A framework for classifying opportunities to learn in Faculty Online Learning Communities: A preview with sample application

Abstract

Faculty Online Learning Communities (FOLCs) are unique professional development environments built to support instructors as they adopt research-based teaching strategies and curricula. FOLC participants meet via a video conferencing platform to discuss their teaching challenges and to generate solutions. In order to capture the breadth and depth of learning that can occur by participating in a FOLC, and to identify connections between facilitation moves, discursive structures, and learning opportunities, we have developed a taxonomy to characterize the opportunities to learn (OTLs) in a FOLC meeting. In this paper we will preview the taxonomy, presenting its main components, and provide an overview of its development based on meetings from a FOLC centered around the Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (NGPET) curriculum. Using an excerpt from a NGPET-FOLC meeting, we demonstrate how the taxonomy can be used as an analytical tool. We end with a discussion of the potential applications for this taxonomy.

Analyzing a faculty online learning community as a mechanism for supporting faculty implementation of a guided-inquiry curriculum

“…For the present study, we draw on survey data and the transcript of one FOLC meeting. Analyses involving the other data sources have been reported elsewhere, or are in preparation (Corrales et al, 2020 ; Corrales, Goldberg, Turpen, & Price, 2018 ; Lau, Corrales, Goldberg, & Turpen, 2019 ; Turpen, Goldberg, Corrales, & Price, 2018 ).…”

“…As participants share implementation challenges (and successes), members can respond in a variety of ways that either open-up or close-off the conversation to others’ contributions. In many FOLC meetings, we see people offer specific solutions, ask probing questions, share their own experience, normalize the experience of others, offer encouragement, bounce around ideas, and develop pedagogical concepts (Corrales et al, 2020 ; Lau et al, 2019 ; Turpen et al, 2018 ). The frequency and quality of these different interactions can vary, however, and is the subject of ongoing study (Lau et al, 2019 ).…”

“…In many FOLC meetings, we see people offer specific solutions, ask probing questions, share their own experience, normalize the experience of others, offer encouragement, bounce around ideas, and develop pedagogical concepts (Corrales et al, 2020 ; Lau et al, 2019 ; Turpen et al, 2018 ). The frequency and quality of these different interactions can vary, however, and is the subject of ongoing study (Lau et al, 2019 ). Regardless of the exact topic of conversation and the nature of responses, the above example demonstrates that FOLC meetings can provide the opportunity, through the mediating processes, for rich, complex social interaction centered on the Next Gen PET curriculum.…”

The Taxonomy of Opportunities to Learn (TxOTL): a tool for understanding the learning potential and substance of interactions in faculty (online) learning community meetings

“…There is evidence that FOLCs are effective at supporting faculty in trying and persisting in using research-based teaching strategies and materials, and in reflecting on their teaching practice (Dancy et al 2019;Corrales et al 2020;. That said, not all FOLC groups unfold in identical ways, and their norms and conversational patterns can be quite distinct (Lau et al 2019;Corrales et al 2018;Turpen et al 2018). Some groups focus on very practical implementation details whereas other groups engage in discussion of why certain problems are occurring and connect particular problems to more general phenomena.…”

Introducing the Departmental Action Leadership Institute and its preliminary outcomes

“…Recognizing the gaps between training and need, the physics and STEM communities have responded with a range of initiatives to support departments and faculty, most notably in improving equity, diversity, and inclusion (e.g., APS IDEA [5], AAAS Sea Change [6]) and supporting curricular and instructional change (e.g., PICUP [7], Living Physics Portal [8], NGPET FOLC [9], AMTA [10]). Efforts to support physics faculty more broadly as leaders and agents of change have been largely limited to workshops such as the New Faculty Workshop [11] and the Physics Department Chairs Conference [12] and to loose cross-disciplinary networks such as ASCN [13] and Project Kaleidoscope [14].…”