Network, innovate, and improve your teaching!

Engaging faculty members virtually over a sustained period moves beyond the conventional professional development models and enables participants to sustain dynamic, continuous and meaningful interactions with their peers as they build their knowledge and skills and begin using new instructional approaches in their classrooms. ASEE’s VCP has produced a knowledgeable and skilled faculty community of leaders and implementers with a deeper understanding of and experience with evidence-based instructional approaches.

Comments from Previous Participants

“I LOVE being part of this community. This place (like no other on campus) makes me feel like I am with people that think like me and want the same things that I want.” –Community Member.

“When I tell people about this group, I call it my Mass and Energy Balances support group. It’s nice for me, in particular, to talk to other people who teach this course and know some of the problems associated with it, and to talk about what people have done.” —Community  Member.

“My university is small, and I’m the only one currently teaching those courses. I felt like the community gave me a set of people that I felt comfortable to contact with questions related to my field of teaching.” –Community  Member.

“It’s worth the time, because you’re going to realize that, however familiar you are with the research basis, you’re going to learn that the research basis is bigger than you thought it was, more persuasive than you thought it was, more scholarly than you thought it was. And, really, once you’re aware that so much scholarship exists on these proven approaches, you can’t help but be responsive, and alter what you do in terms of teaching and learning. I can’t imagine that faculty who sincerely commit to learning about this stuff, wouldn’t eventually change their practices in the classroom.” —Community  Leader.

“I feel like it’s given me ways to try a lot of things that I really wanted to try, but wasn’t sure how to do.”—Community Member.

“The big benefit of the virtual meetings was just bringing a lot of people together from different locations that are all experts and are all very interested in improving their students’ learning on the same topic. And that’s usually something difficult to achieve on an individual campus.”—Community  Member.

“I was surprised to learn there was somebody on my own campus who was about to retire, was in one of these (VCPs). He was still enthused about learning new techniques and new ideas and stuff, it was really great.” –Community Leader.