For more information, and to participate in one of the following learning communities, please contact its facilitators.
Arts-Based Research Methodologies Learning and Project Development Group
Co-Facilitators
- Karenanna Boyle Creps, College of Education, kcreps@msu.edu
- Olivia Furman, College of Education, furmanol@msu.edu
This learning community will serve as an interdisciplinary gathering place for researchers (including graduate students) at any stage in their careers who are interested in learning more about and conducting arts-based research. Meeting agendas will be guided by the specific arts-based research interests of LC members. Meeting agenda items may include discussions of arts-based research texts, methodological workshops, ongoing collaborative research project support, arts-based research presentations/dialogues, and encounters with arts events to inspire future research.
COIL curriculum integration for course content internationalization
Co-Facilitators
- Antoinette Tessmer, Broad College of Business, tessmer1@msu.edu
- Guanglong Pang, Broad College of Business, pangguan@msu.edu
Our group proposes to share experiences and ideas on how to integrate a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) activity into an existing curriculum. We will take a practical approach, offering group support in all aspects of the COIL integration. Assessment of student learning and growth in cross-cultural awareness will also be discussed. If you are interested in offering a collaborative, international experience to your students, please join us.
The FLC will provide resources and support for MSU faculty interested in:
- integrating a COIL activity into their current curriculum
- discussing creative ways and practical concerns about COIL operation and student engagement
- discussing ways of assessing COIL learning outcomes and learner impact
Decolonizing the University
Co-Facilitators
- Dustin Petty, Bailey Scholars Program, pettydus@msu.edu
- Sarah Prior, Department of Sociology, priorsar@msu.edu
The “Decolonizing the University” learning community will focus on the colonial roots that exist in our institution and our practices as educators. This learning community will explore how colonialism structures still impact our work and how they can be replaced with strategies and practices that encourage the success and whole-person development of all its students, faculty, and staff.
Digital Collaborative Learning for the 21st Century 2.0
Co-Facilitators
- Stokes Schwartz, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, stokessc@msu.edu
- Marohang Limbu, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC), limbu@msu.edu
Digital Collaborative Learning 2.0 will continue its critical examination of the increasing importance of digital collaborative learning for 21st-century learners, student success, and a smooth transition to global digital ecology/economy after graduation. Related pedagogical activities will consider how we might utilize digital collaborative learning to foster increased global competency in our graduates.
To assist everyone with their planning, our meetings for Fall 2023 are scheduled for the following dates and times:
10-11 am on Friday, September 22, 2023
10-11 am on Friday, October 13, 2023
10-11 am on Friday, November 10, 2023
10-11 am on Friday, December 01, 2023
Click here to register, the Zoom link will be included with your registration confirmation.
Disability Dynamics: Theory, Accessibility, and Practice at MSU
Co-facilitators
- Jessica Lutz, Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, lutzjes1@msu.edu
- Hannah Huey-Jones, Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, hueyjon1@msu.edu
This community will explore topics related to disability in society, including language, models of disability, and accessible practices. Facilitators will lead discussion on important topics in the field as they relate to teaching, research, outreach and relationships on campus. Monthly meetings will be influenced by member interests and practical needs.
Equitable pedagogy: Removing barriers to learning
Co-facilitators
- Casey Henley, Neuroscience Program, mcgove14@msu.edu
- Valerie Hedges, Department of Physiology, hedgesva@msu.edu
The equitable pedagogy learning community will welcome educators looking to dismantle these barriers. As a community, we will examine and discuss a theoretical framework for exploring undergraduate approaches to academic challenge and failure. The goal for the community would be to investigate the impact of the interventions, hopefully providing community members with actionable items to take back to their classrooms.
Expanding the Definition of Community Engaged Learning: From Theory to Practice
Co-Facilitators
- Stephanie Brewer, Center for Community Engaged Learning, sbrewer@msu.edu
- Michelle Snitgen, Center for Community Engaged Learning, msnitgen@msu.edu
The “Expanding the Definition of Community Engaged Learning: From Theory to Practice” learning community will provide a space for interested practitioners to come together to read current scholarship on the various ways this pedagogy can be included in student learning experiences. Members will explore an expanded definition of community-engaged learning utilizing the Social Change Wheel (https://iamncampuscompact.org/wp-content/uploads/large/sites/73/2022/12/2020_SocialChangeWheel2.0Toolkit.pdf), an equity-centered framework, as a guiding model. Members will collectively produce practical tools and resources for each implementation strategy area, to be used by faculty/practitioners in the creation and facilitation of these pedagogical strategies. Discussions, resources, and tools will center equity and considerations of critical perspectives, and we hope this group will further the conversation around an expanded definition of community-engaged learning and enhance the connection between theory and practice.
Feminist Community-Engagement Disrupted: Writing our scholarship stories
Co-Facilitators
- Chelsea Wentworth, Office of Medical Education Research and Development, wentwo21@msu.edu
- Jessica Barnes-Najor, University Outreach and Engagement, barnes33@msu.edu
We co-design research with partners as an ideal plan; but, in reality, numerous changes impact our implementation. Our learning community will discuss disruptions external to the community (e.g., COVID-19, political or community/campus violence), internal to the community (e.g., partners leaving their roles for new jobs), or within individuals in the community (e.g., illness, stressors). This Learning Community will continue to work on three previously identified areas of learning, reflecting, and writing emphasis: 1) engagement stories (individual and collective); 2) historical, theoretical, and decolonial approaches; and 3) feminist community-engaged research-informed individual diversity statements. We include scholar-educators who are innovating in their community-engaged practices working from diverse disciplines and welcome new members.
