FLCs by Series

Cohort-Based FLCs

Contemplative Pedagogy FLCs

Effective Teaching: Classic and Contemporary Thought FLCs

Fostering Belonging in the Classroom and Community FLCs

Strong Start Initiative FLCs

Topic-Based FLCs

Women In Academia FLCs

Core Teaching Practices - Building Respectful Relationships (Group 1)

Winter 2022

How might we apply the core practice of "building respectful relationships" across Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching (PCKET) and Educational Studies (ES) courses?

This Faculty Learning Community will focus on the following Core Teaching Practice: Learning about students' cultural, religious, family, intellectual, personal experiences, and resources for use in instruction. We will utilize the Teaching Works website materials (videos, articles, exercises), as well as Paris & Alim's book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World, to frame our discussion. A faculty member from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Community Innovation will coordinate facilitation of VLCs on the downtown and Allendale campus, in which PCKET and ES faculty are encouraged to collaboratively participant.

***This FLC is open to PKCET and ES faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: Wednesdays from 10am–11am

Location/Campus: Online/Zoom

Facilitator: Amy Masko, English, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Core Teaching Practices - Building Respectful Relationships (Group 2)

Winter 2022

How might we apply the core practice of "building respectful relationships" across Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching (PCKET) and Educational Studies (ES) courses?

This Faculty Learning Community will focus on the following Core Teaching Practice: Learning about students' cultural, religious, family, intellectual, personal experiences, and resources for use in instruction. We will utilize the Teaching Works website materials (videos, articles, exercises), as well as Paris & Alim's book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World, to frame our discussion. A faculty member from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Community Innovation will coordinate facilitation of VLCs on the downtown and Allendale campus, in which PCKET and ES faculty are encouraged to collaboratively participant.

***This FLC is open to PKCET and ES faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: Thursdays from 2pm–3pm

Location/Campus: Online/Zoom

Facilitator: Megan Freudigmann, Education Program—Teaching and Learning, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Core Teaching Practices: Leading a Group Discussion & Setting Up and Managing Small Group Work (Meeting IN-PERSON)

Winter 2022

How might we apply the core teaching practices of "leading a group discussion" and "setting up and managing small group work" across Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching (PCKET) and Education Studies (ES) courses?

This Faculty Learning Community will focus on the two Core Teaching Practices: Leading a group discussion and setting up and managing small group work. We will utilize the Teaching Works website materials (videos, articles, exercises), as well as Pam Grossman's edited book, Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education, to frame our discussion. A faculty member form the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Community Innovation will coordinate facilitation of two FLCs in which PCKET and ES faculty are encouraged to collaboratively participate.

***This FLC is open to PCKET and ES faculty only***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Meeting IN-PERSON on the Allendale Campus

Facilitator: David Zwart, History, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Core Teaching Practices: Leading a Group Discussion & Setting Up and Managing Small Group Work (Meeting VIRTUALLY)

Winter 2022

How might we apply the core teaching practices of "leading a group discussion" and "setting up and managing small group work" across Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching (PCKET) and Education Studies (ES) courses?

This Faculty Learning Community will focus on the two Core Teaching Practices: Leading a group discussion and setting up and managing small group work. We will utilize the Teaching Works website materials (videos, articles, exercises), as well as Pam Grossman's edited book, Teaching Core Practices in Teacher Education, to frame our discussion. A faculty member form the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Community Innovation will coordinate facilitation of two FLCs in which PCKET and ES faculty are encouraged to collaboratively participate.

***This FLC is open to PCKET and ES faculty only***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/ Zoom

Facilitator: Min-Young Kim, Education Programs—Department of Literacy Educational Foundations and Technology, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Educational Foundations 115 (EDF 115): Introduction to Education & Exploration of Schooling in America--Instructor Collaboration

Fall 2021

How does instructor collaboration affect student learning experiences in an introduction to education course that incorporates field experiences?

This EDF 115 Instructor Collaboration will explore the initial rollout of a new introduction to an education course that includes field experiences. The group will use Susan Satone's Reframing the Curriculum: Design for Social Justice and Sustainability as a starting point for the discussion. Participants will be encouraged to develop best practices for organizing, teaching, and assessing student success.

