Lessons Learned: Using Faculty Learning Communities to Foster Pedagogical Skills and Cultivate Community

Authors

Caitlin Brez, University of North Carolina AshevilleFollow
Linda Behrendt, Indiana State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Academic expertise has traditionally served as the measure of faculty’s effectiveness in the classroom. Twenty-first century changes in the landscape of higher education have brought the need for sound pedagogy as a foundational tool in the college classroom. Faculty learning communities (FLCs) are an effective method to facilitate the development of pedagogy, which, in turn, has shown to have a direct effect on student success and graduation rates. This article examines the experiences of two faculty members at a Midwestern university who developed a 10-week inter-disciplinary FLC that was offered over 5 semesters, as well as participant feedback.

Author's Biographies

Caitlin Brez (Corresponding Author)

224 Delaney Hall, CPO #1630

1 University Heights

Asheville, NC 28804

(828)250-3855

cbrez@unca.edu

Caitlin Brez, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina Asheville. She studies cognitive development, and, with Linda Behrendt, has developed and led a faculty learning community aimed at increasing student success through improving the teaching skills of faculty.

Linda Behrendt

College of Health and Human Services Building 401 N. 4^th Street Suite 431 Terre Haute, IN 47809

(812) 237-2171

Linda.Behrendt.indstate.edu

Linda Behrendt, Ph.D. is a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Indiana State University. With Caitlin Brez, has created the THRIVE FLC curriculum, portions of which have been presented at conferences regionally, nationally, and internationally. She is the founding coordinator of the Master Teacher Program through the Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence at ISU.

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Recommended Citation

Brez, C., & Behrendt, L. (2023). Lessons Learned: Using Faculty Learning Communities to Foster Pedagogical Skills and Cultivate Community. Perspectives In Learning, 20 (2). Retrieved from https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/pil/vol20/iss2/2