Many physics faculty are aware of and interested in using research-based instructional strategies. However, knowledge and motivation are not sufficient to support successful and sustained adoption. To address this problem, we present a faculty online learning community (FOLC) model for educational change and describe its application (the New Faculty Workshop FOLC, NFW-FOLC) to provide a year of support to new faculty following attendance at the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop. FOLCs are an extension of the faculty learning community model. Here we present the theoretical underpinnings of the general FOLC model, the design principles of our particular NFW-FOLCs, and the learning objectives for NFW-FOLC participants. We demonstrate the efficacy of our NFW-FOLCs by analyzing postexperience interviews with participants from the first four NFW-FOLC cohorts. The primary motivation given by faculty for joining our FOLCs is to improve their teaching as they learn more about teaching strategies, get implementation help, and connect to a broader community. These motivations align with our NFW-FOLC design principles. Participants overwhelmingly report the experience was valuable and impacted them positively with the most commonly reported impacts of NFW-FOLC membership being changes in their implementation of teaching strategies, increased reflection about teaching, increased confidence as teachers, increased knowledge about teaching, benefits to their students, time saved, and gaining a resource. The reported impacts provide evidence that the NFW-FOLC is successfully meeting its goals. We argue that the reported impacts are uniquely supported by the FOLC model of professional development. We advance FOLCs as a generalizable model of professional development offering a number of advantages over traditional reform efforts as well as traditional Faculty Learning Communities.

Background Adoption and use of effective, research-based instructional strategies (RBISs) for STEM education is less widespread than hoped. To promote further use of RBISs, the propagation paradigm suggests that developers work with potential adopters during the development process, and provide ongoing support after adoption. This article investigates the impact of a faculty online learning community (FOLC) as a professional development mechanism for supporting faculty adopting a research-based curriculum. A FOLC uses video conference technology and online platforms to connect geographically dispersed faculty with similar backgrounds (e.g., physics faculty) and supports their teaching development. In the context of a specific FOLC, this article seeks to determine the outcomes the FOLC achieves, and how. Results Analysis of a FOLC meeting identified opportunities for rich, complex social interaction centered on the research-based curriculum. By functioning as a sounding board for ideas, a space to share experiences, a source of affective support, and a venue for troubleshooting, the FOLC mediates the achievement of a range of outcomes related to implementation of the curriculum. Survey results indicate that members feel a sense of community in the FOLC and that it provides encouragement through teaching challenges. Further results indicate participants’ increased confidence in using the curriculum; familiarity with the curriculum structure and content; increased knowledge of pedagogical techniques; reflection on teaching practices in the curriculum; and use of pedagogical techniques aligned with the curriculum’s core principles. Emerging evidence supports more distal outcomes, including student learning, persistence in using the curriculum, reflection in teaching practice across courses taught, and use of research-based pedagogy in other courses. Conclusions The propagation paradigm emphasizes the need for ongoing support for adopters of RBISs. The FOLC model provides participating faculty with ongoing support through participation in a community and is an effective support mechanism for adopters of a research-based curriculum. In this study, FOLC members are increasing their knowledge and use of pedagogical techniques in the curriculum-specific course and beyond. This is facilitated by the opportunities in the FOLC for troubleshooting, idea sharing, and receiving encouragement through challenges. This model has the potential to support adopters of additional educational innovations.

This paper presents our preliminary work towards being able to describe productive conversations in the context of faculty talking about teaching in a Faculty Online Learning Community (FOLC) as well as facilitator moves that lead to productive conversations. We present an analysis of a short video clip from a particularly productive FOLC meeting in which a rich discussion of pedagogical issues occurs. In order to understand why this conversation was productive, we describe the types of talk present and the function each type of talk served. Drawing from the literature on teacher workgroup conversations and using an emergent coding scheme, we identify four types of teaching talk: Reflection, Replay, Philosophy, and Rehearsal as well as three facilitation moves: Agency, Withholding, and Elaboration present in the conversation. We consider how teaching talk and facilitation moves are connected and offer guidance for those engaging in facilitation of either online or in-person faculty learning communities.

Faculty Online Learning Communities (FOLCs) are unique professional development environments built to support instructors as they adopt research-based teaching strategies and curricula. FOLC participants meet via a video conferencing platform to discuss their teaching challenges and to generate solutions. In order to capture the breadth and depth of learning that can occur by participating in a FOLC, and to identify connections between facilitation moves, discursive structures, and learning opportunities, we have developed a taxonomy to characterize the opportunities to learn (OTLs) in a FOLC meeting. In this paper we will preview the taxonomy, presenting its main components, and provide an overview of its development based on meetings from a FOLC centered around the Next Generation Physical Science and Everyday Thinking (NGPET) curriculum. Using an excerpt from a NGPET-FOLC meeting, we demonstrate how the taxonomy can be used as an analytical tool. We end with a discussion of the potential applications for this taxonomy.

Background While many research-based instructional strategies in STEM have been developed, faculty need support in implementing and sustaining use of these strategies. A number of STEM faculty professional development programs aim to provide such pedagogical support, and it is necessary to understand the activity and learning process for faculty in these settings. In this paper, a taxonomy for describing the learning opportunities in faculty (online) learning community meetings is presented. Faculty learning communities, meeting either in-person or (increasingly) online, are a common form of professional development. They aim to develop the pedagogical and reflective skills of participants through regular meetings centered on conversations about teaching and learning. Results The tool presented in this paper, the Taxonomy of Opportunities to Learn (TxOTL), provides a structured approach to making sense of the dynamic interactions that occur during faculty learning community meetings. The origins and development of the TxOTL are described, followed by a detailed presentation of the constructs that make up the TxOTL: communicative approach used in a conversation, the concepts developed, and the meeting segment category. The TxOTL characterizes the learning opportunities presented by a faculty learning community conversation through describing the content of the conversation as well as how participants engage in the conversation. Examples of the tool in use are provided through an application to a faculty online learning community serving instructors of a physical science curriculum. A visual representation used to compactly display the results of applying the taxonomy to a meeting is detailed as well. These examples serve to illustrate the types of claims the TxOTL facilitates. Conclusions The TxOTL allows one to examine learning opportunities available to a faculty learning community group, analyze concept development present in their conversations, track change over time in a given group, and identify patterns between meeting segment categories and communicative approaches. It is useful for researchers as well as facilitators of these STEM faculty professional development groups. The taxonomy is most applicable to faculty (online) learning communities, with limited use for workshops and K-12 professional development contexts.