***This FLC is open to College of Education and Community Innovation faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Facilitator: Terry Stockton, Education Programs–Department of Literacy Educational Foundations & Technology, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Facilitating Learning with Formative Assessment

Fall 2021

How might we incorporate formative assessment into instruction in a way that facilitates student learning, enhances teacher instruction, and empowers and motivates both students and teachers?

The faculty of the Literacy Studies Master's Program has recently revised the content of the curriculum to (1) better meet the needs of graduate candidates and their PK-12 students, as well as (2) better reflect the current knowledge base and practices of reading/literacy specialists and literacy coaches, the profession to which candidates aspire. We aim to update our pedagogy as well as the content of the program. Formative assessment has consistently been shown to be a powerful tool in facilitating teaching and learning. However, the most powerful pieces of formative assessment (e.g., self-assessment) have proven elusive, difficult for even the most seasoned teachers to implement. Participants will use the book, Transformative Assessment, to provide guidance on the more nuanced aspects of formative assessment and to support efforts to enhance student learning in very deliberate ways.

***This FLC is open to College of Education and Community Innovation Literacy Studies faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting from 8:30am–9:30am on the following Tuesdays

• September 14 & 28
• October 12 & 26
• November 9 & 30
• December 14

Location/Campus: Hybrid (some fully in-person meetings and some fully online/virtual)

Facilitator: Nancy DeFrance, Education Programs–Department of Literacy Educational Foundations & Technology, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

KCON Writing Circle

Fall 2021 & Winter 2022 (year-long)

How might we best develop and sustain scholarship development and dissemination for KCON faculty?

KCON is invested in improving outcomes in developing, sustaining and disseminating scholarship. This FLC is designed to support that goal through regular monthly meetings throughout the academic year, as well as a culminating writing retreat at the end of the year. Faculty in the community will explore writing habits and skills that foster dissemination fo established scholarship projects. They will share resources with one another, including the development of scholarship teams as applicable.

***This FLC is open to KCON faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Likely Virtual but would be held on Health Campus if in-person.  Meetings will not combine in-person and virtual participation in a single meeting.

Facilitator: Susan Strouse, Nursing, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

MLL Digital Learning Initiative

Spring/Summer and Fall 2021

How might we adapt current course delivery methods in order to increase access through online learning, while also promoting proficiency development and community building?

In this FLC, we will explore various models and tools for online language learning, share ideas for innovative course design, and provide support and feedback in the curriculum development process.

***This FLC is open to MLL faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Janel Pettes Guikema, Modern Languages and Literatures, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Jeremy Robinson, Modern Languages and Literatures and Area Global Studies, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Strategies for Academic Success Course Development

Winter 2022

What course approaches, supports, and learning objectives best serve students on academic probation or jeopardy of dismissal?

In this FLC, adjunct faculty will be invited to collaborate and discuss their individual approach to service students in academic distress. Through collaboration, instructors will have an opportunity to align content and pedagogies that are deemed to be best practices.

***This FLC is open to EDH 182 faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Pew Grand Rapids Campus—Hybrid Meeting Format

Facilitator: Terry Stockton, Education Programs–Department of Literacy Educational Foundations & Technology, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Tribal Leadership

Winter 2022

How might we leverage the natural phenomenon of human tribes to improve effectiveness, engagement, and satisfaction at work?

For centuries, human beings have naturally organized themselves in tribes as a way of improving their lives.  In the book, "Tribal Leadership", the authors outline five developmental stages of a tribe, beginning with alienation and moving upward to high-functioning teams. Participants in this FLC will be invited to explore how these tribal stages could be applied to building a stronger departmental culture.

***This FLC is open to Music, Theatre and Dance Faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting from 4pm–5pm on the following Tuesdays

• February 1 & 15
• March 1, 15 and 29
• April 12

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Kathryn Stieler, Music, Theatre and Dance and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Fall 2021

How might we carry out our work in a richer, more engaged way by knowing the research around timing?