Click here to register, the Zoom link will be included with your registration confirmation.
Graduate Teaching Assistant & Postdoc Teaching Learning Community
Co-Facilitators
- Stefanie Baier, The Graduate School, stbaier@msu.edu
- Hima Rawal, The Graduate School, rawalhim@msu.edu
This Learning Community meets bi-weekly with the goal of sharing pedagogy, evidence-based best practices, holistic educator development, and accessible and inclusive student success strategies. The sessions are organized collaboratively with graduate teaching assistants and postdocs. We strive to practice a culture of care and build an inclusive community throughout the year and invite educators in any role to engage with and share their topical expertise with this group.
IAH 321
Co-Facilitators
- Garth Sabo, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities, sabogart@msu.edu
- Stokes Schwartz, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities, stokessc@msu.edu
- Sarah Panuska, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities, panuskas@msu.edu
Come together with other IAH faculty and graduate assistants to build community and share teaching expertise across the various disciplines that comprise the arts and humanities! Our meetings will follow a 3-2-1 format: We will meet to share 3 tips or strategies for implementing an arts or humanities discipline into your classes during a 2-hour time slot on the 1st Friday of every month.
Inclusivity in STEM: Creating Standards of Inclusivity and Mapping Pathways of Support
Co-Facilitators
- Rebecca Anthony, Department of Mechanical Engineering, ranthony@msu.edu
- Tamara Reid Bush, Department of Mechanical Engineering, reidtama@msu.edu
The overarching objective of this learning community is to promote an atmosphere of joint effort toward creating educational spaces in STEM that emphasize community standards of inclusivity. In this Learning Community, we will build a core network of individuals from across Engineering disciplines and other interested groups across campus with the express goals of 1) identifying and formalizing the standards of inclusivity that we want to uphold; 2) mapping the pathways of action that individuals can take when they experience exclusionary or discriminatory language and behavior on campus, and 3) creating a brief presentation and set of posters/fliers based on these standards and pathways, for wide dissemination to students, staff, and faculty in the College of Engineering and other colleges at MSU.
Learning Community for Supporting International Student Success
Co-Facilitators
- Opal Leeman Bartzis, Office of Education Abroad, bartziso@msu.edu
- Joyce Meier, Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures, meierjo@msu.edu
We are an assets-based, idea-sharing group focused on the holistic concept of international student success at MSU, aiming to ensure that MSU is a welcoming and supportive institution for culturally diverse learners. We collectively seek solutions for emergent, timely issues such as challenges to academic learning brought to the fore through the navigation of travel restrictions, availability of technology, and online instruction in varied time zones, as well as persistent issues such as those associated with linguistic differences and varied cultural constructs of academic concepts. Co-facilitators recruit members through personal/professional networks, the adviser listserv, the ISP distribution list, the Education Abroad and Global Youth Advancement Network newsletters, and by requesting that current learning community members spread the word.
MSU Trauma Services and Training Network
Co-Facilitators
- Kelley Blanck, School of Social Work, Blanck, kblanck@msu.edu
- Natalie Moser, Department of Psychology, mosern@msu.edu
The focus of the Learning Community is to support, explore and develop strategies to advance a commitment to creating a trauma-informed university. The work focuses on service delivery including clinical services, advising, and student support services. In addition, the Learning Community presents and trains on trauma-informed teaching and developing trauma-informed communities. The MSU TSTN has developed content for use in training across the campus community. The Learning Community is open to anyone interested in working to build a trauma-informed campus.
Co-Facilitators
- Caitlin Kirby, Enhanced Digital Learning Initiative, kirbycai@msu.edu
- Imari Cheyne Tetu, Writing Rhetoric and American Cultures, tetuimar@msu.edu
The use of large language models, such as ChatGPT, has exploded onto the educational scene with lots of unanswered questions about its implications in the classroom. This learning community will build on the many sources of information that probe these questions, participants’ experiences in the classroom, and create plans to develop guidelines and action research around these questions.
Teaching & Learning in Veterinary Medical and Animal Science Education
Co-Facilitators
- Ioana Sonea, Pathobiology & Diagnostic Investigation, sonea@msu.edu
- Susan Ewart, Large Animal Clinical Sciences, ewarts@msu.edu
The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has a learning community focused on how to promote learning and improve teaching in the context of veterinary medical and animal science education. This learning community meets every three weeks on Zoom and quarterly in person to discuss topics agreed upon by participants, which include pre-clinical and clinical faculty, staff, graduate students, and house officers. New members are encouraged to attend via emails and departmental meeting announcements. Individuals outside of veterinary medicine are invited to join. All are welcome to join as often as they can! Contact Drs. Sonea (sonea@msu.edu), Ewart (ewarts@msu.edu), or Manfredi (manfred1@msu.edu) for more information.
The Large-Course Learning Community
Co-Facilitators
- Brandy Ellison, Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science, belliso1@msu.edu
- Eddie Boucher, Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science, bouche50@msu.edu
Everyone is welcome to join us as we share experiences, advice, and ideas for teaching students in large courses. While not all classes at MSU are large, almost all students at MSU will take large classes and we want to ensure their experiences are stellar and their professors are supported. If you are unable to attend during our regularly scheduled meetings, please engage by connecting with us directly via email to ask questions, share ideas, and/or access the recordings of our meetings.