The term assessment sends shivers down academic spines. For faculty, it signals marching orders from external parties who may or may not appreciate the subtle and not always quantifi able value of faculty efforts. For administrators, it means the dual challenge of recalibrating internal measures to meet external mandates but also inspiring faculty to recognize how those external mandates can lead to genuine growth. The story of introducing inquiry-guided learning (IGL) to Virginia Wesleyan College (VWC) is a story of turning external assessment-driven beginnings into internally meaningful and comprehensive pedagogical reform. It is especially a story of drawing upon the model of IGL itself to enable faculty to work collectively toward the common goal of being more effective teachers.Our story begins in 2005, with the anticipation of a Southern Association of Schools and Colleges regional reaccreditation visit requiring a new component: the creation of a quality enhancement plan (QEP) identifying a major, fi ve-year educational initiative promising measurable increases in student learning. Conversations among the eighty-odd full-time faculty of this Methodist-affi liated liberal arts college of 1,400 students had come to center on freshman experience. There was general agreement that we should focus on the seemingly recalcitrant problem of helping our new freshmen transition from being passive high school learners to becoming active and self-directed college learners. Having immersed themselves in Just as inquiry-guided learning requires that students begin with questions, so does successful faculty development. At Virginia Wesleyan, this faculty inquiry process became the catalyst for more comprehensive curricular reform using inquiry-guided learning.
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