Many of us stumble through our day doing the best we can to complete tasks, serve our students, and hopefully have something left for ourselves at the end. Daniel Pink's book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, presents the science around how to use our time more effectively and make the most of this limited resource. This faculty learning community will explore the science of timing as it specifically relates to better managing our workload, as well as teaching our students to manage theirs.

***This FLC is open to Music, Theatre, and Dance faculty only.***

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting from 9am–10am on the following Tuesdays

• September 21
• October 5 & 19
• November 2, 16, and 30

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Kathryn Stieler, Music, Theatre, and Dance and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change

Winter 2022

How might we practice mindfulness to become fearless and present even in the hardest times and the most difficult situations?     

Uncertainty and changes are some of the foundation of our everyday lives, yet we often react to change and uncertainty with resistance, fear, and anger. In this FLC we will use Pema Chödrön's book, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change, to consider how we might use mindfulness to let go of protective yet ineffective ways of thinking and become fearless and present, even in the hardest times and the hardest times and the most challenging situations.

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting from 1:30pm–2:30pm on the following Fridays

• January 21
• February 4 & 18
• March 4 & 18
• April 1 & 15

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Kathryn (Kate) Remlinger, English Department, [email protected]

Co-facilitator: Kathryn Stieler, Music, Theatre, and Dance and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, s[email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Tell Me So I Can Hear You

Fall 2021

How might we, as educators, learn to deliver feedback in a way that strengthens relationships as well as performance and builds the capacity for growth?

Drawing on constructive-developmental theory, Eleanor Drago-Severson and Jessica Blum-DeStefano, authors of Tell Me So I Can Hear You, explain how to differentiate feedback for colleagues with different “ways of knowing". This FLC will provide space for faculty to consider how we might provide feedback to colleagues and students by creating a safe space, finding the right words, and bridging feedback and action, all in an effort to support a culture of learning.

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting (on Zoom) from 1pm–2pm on the following Mondays

• September 13 & 27
• October 11
• November 1, 15, & 29

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Kathryn Stieler, Music, Theatre, and Dance and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, s[email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Martina Reinhold, Physician Assistant Studies, r[email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Ten Percent Happier: An Introduction to Mindfulness

Fall 2021

How might I use mindfulness to "tame the voice in my head and reduce stress without losing my edge (Dan Harris, Journalist)"?

If you are looking for a way to feel more grounded and effective in the classroom this fall, the bestseller, "Ten Percent Happier" by Dan Harris, is a plain-spoken, thoughtful, and witty introduction to a mindfulness practice from the perspective of a healthy skeptic. The book will help us to explore the basic elements of a mindfulness practice, engage in short mindfulness exercises, and discuss how mindfulness may positively influence us and our students.

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting (on Zoom) from 2pm–3pm on the following Wednesdays

• September 15 & 29
• October 13 & 27
• November 10
• December 1

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Kathryn Stieler, Music, Theatre, and Dance and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, s[email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Unwinding Anxiety: Train Your Brain to Heal Your Mind

Winter 2022

How might we quiet our anxiety by breaking the cycle of worry and fear and making room for a more balanced experience?   

Anxiety is described as a feeling of worry, dread and uneasiness that often leads to restlessness, tension, stress and even an increased heart rate.  Many of us are experiencing increased levels of anxiety at home and at work as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.  This FLC will provide space for faculty to identify and diffuse triggers of anxiety as well as the addictive behaviors and bad habits that we adopt to cope with anxiety (e.g. stress eating, procrastination, and doom scrolling). In his book, Unwinding Anxiety: Train Your Brain to Heal Your Mind, Judson Brewer offers a clear, solution-oriented program to overcome our bad habit loops, change them and ultimately quiet our anxiety.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Martina Reinhold, Physician Assistant Studies, r[email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress

Fall 2021

How might we "teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of students," as bell hooks urges us to do in Teaching to Transgress?

"To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin." So wrote bell hooks in Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (Routledge, 1994). While caring for the souls of students might sound more like a job for the campus chaplain than a college professor, when we delve into her classic text, we come to realize that hooks was advocating concern for students' overall well-being within a social-justice framework, an approach which seems prescient and vital in the age of Black Lives Matter and COVID-19. Participants in this FLC will read, discuss, and consider ways in which they might apply hooks's pedagogical vision.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literature and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It

***This FLC is now FULL.***

Winter 2022

What techniques might instructors use to help students focus and learn more?

