Transforming the Classroom: Engaging Faculty Step-by-Step

Often when faculty express an interest in exploring and adopting new teaching, they ask: Where should I begin?  What should I do? How will it help? If an instructor will take even a small step, the next may be easier.  Education specialists advise us to create multiple, low-risk settings that encourage students to try new ideas and test new skills. It would seem that the same advice applies to developing one’s own teaching practice and in encouraging useful change among colleagues. The project that I propose is the creation of a resource base for liberal arts faculty and graduate students to explore and extend their knowledge about, and comfort with, new pedagogy; to encourage adoption of those elements that best complement their particular discipline and teaching “style”; and to create a platform for sharing ideas across disciplines within the college.