Instructional Innovation

Provost Learning Scholars

The Office of the Provost invites AU faculty to participate in the newly established Provost Learning Communities — a peer-based professional development program for faculty who want to cultivate both teaching innovations and connections with colleagues. The program starts in the academic year 2023-24.

Learning scholars around a table

Purpose

Provost Learning Communities give small groups of faculty members (8-10) the opportunity to explore teaching and learning topics with colleagues from across campus. Together, in a supportive and non-evaluative community, members will meet regularly throughout the academic year to discuss a topic of interest. The community will be facilitated by a Provost Learning Scholar, who will help guide the learning community toward its goals. At the end of the program, participants will be able to point to a change or innovation they have implemented in their course. Books and other necessary supplies will be provided.

 For the 2023-24 academic year, faculty may choose from the following topics:

  • Active Learning in Higher Education

  • Being Warm Demanders

  • Coaching Techniques for Teaching and Learning

  • Developing the Whole Person Through High-Impact Practices

  • Growth Mindset
  • Small Teaching: Making Simple Changes in Our Courses for a Big Difference in Student Learning
  • The Power of Collaboration: Using Instructional Rounds to Tackle Problems of Practice (College of Nursing faculty only)
  • Transparency in Learning & Teaching
  • Undergraduate Research
  • When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People:
    How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves

Download the learning community guide for a complete list of learning community facilitators, topic descriptions, meeting times, and modalities.

What are the expectations?

Learning communities will meet 4 times each semester for approximately 75 minutes. During the fall, faculty will explore their topic and start developing an instructional intervention. During the spring, faculty members will implement their intervention and reflect on its effectiveness with peers. Additionally, each participant will submit a brief critical reflection that includes:

  • A description of the change or innovation that was made to an assignment, activity, or course material.
  • An explanation of what you hoped to accomplish with this change or innovation (i.e., your goal).
  • A discussion of the outcome for your students.
  • An explanation of what you will do differently next time.
  • A description of the impact that your participation in this learning community has had on your teaching.

Benefits

By participating in a Provost Learning Community, you are eligible to become a Provost Learning Scholar. Supported by Provost MacKinnon, this designation communicates that a faculty member is committed to being an innovator, collaborator, and highly effective instructor. It is a unique professional development opportunity in leadership that comes with several built-in opportunities for recognition.

Additional benefits include:

  • Building your tenure and promotion portfolio
  • Expanding your perspective on teaching and learning beyond your discipline
  • Increasing your involvement in scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching
  • Developing a community of colleagues who continue as an informal support system after the learning community ends

Interested?

Please use this registration form. This initiative is supported by the Center for Instructional Innovation. For questions about the program, please email Stacy Kluge (skluge@augusta.edu).