In iGen, Jean Twenge argued that young peoples’ growing brains have been rewired for the worse by the thousands of hours they spend on their phones, inhibiting their ability to focus. This makes our job as instructors even harder. (This said, if we’re honest with ourselves, we instructors might admit to being distracted, too.) In his new book, Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It, James Lang (author of Small Teaching and Small Teaching Online) offers hope in the form of strategies and techniques we might use to help our students focus and learn what we’re trying to teach them.

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting from 10–11am on the following Fridays

• January 28
• February 11 & 25
• March 18
• April 1, 15, & 29

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literature and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Grace Coolidge, History, [email protected] 

This FLC is now FULL and no longer accepting members.

Strong Start/ Radical Hope/ Small Teaching (meeting VIRTUALLY)

Fall 2021

How can pedagogical praxis—i.e. philosophy + practices–help us effectively teach COVID-disrupted students, especially first year?

***THIS FLC WILL BE FACILITATED BY DAVID EICK AND WILL MEET VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM***

As COVID lingers, we're uncertain as to what teaching will be like in 2021-22, nor do we know what our students will be like—traumatized, resilient, or both. To meet the challenge of teaching COVID-disrupted students, especially (but not limited to) the incoming cohort, let's bone up on what Paolo Freire called 'praxis', the amalgam of an over-arching philosophy and politics of teaching plus the ways in which we enact this vision. In this FLC, we will read and discuss two books: first, for inspiration in these fraught times, Kevin Gannon's Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (West Virginia UP, 2020). Then, for applicable best practices, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning, by James Lang (Jossey-Bass, 2016).

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literature and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Tom Pentecost, Chemistry and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Examining Syllabi & Instruction Through an Anti-Racist Lens

Fall 2021

How are anti-racist pedagogies present or how might they be incorporated in our syllabus?

As faculty have been exploring anti-racism, white privilege, and intersectionality from a distance, a need has arisen to explore concrete ways in which these concepts are present, have been deliberately incorporated, or could be further embedded into our syllabi and instruction. Thus, this community will invite faculty to apply a critical eye to a syllabus of their choosing, helping ensure that what they intend to do around anti-racism actually happens. Faculty may systematically share, examine, discuss, and critique their instructional materials and pedagogical decision-making, using prompts like, “What ideologies are my expectations of students rooted in?”, “Do I include marginalized voices and perspectives in my curriculum”, “How does my positionality influence my teaching of the content?”, and “Do my assignments allow for diverse responses”?

***This FLC is open to College of Education and Community Innovation faculty only***

This FLC is currently FULL and no longer accepting applications.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Facilitator: Kevin Holohan, Educational Foundations, h[email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Kathryn Ohle, Education–Teaching and Learning, [email protected]

This FLC is currently FULL and no longer accepting applications.

Making Indigenous Space: Curriculum Development, Mentoring, and Pedagogical Practice

Winter 2022

How might we use Indigenous Research Paradigms to create Indigenous-centered curriculum for all students?

We will examine Indigenous paradigms and worldviews and discuss how to enact them in our classrooms and advising. Participants will also be invited to reflect on their own subject position and the responsibilities that come with engaging with Indigenous worldviews.

Due to high demand, we have created two different groups for this FLC. Both groups will be covering the same topics and using the same materials.

Meeting Dates/Times: There are two groups meeting for this FLC—both groups meet on the same Fridays listed below

• Group led by Andrea Riley-Mukavetz will meet from 9am–10am on the Fridays listed below
• Group led by Santos Ramos will meet from 1pm–2pm on the Fridays listed below
  • January 28
  • February 11 & 25
  • March 18
  • April 1 & 15

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Andrea Riley-Mukavetz, Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Santos Ramos, Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

What's the Use: On the Uses of Use

Fall 2021

How might we critically question the practical implications of "use" as they affect our pedagogies and research?

