Engaging Difference

Faculty Learning Community

Call for Applications

How do we bring students into interactions with people different from themselves? Whether we are talking about racial, cultural, gender, religious, political, or other differences, students often resist engaging with those different from themselves, missing out on valuable learning opportunities.Students can be uncomfortable with differences in gender, race, and backgrounds on class teams, or they may resist class discussions on topics that involve cultural, religious, or political differences. A new study by Rude, Wolniak, & Pascarella found that over the four years of college, undergraduates become increasingly less interested, on average, in promoting racial understanding, an indication of the need to purposefully address student engagement with difference. The authors found four circumstances that can increase the chances that college will leave students more committed to promoting racial understanding: interracial friendships, frequent discussions with other-race students, frequent discussions with faculty members whose views differ from their own, and taking courses that focus on diverse cultures and perspectives—in other words, exposure and engagement. These techniques can be applied to other differences to promote greater understanding, whether it is racial, political, or religious.

What is a faculty learning community?

The primary goal of a faculty learning community (FLC) is to explore a topic area or theme as it relates to best practices in teaching and learning. This goal is achieved by providing a safe, supportive community wherein members can engage in activities including research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and service to explore new approaches to teaching.

What is the Engaging DifferenceFLC?

This FLC will use the successful Decoding the Disciplines model to investigate where students get stuck in their course thinking about—and interaction with—people who are different from themselves, what experts do so they do not get stuck, and ways to model and practice that thinking. We will experiment with ways to motivate students to persevere and assess whether they have mastered crucial operations defined in the previous steps. We will consider the affective component of learning—student discomfort with course topics or methods which may bring about pushback, lessening understanding of cognitive tasks. Finally, we will share our results with a wide audience.This FLC will provide a place instructors can connect with and support efforts working across the disciplines to help students experience direct, personal interaction with people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds or people who have different beliefs, and to learn to appreciate the value of that experience in providing new, different, and worthwhile perspectives in the discipline and in life. This FLC is for instructors faced with the challenge of students who do not value the viewpoints of others or for instructors whowant college to be a force that encourages students to be more committed to promoting racial, gender, and political understanding.

Scenarios for exploration might include the following:

  • An informatics or computer science instructor might explore how to get students to value team work with students of different backgrounds and genders. “I had to all of the work in my group; no one else contributed anything.”
  • A global studies instructor might study where students get stuck in developing a sense of global community and advocacy. “What could I do about an actual global problem?”
  • A public policy instructor might explore how to get students to join forces on “both sides of the aisle” to get legislation passed. “How can I work with people who are my politicalopponents?”
  • A history instructor might consider the issues in how to encourage students to think like a person from a previous historical era. “Why didn’t the landless peasants go get a different job?”
  • A writing instructor might investigate the way students cover up their actual reactions to “controversial” readings and implications about the group they identify most strongly with, rather than engaging in discussions that risk talking about what they believe, why they believe it, and how someone different from themselves might come to a different position. “If I said what I really think, would I get in an argument?”
  • A literature instructor might probe how to get students to understand a piece of literature in its context and not use their own cultural values.“Why doesn’t that heroine just leaveher oppressive marriage?”

Why should I apply?

FLC members will benefit from the community of inquiry and the support and encouragement of like-minded colleagues. They should see an evolution in their teaching techniques and attitudes and a greater attentiveness to the scholarship of teaching and learning. In addition, each FLC member will receive $750for professional development needs, such as travel to present findings and resources for additional work.

Who may apply?

Any full-time faculty member (tenure-track or non-tenure track) may apply.

Responsibilities of FLCmembers

FLC members will be required to attend and actively participate in all meetings.The FLC will submit a preliminary report by January 31, 2013 on theresults from their fall 2012 semester discussions and findings. A full FLC report will be due on May 24, 2013. Additionally, FLC members will be asked to present their work to the Bloomington campus. It is also hoped that FLC members will strive to publish findings of their work in a journal related to their specific disciplines, and/or a more general outlet that could speak to the work/findings of the entire group. Finally, FLC members will also be asked to complete a short survey at the end of the project about their experience in the FLC.

Important dates

  • May 14, 2012, 5:00 PM: Deadline for applications
  • Week of June 25, 2012: Successful applicants are notified
  • January 31, 2013: Mid-projectreports are due
  • May 24, 2013: Final FLC report due

Further information or questions

If you have questions about this FLC, or would like to talk with a consultant and receive feedback about your application, contact the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning: r 855-9023.

Engaging Difference

Faculty Learning Community

Application

Please complete this page and send it as an attachment together with a short CV .

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: May 14, 2012 5 PM

Name:
Rank:
School and department:
Campus mailing address:
Preferred phone:
Email address:

Please provide the following information regarding the course you would like to work on in the FLC.

School and department offering the course:
Course name and number:
Typical enrollment:

Please list the times when you areregularly AVAILABLE during each week of the fall semester.

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

Below please list any extended periods when you will be away from campus during the fall or spring semesters.

Please answer the following questions in one single-spaced page or less.

As a participant in the Engaging DifferenceFLC, what specific challenge(s) would you like to address in your course? In your course, what makes it difficult for students to understand others’ viewpoints?

By submitting this application, I indicate my intention to attend all meetings of the learning community, to actively engage in the work of the FLC, and complete reports by the above deadlines in exchange for professional development funds.

This Faculty Learning Community is sponsored by the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, a partnership between the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and University Information Technology Services at IUB.