MSU Denver

A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is a small group of faculty and staff members 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.

Interested in Facilitating a FLC?

Current FLCs

Creating Interdisciplinary Course Offerings: Resources and Tools

Spring 2023

The benefits of teaching students across disciplines are well known in literature (Merriman, et al., 2020). Recently, most healthcare professions were charged by their accrediting bodies to offer IPE in the classroom. However, IPE is gaining popularity in the humanities, arts and non-healthcare sciences also (Okstad & Dahlk, 2021). Interdisciplinary faculty collaborations lead to better student outcomes by increasing cognitive abilities to think critically, to see the same material through different lenses, and to practice collaboration skills; however, the steps to create and deliver IPE can be daunting.

This Faculty Learning Community will provide space and colleagues with evidence-based practice resources to help you design an interprofessional activity that will be used to increase active learning in your classroom. We will assist in goal setting, communication tactics, learning objectives and outcomes, and strategies to overcome barriers in collaboration.

View the interactive flyer for this FLC.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

AnnJanette Alejano-Steele or Cynthia Krentz

[email protected]

[email protected]

What communicative resources count for learning in MSU Denver courses?: Exploring translanguaging possibilities

Spring 2023 – Fall 2023

Translanguaging is the communicative norm of multilingual communities, where named languages, dialects, and non-linguistic resources are used dynamically and interchangeably to facilitate meaning-making (Otheguy, García & Reid, 2015). Within education research, translanguaging has been described as a theory, as a pedagogy, and as an ideological stance (García & Wei, 2014). Translanguaging as a pedagogy has historically been studied within K-12 bilingual education contexts (Martin Corredor, 2021). It is just now gaining momentum across K-12 contexts and within higher-education institutions (Fine, 2022).

As an Hispanic-serving institution with a focus on teaching and learning, MSU Denver’s faculty and students are uniquely poised to contribute to this international conversation. In this Faculty Learning Community, we will explore the tripartite nature of translanguaging through readings and discussions during Spring 2023. We will support each other to modify course syllabi and gather as a learning community to reflect on opportunities and challenges related to enacting those modifications during Fall 2023. We will share key take-aways from this collaborative work with the MSU Denver community as well as with the national higher-ed research community through collaborative conference presentations and peer-reviewed manuscripts.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

Caitlin Fine or Lina Martin Corredor

[email protected]

[email protected]

Accessibility in STEM Courses FLC

Fall 2022 – Spring 2023

Led by a member of the Instructional Accessibility Group, this FLC will begin in Fall 2022 and continue through the Spring 2023 semesters. Participants will audit live courses, workshop content and resources, as well as research tools and practices. Ultimately, the FLC will work to identify barriers within STEM education and develop methods for removing them.

The FLC will meet 1-2 times a month (some meetings could last up to 2 hours). Meetings will be scheduled based on participant availability and will be available remotely.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:
Zach Clark

[email protected]

Community Engaged / Service Learning FLC

Fall 2022 – Spring 2023

This Faculty Learning Community (FLC) will define and focus on the benefits of experiential, community engaged, and service learning for students, faculty, the community, and the university. The FLC will also give faculty practical tools to implement experiential, community engaged, and/or service learning into their course(s).

In the fall, sessions will cover such topics as: what are experiential, community engaged, and service learning? How do you locate a community partner and foster a relationship with them that is mutually beneficial to the class and the community partner? What are the benefits and challenges to this type of learning?

In the spring, our focus will be more practical and applied. For example, participants may create a list of possible community partners and consider how to establish a relationship with them. Participants might formulate activities and assignments that realize community-engaged or service learning in an existing class. They might develop new service learning or community engaged course syllabi, including how to designate a course as a “SL” course in Curriculog. Facilitators are open to additional topics and outcomes as desired by participants.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

Christina Foust or Nicole Predki

[email protected]

[email protected]

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning FLC

Fall 2022 – Spring 2023

The CTLD will offer a Scholarship in Teaching and Learning Faculty Learning Community (FLC) during the 2022-23 academic year. Faculty and staff are encouraged to join to learn about SoTL, further an ongoing SoTL project, or develop a new project around a burning question or idea. Visit our SoTL webpage for further information

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

Bridget Arend

[email protected]

Integrating trauma-informed educational practices (TIEP) in the university classroom

Beginning in Fall 2023

This FLC will provide theory and practical ideas related to trauma-informed educational practices in the university classroom. Each week will focus on part of the curriculum (online or in-person) and/or on the syllabus and have participants implement specific ideas into their classes as we move through the year.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

Perri Corvino or Kathryn Young

[email protected]

[email protected]

The Benefits and Logistics of an Interdisciplinary Disabilities Studies Minor at MSU Denver: An Exploratory FLC

Fall 2022 and Fall 2023

MSU Denver lists “accessibility” as one of its core values and the CTLD has developed the Accessibility Competency Certification Program to help faculty and staff make classes and materials accessible. This FLC will build on that work, exploring models for an interdisciplinary disabilities studies minor that would give students and faculty the opportunity to study disability through the lenses of different disciplines. The FLC will examine different models for an interdisciplinary disabilities studies minor and explore the feasibility of building such a program at MSU Denver.

We will meet 3-4 times in spring, with meeting days/times determined by participants. Remote participation will be possible. Meetings will last about two hours.

If you are interested in joining this FLC, please contact:

Elizabeth Kleinfeld

[email protected]

Looking for the Open Educational Resources (OER) FLC?

Visit the OER Faculty Resources Page for information.

Past FLCs