Sarah Ahmed’s What’s the Use: On the Uses of Use examines what “use” means through time and space within a deep consideration of how we come to understand “use” in various contexts. Considering use provides us timely opportunities to consider how we can participate in generating practical transformation in our world. Drawing on her previous work about feminist and queer epistemologies, we hope that this FLC brings together members of the university community to critically reflect on how usefulness and disuse affect diversity, meaning, and functionality in academia and our communities. How does this impact our teaching, our research and the ways we move through the world?

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: TBD

Facilitator: Amber Dierking, University Libraries, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Dawn Rutecki, Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies, r[email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Strong Start/ Radical Hope/ Small Teaching (meeting VIRTUALLY)

Fall 2021

How can pedagogical praxis—i.e. philosophy + practices–help us effectively teach COVID-disrupted students, especially first year?

***THIS FLC WILL BE FACILITATED BY DAVID EICK AND WILL MEET VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM***

As COVID lingers, we're uncertain as to what teaching will be like in 2021-22, nor do we know what our students will be like—traumatized, resilient, or both. To meet the challenge of teaching COVID-disrupted students, especially (but not limited to) the incoming cohort, let's bone up on what Paolo Freire called 'praxis', the amalgam of an over-arching philosophy and politics of teaching plus the ways in which we enact this vision. In this FLC, we will read and discuss two books: first, for inspiration in these fraught times, Kevin Gannon's Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (West Virginia UP, 2020). Then, for applicable best practices, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning, by James Lang (Jossey-Bass, 2016).

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literature and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Tom Pentecost, Chemistry and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Active Learning Classrooms

Winter 2022

How might we create and use physical learning spaces that amplify the positive effects of active learning?

Physical classroom spaces have a profound effect on how students learn. In this Faculty Learning Community, we will explore the concept of the "active learning classroom" (ALC), a physical space specifically designed to facilitate active learning. ALCs come in many shapes and sizes for different needs -- and GVSU has several of them! As we learn about active learning and ALCs in general, we'll be making field trips to ALCs in Allendale and Grand Rapids to see firsthand what these spaces look and feel like, and how they can be used to transform teaching and learning.

***This FLC is currently FULL.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: In-Person, rotating campuses

Facilitator: Robert Talbert, Mathematics, [email protected]

This FLC is currently FULL.

Becoming a White Antiracist Educator

Spring/Summer 2022 

I'm white, and I mean well, but are there things I could do in order to teach in a more racially just manner? 

Incorporating the insights of Ibram X. Kendi, Stephen Brookfield's new book, Becoming a White Antiracist: A Practical Guide for Educators, Leaders, and Activists, promises to be a timely and useful guide to those of us who want to teach in more racially just ways but aren't sure how. Participants will be invited to read and discuss the book with a view toward applying its precepts in our work with students and colleagues. Meeting location TBD by group consensus. 

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: In-Person

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literatures, [email protected] 

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Critical University Studies and the Student Debt Crisis

Winter 2022

How can broad faculty engagement with the interdisciplinary field of Critical University Studies (CUS) help us to design pedagogies that promote and achieve greater equality of educational outcomes for students along the lines of race and class?

This FLC will serve as an introduction to the field of Critical University Studies (CUS). While CUS is broadly preoccupied with discourse on "the idea of the university," and how it has changed due to privatization trends in higher ed since the 1970s, in Winter 2022 we will engage with recent work by key figures in the field that critically examines the student debt crisis.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Hybrid (some in-person meetings and some online/virtual meetings)

Facilitator: Brian Deyo, English, [email protected]

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Designing an Effective SWS Course

Fall 2021

How might research on writing and writing instruction help to design the most effective SWS course possible?

Participants in this community will be invited to consider theory and research on writing and how students learn to write and how faculty may apply this knowledge to designing SWS course materials. Short readings of condensed explanations of Writing Studies research on writing and pedagogy will be made available. Discussions will center on understanding the material and its implications for SWS instruction and then applying insights in creating course materials or even applying them to courses in progress. Additional topics will include what it means to see writing as a rhetorical process; counterintuitive realities of how students learn to write; principles of instructional design, especially for writing instruction; and how teaching writing can actually support teaching disciplinary content.

