What is a Faculty Online Learning Community?
FTI alumni are invited to join a FOLC to be partnered with a small group of colleagues from their FTI Workshop and two expert facilitators. FOLC participants meet virtually every other week, supporting each other as they hear from guests (typically practitioners of methods and ideas they want to learn more about) and each other about their teaching journey. The FOLC provides a support community to troubleshoot challenges and to celebrate successes. The FOLC will also support participants in completing a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project. Past FOLC participants reported being in the FOLC helped them successfully implement new teaching strategies, increased their reflection about teaching, increased their confidence as teachers, and increased their knowledge about teaching. Although being in the FOLC takes time, most participants report it saved them time overall because the FOLC reduced the time they spent learning about teaching strategies and troubleshooting challenges.
What is the structure of a FTI-FOLC?
FTI-FOLC participants engage in virtual, bi-weekly meetings to discuss timely issues related to their teaching with each other. At some of these meetings, experienced practitioners of the techniques discussed at the FTI workshop will join. These guests are chosen based on participant interests. To communicate between meetings, participants use our Core Communication Tool (CCT), an online environment that is like Facebook, but designed specifically for the FTI-FOLC and open only to FTI-FOLC participants. This environment will allow participants to ask and answer questions, solicit and provide feedback, share materials and resources, and cheer for each other, all with the aim of improving your teaching. Additionally, during the second half of the FTI-FOLC participants will have the opportunity to complete a small Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project to practice assessing changes they try in their classroom.
What are the benefits of joining a FTI-FOLC?
By joining a FTI-FOLC, you will have the opportunity to share your concerns, your issues, your questions, and your successes with a group of peers at a similar stage in their careers as you. This is a group who can help you in ways that go beyond what can be accomplished during a single meeting at the Faculty Teaching Institute and who can provide perspectives on teaching different from those at your home institution. Upon successful completion of your year in the FTI-FOLC, you will receive a letter recognizing your participation and commitment to improving your teaching that can be used in promotion and tenure files.
How do I join the NFW-FOLC?
You will have the opportunity to hear more about our FTI-FOLCs at one of the sessions at the FTI, so make sure to attend! At the FTI-FOLC session, you'll hear from past FTI-FOLC participants and facilitators, and have an opportunity to sign up!
FOLC Leadership Team
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Melissa Dancy
Post-Workshop Engagement Lead
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
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Andy Rundquist
Post-Workshop Engagement Lead
Hamline University
St. Paul, MN
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Darsa Donela
FOLC Facilitator
Gustavus Adolphus College
St. Peter, MN
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Jason Yberra
FOLC Facilitator
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
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Melissa Dancy, Post-Workshop Engagement Lead - Western Michigan University; Kalamazoo, MI
Dr. Dancy is a principal research associate in the evaluation center at Western Michigan University. She holds a Ph.D. in physics and has been an active member of the physics education research community for more than 25 years. Her research frequently focuses on improving higher education STEM classrooms and working environments by improving teaching and/or addressing inequity. She also frequently serves as an external evaluator on NSF-funded education-related projects.
Andy Rundquist, Post-Workshop Engagement Lead - Hamline University; St. Paul, MN
Dr. Rundquist joined Hamline as an assistant Professor of Physics in the fall of 2000. During that time he taught in the Physics, First Year Seminar, Graduate Education, Online Degree Completion, and Computational Data Science programs. He earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2006 and was promoted to Professor in 2014. He has served as Chair of the Physics department, Administrative Head for the Biochemistry/Chemistry/Computational Data Science/Mathematics/Physics unit, Director of the First Year Seminar program, and Associate Dean for Undergraduates in the College of Liberal Arts. He was appointed as the Interim Provost in July of 2021.
Dr. Rundquist’s research has included the generation, optimization, and characterization of ultrashort laser pulses that he has used to produce the first ultrashort water-window coherent x-rays. He is also very active with physics education research, partnering with the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society to support the New Faculty Workshop for Physics and Astronomy Professors. He has worked with students on collaborative research projects ranging from coherent control of Raman interactions to optimizing the shape of drum heads to produce harmonic sound. He is also the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of CourseSource Physics, a peer-reviewed journal for physics teaching practitioners.
With strong skills in algorithmic thinking and data management, Dr. Rundquist has helped create and support numerous processes at Hamline that benefit students, ranging from the major declaration process to the use of space on campus during the global pandemic.
In addition to supervising and supporting the Academic Deans, Registration and Records, Institutional Effectiveness, and the Library in his role as Interim Provost, Dr. Rundquist can also be found playing with the Hamline University Wind, Jazz, and Orchestra ensembles and running the pep band at various Hamline sporting events.
Darsa Donela, FOLC Facilitator - Gustavus Adolphus College; St. Peter, MN
Darsa Donelan is a senior continuing assistant professor in Physics and Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College. Dr. Donelan attended the FTI in 2017, joined the FOLC as a participant and continued working with the FOLC as a facilitator. Dr. Donelan has received many awards for their teaching, including the very prestigious AAPT 2023 Doc Brown Futures Award, which recognizes early-career members who demonstrate excellence in their contributions to AAPT and physics education and exhibit the potential to serve in an AAPT leadership role. Dr. Donelan is also involved in several professional organizations, including NASA's Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT), where they help lead the development of research-based instructional materials for astrophysics taught in introductory and upper-division physics and astronomy courses. Dr. Donelan's hobbies include cosplay, drinking tea, playing with their cats, and doing jigsaw puzzles.
Jason Yberra, FOLC Facilitator - West Virginia University; Morgantown, WV
Jason Ybarra is a teaching assistant professor in the physics department at West Virginia University and the director of the WVU Planetarium and Observatory. Dr. Ybarra attended the FTI in 2018, joined the FOLC as a participant and continued working with the FOLC as a facilitator. Previous to WVU, they taught physics and astronomy at Davidson College, Bridgewater College, and California State University, Sacramento. They have also taught physics to monastics at the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka, India through the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative. Dr. Ybarra also currently serves as a coordinator for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V) Faculty and Student Team (FAST) program. When not teaching or doing science, they write poetry, paint, camp in the woods, and spend time with their wife and cats.
Guest Speakers
- Danny Doucette, North Carolina State University
