Center for Teaching, Learning and Design

Faculty Learning Communities

A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is a small group of faculty working together to increase their knowledge and/or skills on a topic of mutual interest. An FLC provides the structure and support for this group to discuss, share, and encourage one another to reach their full professional potential. In addition to shared learning, FLC members work on personal projects that put into practice what they are learning. Finally, the community is expected to share their knowledge and accomplishments with the wider university community. Please visit the page Highlights From Past FLCs to get a taste of what past FLCs have accomplished. Additional general information about FLCs, including references to the scholarship supporting their effectiveness, is found here.

Initial due date for applications: June 15, 2019

FLCs in the 2019-2020 academic year:

This year the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design is continuing to experiment with how FLCs are solicited and sponsored. As always, we are especially interested in FLCs that directly support MSU Denver's primary mission: excellence in teaching and learning. To that end we have a few specific FLC ideas we would like to run next year, if we can find the right person (or people) to facilitate them. We continue to be interested in partnering with other campus organizations to create effective FLCs and, as always, we welcome other ideas for teaching and learning FLCs.

For full details on the call for proposals please read the 3-page Facilitator Proposal Information document.

Three FLC types for next year:

1.    Specific FLCs seeking facilitators:

1. Teaching Observation Exchange. 1 semester. Faculty participants will visit each other’s classes to gain insight and solicit feedback. Group discussion and reflection will take place before and after. Facilitator will coordinate scheduling of observations and community meetings.
2. Active Learning – Observe & Reflect. 1 semester. The facilitator will recruit a faculty member that uses some form of active learning in a class. The FLC group will meet with this “example instructor,” then attend and observe their class, then meet 1-2 times to debrief. The goal would be to do this twice in a given semester.
3. Inclusive Discussions – Observe & Reflect. 1 semester. The facilitator will recruit a faculty member that works to make their classroom discussions more inclusive and effective. The FLC group will meet with this “example instructor,” then attend and observe their class, then meet 1-2 times to debrief. The goal would be to do this twice in a given semester.
4. Universal Design for Learning. Either 1-semester, or year-long. Faculty will learn, apply and discuss the principles and practice of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

2.    Teaching & Learning FLCs (open call):

FLCs focused on addressing effective teaching and learning at MSU Denver are sponsored by the CTLD and should be well-grounded in evidence and research.

3.    Co-sponsored FLCs (open call):

1. Topic-based FLC co-sponsored by other MSU Denver organizations.
2. Cohort-based FLC co-sponsored by other MSU Denver organizations.

These can happen in two (or more) types and involve coordination with some organization(s) other than the CTLD. The concept behind co-sponsored FLCs attempts to meet two goals: Allow for FLCs that are not directly related to the teaching & learning mission of the CTLD, while not losing the "FLC expertise" that the CTLD has to offer. Ensure that FLCs on a given topic involve the relevant campus organizations and experts. Partner organizations don’t necessarily have to split the FLC costs, but some level of coordination with the facilitators and/or contribution to the costs would be expected.

2019-2020 Academic Year FLC Proposal Form
https://msudenver.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5BDu25ju7NH7ohL

2018-2019 Academic Year FLCs

2017-2018 Academic Year FLCs