Meeting Dates/Times: Meeting virtually (Zoom) on the following Tuesdays and Fridays from 11am–12pm

• September 10 & 21
• October 8 & 19
• November 5 & 16

Location/Campus: Online/Virtual

Facilitator: Jerry Stinnett, Writing, s[email protected]

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Emotions: Learning the Language that Shapes Our Experiences

Spring/Summer 2022

How might we learn more about our emotions so that we are able to better navigate them within ourselves and in our relationships with others? 

Do you ever find yourself lost in a sea of emotions, unable to tell them apart or even name them? Do you sometimes struggle to understand and navigate the emotions of students and/or colleagues? When our language for our emotions is clumsy, overly broad, or inaccurate, it can lead us to misunderstand ourselves as well as others. The language we use to describe our emotions shapes our experiences. A better understanding of this language has the power to lead to more meaningful connections, better communication, and an improved ability to empathize with others. This FLC will provide space for faculty to explore a full range of human emotions, gain a more specific understanding of emotions that are often confused with each other (i.e. shame and guilt or hope and optimism), and track how emotions play out within themselves and others. In her book, Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown offers a guide to the vast landscape of emotions, clearly describing each one, and helping readers to recognize the emotions in themselves. 

Meeting Dates/Times: Hybrid (the dates of in-person and online/virtual meetings will collectively be decided upon by the group) 

Location/Campus: Pew Downtown Campus, Health Campus 

Facilitator: Martina Reinhold, Physician Assistant Studies, [email protected]   

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Exploring Voice Through a Conversation of Podcasts

Fall 2021

How might we explore voice and identity through the podcast medium?

To disrupt traditional forms of academic discourse, we are taking advantage of the immediacy and intimacy of podcasts. We will explore voice as a topic using the themes of identity, activism, expression, authenticity, language, and understanding. We recognize that voice is communicated in a multitude of ways, not just through spoken words; we selected podcasts with written transcripts. We chose a variety of podcasts, including Hidden Brain, Radiolab, Vocal Fries, the Harvard Business Review, and Resistance. Through these podcasts, we will discuss the ways in which voice intersects with our work and teaching. A podcast can emphasize how scholarship can operate as a conversation and our discussion will both parallel and continue those conversations.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Emily Frigo, University Libraries, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Maya Hobscheid, University Libraries, [email protected]

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Grading for Growth

Winter 2022

How might we assess and grade student work so that it promotes student growth and subject mastery?

Grading practices in higher education and elsewhere need a reboot. For too long, grades have gotten in the way of learning, and learners have focused on scoring points and playing school instead of on learning and growth. The good news is that we can change these practices, and many instructors are doing just that, using innovative grading methods that work with rather than against student learning: specifications grading, standards-based grading, ungrading, and more. In this Faculty Learning Community, we will discuss these and other alternative grading systems, with a view toward implementing them in our classes to provide world-class challenge and support to our students and to help every learner succeed.

***This FLC is currently FULL.***

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Online/Zoom

Facilitator: Robert Talbert, Mathematics, [email protected]

This FLC is currently FULL.

Internships: Approaches, Strategies, and Best Practices

Fall 2021

How can we help students get the most out of their internship?

Internships serve different purposes for different students. For some students, an internship can serve as a starting point for their academic and professional aspirations. For others who have a clearer vision, an internship can help them apply their knowledge and skills in a "real world" setting. Much of the responsibility for helping students understand the purpose and value of an internship falls on the shoulders of internship directors. Therefore, this FLC will center on helping GVSU internships directors explore:

• best practices for advising and evaluating student internship experiences
• strategies for outreach, networking, and student preparation
• approaches for building and strengthening relationships with employers and community partners

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: TBD

Facilitator: Dauvan Mulally, Writing, [email protected]

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Internships: Approaches, Strategies, and Best Practices

Winter 2022

How might we help students get the most out of their internship experience?

