can surface in our classrooms as our students cross the boundaries between the U and broader communities. To this end, we invite faculty from across campus to participate in a difficult dialogue focused on why our communities still wrestle with the same injustices and inequalities that inspired the contemporary community engagement movement (Kliewer 2013).

Digital Matters in the Humanities 

This group meets regularly to examine current issues in digital humanities, discuss challenges related to infrastructure and institutional recognition at both local and national levels, and workshop the research and teaching of group members. We aim to further a multi-year effort to bring together scholars from disparate parts of campus to crystallize digital humanities collaborative projects in building and teaching.

Inclusivity in the Classroom

This group meets once a month over lunch to discuss inclusive teaching and learning strategies in the classroom. These discussions will cover a range of topics informed by bias incidents reports as well as experiences in your own classrooms. Through interdisciplinary discussion with colleagues, we will share perspectives around research and best practices for creating inclusive classrooms. 

Global and Intercultural Learning (GIL)

The group meets once per month and discussions focus on internationalizing the curriculum, sharing information about curriculum/course revision to integrate global and intercultural learning, developing global learning outcomes and assessment, making the case with those who are skeptical regarding global learning, the connection between intercultural learning and diversity, as well as other topics.  We have had guest speakers and are interested in developing more professional development opportunities for faculty focused on the integration of global and intercultural learning. Some of the FLC members are attending the annual AAC&U conference on global learning in October and a global learning retreat in late September hosted by the Office for Global Engagement. Meetings this semester will focus on debriefing from the conference and retreat as well as readings from the book: Making Global Learning Universal Promoting Inclusion and Success for All Students, by Hilary Landorf, Stephanie Doscher, Jaffus Hardrick. The following website provides more information on Global Learning: https://global.utah.edu/global-resources/global-learning-resources.php

Spiritual and Religious Inclusivity in the Classroom

How should instructors deal with conversations about spirituality and religiosity in the classroom?  Do such conversations even have a place in academia?  And are there appropriate ways to express spirituality and religiosity in the secular university? 

Instructors report that spirituality and religion are two of the most difficult conversations that they deal with in their classrooms.  Research also shows that the majority of students, staff, and faculty report that spirituality or religiosity are important in the professional and personal lives.  The University is a location blessed with a diversity of spiritual and religious diversity, but such diversity is seldom discussed, much less honored in academic spaces. 

The purpose of this Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is to provide an inclusive space for people to gather and dialogue about spirituality and religiosity.  All campus staff, faculty, and student teaching assistants are invited to join this FLC, which will be held once a month at the CLTE on campus.  Each month, we will invite a participant or outside guest to facilitate a brief experiential exercise/ritual from their own wisdom tradition.  We will also provide time for dialogue on issues, questions, and concerns that participants bring to each meeting.

Sustainability

This group meets once or twice per semester to discuss sustainability education with visiting scholars who have demonstrated excellence in their field.  It is our hope that interdisciplinary discussion and workshopping will bring new, improved perspectives and practices to educators in our community. Participation is capped at 20 people to ensure the ability to share ideas in an intimate setting.

Teaching and Learning during a pandemic, protests and polarization

There is no one who has not been impacted by the pandemic, protests, and polarization we are experiencing in 2020.

 At the University, we teachers are challenged to not only quickly learn how to teach online and hybrid classes, but also to learn new approaches to self-care and new ways to help our students face our current challenges and co-develop new ways to effectively address them.  

 In this Faculty Learning Community, open to all instructors on campus, we will:

•  Co-develop a brave space in which we can dialogue about these critical issues.
• Examine the unique opportunity university instructors have to make a difference in this challenging time.
• Address the relationship of our current local and global challenges with our teaching goals and approaches.
• Imagine a future that is informed by this present crises in which we begin to collectively address the great challenges that face humanity today.