locate, evaluate, and use effectively

I am pleased to resume regular posting to this weblog with the announcement that I will be launching, in conjunction with my University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, a Faculty Learning Community on Improving Student Research Skills.

Over the previous academic year I was privileged to participate in a Faculty Learning Community on Teaching with Technology, and as previously mentioned here, I also participated in a workshop describing how the FLC model might be applied to improving information literacy and student research skills.

Essentially, the Faculty Learning Community gathers 8-10 faculty members from across disciplines around a common goal or issue of interest.  Members of the community agree to participate by attending sessions approximately every three weeks where readings or other materials related to the topic at hand are shared and discussed, and by completing a project related to the topic or goal.

For example, a typical project completed by participants in this Community might be to revise a syllabus or create a new assignment with their students’ attainment of better information literacy or research skills in mind.  Collaborative work and mutual feedback and support on projects is highly encouraged.

In future posts I will document the progress of the Community I will be convening as well as posting links to related materials and similar projects.