A group of CIRTL colleagues recently published a mixed-methods study on their experiences of community while facilitating a community of practice (CoP). This particular CoP was a cross-institutional seven-week CIRTL workshop series on course design for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars called Transforming Your Research Into Teaching (TYRIT). These facilitators used qualitative items from a survey to explore these two overarching questions:
1. How do members experience the community aspect of our CoP?
2. What is the value of the across-institutional aspect of our CoP in sustaining our CoP?
The results illustrate the importance of cross-institutional communities for members’ sense of belonging, overall professional development, and well-being in educational development.
Authors: Thomas M. Colclough, William J. Howitz, Daniel Mann, Katherine Kearns, Darren S. Hoffmann