Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) are groups of six to ten faculty who meet regularly to work together in an active, collaborative program for an extended period of time, to create connections and solve problems. Faculty Learning Communities were designed and developed by Milton Cox at Miami University of Ohio. He has identified 10 essential elements of an FLC that include: safety and trust, openness, respect, responsiveness, collaboration, relevance, challenge, enjoyment, esprit de corps and empowerment. These qualities require building a sense of community among the participants by meeting regularly for both accomplishing the work of the FLC and for building social connections between members.
For examples of FLCs at Duke, Learning Innovation’s Carry the Innovation Forward program funded four Faculty Learning Communities in 2021-22:
Transformative Learning at Duke
Facilitators: Joan Clifford (Romance Studies), Liliana Paredes (Romance Studies) and Cori Crane (Germanic Languages and Literature)
Goals of the group include thinking about transformative learning across the disciplines, understanding the student experience and how to increase the participation of students from diverse backgrounds. The group will host speakers and faculty discussions and share information about transformative learning principles.
Assessing and Creating Classroom Climates that Support Learning through Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
Facilitators: Barb Hooper and Lindy Norman (Physical Therapy)
Creating and assessing classroom climates that support learning through diversity, inclusion and belonging, and including the entire faculty and academic support staff for their new doctoral program.
CDS Anti-Racism Faculty Learning Community
Facilitators: Christopher Sims and Michael Betts (Center for Documentary Studies)
This FLC includes structured learning activities about anti-racism in teaching documentary studies for their full-time and core adjunct faculty, supported by an expert consultant.
Inclusive Assessment for Quantitative Disciplines
Facilitators: Stacy Tantum (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Sophia Santillan (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science)
Participants from Mathematics, Statistical Sciences and Engineering are investigating ways to design and structure assessments to be more inclusive. They are discussing ideas in one semester, and plan to implement new assessments or new assessment structures in the following semester and discuss the results.