Chapter 4: Creating Effective Faculty Learning Communities Through The Creation of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (Sotl) Training

The art of designing effective Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) training opportunities offers a ready-made community built of faculty. The design, delivery, and outcomes of a SoTL workshop model and its associated process designated to support the development and growth of faculty learning communities (FLC) is the focus of this chapter. Teaching faculty are consistently working towards meeting administrative expectations to present and publish SoTL and/or Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). Many faculty experience challenges meeting the demands of producing and disseminating publications, and could benefit from receiving professional development on how to do so, as well as having a community of colleagues to exchange ideas and partner on projects. Leaders in the faculty development arena created online professional development to help support faculty who are engaged in the process of learning how to conduct SoTL/DBER research; their efforts led to additional outcomes that expanded the development of FLCs. This chapter will provide insight into the design of online SoTL training that leads to FLC formation, created by experts in the field. Topics explored will center on designing manageable training programs for faculty in an effort to establish and continue faculty learning communities (FLCs) in higher education.