Internships serve different purposes for different students. For some students, an internship can serve as a starting point for their academic and professional aspirations . For others who have a clearer vision, an internship can help them apply their knowledge and skills in a "real world" setting. Much of the responsibility for helping students understand the purpose and value of an internship falls on the shoulders of internship directors. This FLC will center on helping GVSU internship directors explore 1) best practices for advising and evaluating student internship experiences, 2) strategies for outreach, networking, and student preparation and 3) approaches for building and strengthening relationships with employers and community partners.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Online/Zoom

Facilitator: Dauvan Mulally, Writing Department, [email protected]

Interested?  You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Teaching Adult Learners in the LEADS Program

Fall 2021

What are some effective strategies for connecting with adult learners in the accelerated LEADS program?

This group will support faculty teaching in the LEADS program through sharing experiences, assignment designs, and strategies that colleagues have used.  We'll also be identifying and sharing some scholarly sources on adult pedagogy, discussing these with each other as well as compiling our list of sources to offer as a resource to others teaching in LEADS in the future.

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Justin Pettibone, Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

The Great Upheaval

Spring/Summer 2022

Some voices in academia say a tsunami is coming for higher education - should faculty take heed and prepare for it? 

In The Great Upheaval: Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future, authors Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt are the latest to predict disruption for colleges and universities. To cite just one minor example, they tell us that A-F grading is on the way out, to be replaced by more precise and meaningful assessments of students' competencies. Participants in this FLC will be invited to read the book critically, weigh its arguments, and discuss whether and, if so, how we might need to rethink any of our current approaches to teaching our students. Meeting location TBD by group consensus. 

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD (by group consensus) 

Location/Campus: TBD (by group consensus) 

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literatures, [email protected] 

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Ungrading

Spring/Summer 2022 

Might there be more constructive and equitable ways in which to give students feedback than assigning letter grades? 

In I Love Learning, I Hate School: An Anthropology of College, Susan Blum pointed to grades as a hindrance to the teaching and learning enterprise. Especially since Covid, but even long before that, some instructors have sought more constructive and equitable ways in which to give students feedback. In this FLC, we will weigh the arguments and the evidence for and against abandoning letter grades, to the extent that this is possible, with a view toward helping our students learn more effectively. Participants will be invited to read and discuss Jesse Stommel's influential articles as well as Susan Blum's new book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). Meeting location TBD by group consensus. 

Meeting Dates/Times: TBD (by group consensus) 

Location/Campus: TBD (by group consensus) 

Facilitator: David Eick, Modern Languages and Literatures, [email protected] 

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Virtual Exchange (VE)

Winter 2022

How might we enhance student learning through meaningful virtual exchanges with students of different countries?

Virtual Exchange (VE), also referred to as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), provides a format to promote meaningful collaborative exchanges between students in different countries and enhance the global learning of our students.  In this FLC, we will discuss how to implement VE into our respective disciplines.  In addition, we will explore potential VE partners and develop an implementation plan for our programs.  

Meeting Dates/Times: Wednesdays from 11–11:50am

Location/Campus: Likely Virtual but would be held on Allendale Campus if in-person

Facilitator: Michael Vrooman, Modern Languages and Literatures, [email protected]

Interested? You can register for this FLC by completing an FLC Application.

Charting Your Path to Full: A Guide for Women Associate Professors

Fall 2021

How might intentional charting of one's path to full professor support more female associate professors at GVSU?

This co-facilitated faculty learning community, focused on Baker's (2020) book, Charting Your Path to Full: A Guide for Women Associate Professors, is especially designed to support mid-career female academics as they progress toward promotion to full professor. This FLC aims to empower participants to utilize joy as a central driver of their academic, career, and personal endeavors, and will include examinations of “to-do” lists as well as additional resources and tools in order to formulate clear, step-by-step approaches to enable participants to realize their goals.

This FLC is currently FULL and no longer accepting applications.

Meeting Times/Dates: Meeting from 12–1pm on the following Fridays

• September 10 & 24
• October 8 & 22
• November 5 & 19
• December 3

Location/Campus: Virtual/Zoom

Facilitator: Erica Hamilton, College of Education, [email protected]

Co-Facilitator: Dana Munk, Movement Science and Pew FTLC Faculty Fellow, [email protected]

This FLC is currently FULL and no longer accepting applications.