Communities of Practice & Learning Communities

 Are you passionate about teaching and eager to grow alongside colleagues who share your interests? Teaching is an evolving practice, and the most impactful pedagogical breakthroughs often happen when we collaborate across disciplines. Join a community of practice (CoP) or learning community (LC) this academic year to reflect on your teaching, try out new strategies, and share both your successes and the lessons learned along the way. Whether you are looking to revitalize a course, experiment with modern instructional tools, or connect with fellow instructors, there is a seat reserved for you.

Ready to connect, experiment, & grow?

Sign up for Communities of Practice (Google Form)

What are communities of practice and learning communities?

A community of practice is a dynamic, collaborative group of 8-12 faculty and staff who meet regularly throughout the academic year to explore a specific topic in teaching and learning. Facilitated by a peer, each CoP and LC provides a space to dive deeper into shared questions, challenges, and ideas—while supporting each other in applying what you learn. See our offerings for the 2026 – 2027 academic year below.

• Participant Expectations

  These expectations help ensure that each CoP makes a lasting impact on both its members and the wider teaching community.

  • Show up and engage: Members will actively prepare for, attend, and participate. Groups meet at least twice a month.
  • Reflect and report: Submit a short executive summary and reflection by May 1.
  • Share your learning: Present work at the Thrive Symposium in the fall.
  • Create a meaningful takeaway: Produce a deliverable (Instructional resources, presentations, or publications).
     

  Each group will produce a deliverable that can be shared with a broader audience—on campus or beyond. Options include:

  • Instructional resources (teaching tools, videos, strategies, annotated bibliographies, etc.)
  • Presentations at external conferences
  • Publications (portfolios, white papers, journal articles, etc.)

• Participant Outcomes

  Participants in learning communities should be able to demonstrate at least two of the following:

  • Integrate research-based, learner-centered, and/or welcoming pedagogies in their teaching. Related activities could include reviewing and revising course materials such as syllabi, learning outcomes, and class activities.
  • Leverage collaborative relationships with colleagues across disciplines on topics related to learning-centered instructional innovation and student success. Related activities could include sharing experiences, successes, and challenges with colleagues in the learning community, as well as providing feedback on observations and/or research design and implementation.
  • Build supportive, collegial, and informal mentoring structures that help support the intellectual, emotional, and mental well-being of faculty members.
  • Disseminate practices and scholarship with the broader teaching community at and beyond WSU. Related activities might include sharing work through presentations, sharing instructional resource materials, and/or presenting findings at a CETL event, an external venue, or through publication.

• Benefits

  • Connect with colleagues who share your interests in teaching and learning at Weber State.
  • Explore and experiment with new teaching strategies, share ideas, reflect on your teaching, and dive into the scholarship of teaching and learning.
  • Enjoy food and conversation—each group receives $200 to use for snacks and meals throughout the year.
  • Earn a stipend—participants who complete the community will receive a modest (and varied) financial award.
  • Strengthen your teaching portfolio—your participation counts as professional development and can be included in tenure, promotion, and annual review materials. If your teaching changes because of your experience, you can document those changes as innovations.

• 2026 - 2027 Communities of Practice

  Teaching with AI: Practical Strategies for Higher Education 

  Facilitators: Erika Hernandez and Md Moktadir Alam

  Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we teach, learn, and prepare students for the workforce. This Community of Practice will provide a collaborative space for faculty to explore practical, ethical, and effective ways to integrate AI into their teaching, regardless of discipline or prior experience. Participants will share ideas, discuss challenges, and experiment with strategies for using AI to enhance student learning while maintaining academic integrity.

  Topics may include designing AI-aware assignments, using AI to support course preparation and feedback, encouraging critical thinking in an AI-enabled classroom, and helping students develop responsible AI literacy. The Community of Practice will emphasize hands-on learning, open discussion, and the exchange of experiences rather than technical expertise. By the end of the series, participants will have practical tools and greater confidence in incorporating AI into their courses, along with a network of colleagues committed to improving teaching and learning in an evolving educational landscape.

  Crucial Conversations

  Facilitator: Don Davies

  Meeting Cadence: Twice per month throughout the academic year
   

  Learn how to speak about different paradigms in noncontentious ways. Discover methods to facilitate inclusive, productive group discussions and avoid practices that restrict discussion. Gain tools for managing emotions and defusing contention will also be discussed. If the principles are applied, relationships at work and at home will be strengthened. We will begin by:

  1. Gaining clarity (understanding and managing emotions, what areas of our lives need to be addressed, and what the desired outcome looks like.
  2. Preparing to engage in Crucial Conversations (when and where the discussion will take place).
  3. Beginning the Crucial Conversations with mutaul respect, stateing the desired intent, and beginning with facts, which tend not to be controversial.
  4. Facilitating discussion and concluding with commitment.
  5. Seeking out and receiving feedback.
  6. Leading group discussions in ways that invite inclusiveness and varied participation.

