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Faculty Learning Communities

Overview

This page will continue to be updated as new faculty learning communities form.

ASCEND

ASCEND Logo

ASCEND, Advance Equity & Student Success, is a data-driven professional learning program that enables college instructors and administrators to learn how students are experiencing courses and what they can do to make those experiences more equitable, more engaging, and more supportive of student success.

Option 1: Join the Ascend FLC! This group meets 4 times during the semester, including 1 orientation meeting and 3 meetings to discuss surveys. Meetings are tentatively scheduled to be on zoom. Joining the FLC is an opportunity to join in conversation about our efforts to improve outcomes for students at CSUF. Gordon Capp, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Social Work, with expertise and experience in using ASCEND, will facilitate the FLC.

Option 2: Utilize Ascend Surveys on your own. Faculty wanting this option should join one of the orientation sessions to get their classes set up in the Ascend Dashboard. Faculty are welcome to join office hours during the semester to discuss surveys, engagement, results, or anything else.

The FLC utilizes the ASCEND learning program for an identified course section they teach in the spring, which includes the following components:

  • Gives students a 5- to 10-minute, customizable survey to show how students experience each class (the survey will be given to students 3 times during the semester).
  • Reflect on the feedback – the survey reports reveal the learning conditions in each class and how they are changing.
  • As a faculty learning community, learn from each other and consult the classroom practices library to decide what new practices to try.

ASCEND Flyer

ASCEND Flyer
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Science of Learning and Equity (SOLE)

SOLE Logo

The Science of Learning and Equity Faculty Learning Community (SOLE-FLC) framework is centered on empirically-based strategies for learning and support of faculty with the goal of improving student learning outcomes and decreasing equity gaps. Specifically, this framework focuses on student assets rather than deficits, utilizing competency-based assessment (e.g., exams, grading), best practices in equity-minded pedagogy, and active learning. The community members will work together to consider how the science of learning research can be incorporated into their teaching and student learning.

The SOLE-FLC program is a collaborative community. Full-time and part-time faculty from across CSUF are invited to participate in a cohort comprising up to 10 faculty. This structure allows faculty to connect with other educators committed to improving pedagogy and creating engaging and supportive classrooms. Nancy Watkins, Ed.D., Associate Professor and Director of the Educational Doctorate Program, Gary Germo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Human Services, and Pamella Oliver, Ph.D., Professor of Child and Adolescent Studies, will facilitate the FLC.

The SOLE-FLC participants will be asked to:

  • Participate in Kick Off Session
  • Participate in 6 in-person collaborative workshops (6) – lunch is provided
  • Demonstrate one course-design/pedagogy change related to the science of learning and equity (e.g., assignment, grading criteria, rubric changes, etc.)
  • Participate in one online module
  • Participate in one additional FDC workshop
  • Participate in pre- and post-assessment

SOLE-FLC is funded through Fullerton ASPIRE: Access, Support, Pathways, and Inclusive Resources for Everyone, a U.S. Department of Education Title V DHSI Grant awarded to CSUF.

The Fall 2024 Cohort is full. Stay tuned for the Spring 2025 opportunity!

Teaching for Social Justice

Are you interested in centering equity and social justice in your classes and scholarship?  The Teaching for Social Justice Faculty Learning Community provides space for faculty to explore, design, and reflect upon their approach to social justice-oriented teaching. In addition to nourishing community and professional growth among diverse CSUF faculty, the FLC also provides support for faculty scholarship.  To read more about how the FLC has impacted CSUF faculty, check out the article “Learning our Way Through: Critical Professional Development for Social Justice in Teacher Education,” in which 3 CSUF faculty write about how their participation shaped their trajectory at the university.

The Teaching for Social Justice FLC is a collaborative learning space where faculty together to:

  • Explore various approaches to teaching for social justice within and beyond our disciplines
  • Design, share and get feedback on equity and social justice-oriented learning experiences, modules, and assessments
  • Set goals and evaluate the effectiveness of our approach to teaching for social justice
  • Receive support with action research design and IRB submission
  • Explore possibilities for presenting, publishing, and funding our work. 

The FLC meets monthly on campus (Friday mornings), and hosts virtual “drop in and write” sessions on alternating weeks.   We welcome new faculty every spring.  For more information or to enroll for Spring 2025, please contact Alison Dover at adover@fullerton.edu or signup online.