   

  Neurodiversity

  Facilitator: Brent Warnock

  Meeting Cadence: Monthly throughout the academic year

  Our campus is home to a vibrant community of neurodiverse students, faculty, and staff, and the Neurodiversity CoP will consider initiatives and advocacy that celebrate neurodiverse identities and experiences on campus. Participants will develop their understanding, appreciation, and support of neurodiversity within ourselves, our classrooms, and across campus. By elevating neurodiverse voices, this CoP will establish concrete actions to guide campus efforts to be an inclusive and welcoming space.

  Faculty Writing Group

  Facilitator: Sarah Steimel

  Meeting Cadence:  Bi-weekly throughout the academic year – in person preferred, but Zoom and asynchronous options available if you can’t join us live

  The Faculty Writing Group CoP is designed to carve out a dedicated, supportive space for individuals who are striving to complete scholarly writing projects and successfully submit them for publication or presentation. Whether you’re working on a journal article, a conference presentation or paper, a book chapter, or any other scholarly writing project, this group is here to help you overcome the obstacles that often stand in the way. We understand that academic writing can be a solitary and daunting task, filled with challenges such as procrastination, overwhelming schedules, and self-doubt. You are welcome, even if you aren’t quite sure how to start! Through a combination of best practices in writing productivity and community support, this CoP prepares participants to create a structured yet flexible environment in which they can set goals, track their progress, and celebrate small wins along the way. 

  Support for Writing in the Disciplines

  Facilitators: Marisa Yerace and Linda Wilson-Hill

  Meeting Cadence: Bi-weekly throughout the academic year

  The Support for Writing in the Disciplines CoP is for instructors who want to level-up the writing and learning that happens in their classes. Bringing together faculty from across campus, the Writing Center, and the Composition Program, we'll discuss designing writing assignments, interacting with student writing-in-progress, using writing-to-learn to improve student content knowledge, navigating writing instruction after generative AI, and mentoring students into the discourse communities of their majors. CoP participants will have the opportunity to work closely with Writing Center staff and will be prepared to revise a course to include more writing or redesign a major writing assignment. Faculty are already experts on writing in their own disciplines: our goal is to collaborate on improving student writing in their disciplines. To frame our approach to writing instruction, participants will receive a complimentary copy of The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines by Gottschalk & Hjortshoj.

  Reading for Creativity & Critical Thinking

  Facilitator: Elaine Schnabel

  Meeting Cadence: Monthly throughout the academic year

  This COP is Book-It for adults, where we design the prizes we want to give ourselves to cultivate the habit of reading well. Reading is at the heart of academic life—it is how we stay current with research, explore new ideas, and recover from a demanding semester or difficult teaching day. Yet, with busy schedules, making time to read for either scholarship or pure enjoyment is often the first thing to fall off our to-do lists. Participants in the Reading for Creativity & Critical Thinking CoP will recuperate the joy and curiosity of reading through a social, low-stakes collective where we will create reading goals, check in on progress, and celebrate our reading victories with li’l prizes. Meetings will be scheduled according to members’ availability, but likely a weekday afternoon or happy hour time.

• 2026 - 2027 Learning Communities

  Please email the facilitator if you would like to join Learning Community

  CCEL

  Facilitator: Katie Kassler

  Connecting academic work with community enriches student learning and deepens the impact of our scholarship. The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), in partnership with the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL), invites you to join the CCEL Learning Community (LC) focused on community-engaged teaching, learning, and research.
  
  Facilitated by the incoming CCEL Faculty-in-Residence, Katie Kassler, this LC offers a structured, supportive space to explore community-engagement principles, learn from guest speakers across campus, and apply these frameworks directly to your work. Supported by a $5,000 RSPG grant, this initiative provides resources, materials, and support for your project development throughout the year. We intend to meet virtually once a month. The goal of the CCEL Learning Community is to revise an existing course, unit, or assignment to integrate community-engaged practices, and potentially apply for the official CEL attribute designation for a new or existing course.

  Sustainability Across the Curriculum

  Facilitator: Heather Root, Hal Crimmel, & Andrew Rice
   

  Sustainability Across the Curriculum Learning Community (LC) dedicated to fostering sustainability teaching across campus. Together, we hope to explore concepts, terms, and examples related to sustainability so that you can (re)design a course to receive the SUS attribute.

  Facilitated by an interdisciplinary team of faculty from Geography, Botany, English, and Art, this cohort offers a welcoming space to share ideas, reflect on teaching strategies, and adapt your curriculum through the lens of sustainability. We intend to meet bi-monthly, and our specific focus for this year is local, place-based sustainability.

  Active Learning

  Facilitator: Alee Lee, Mackenzie Glover, & Kristin Millard

  Facilitating an active, student-centered classroom while effectively leveraging a Learning Assistant (LA) can transform engagement, but it also comes with unique teaching methods and practical hurdles. Whether you are currently teaching with an LA or are exploring how an LA can support active learning in your department, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) invites you to join the Active Learning Learning Community (LC) designed to build your confidence and capacity in active teaching strategies.

  The Active Learning LC is led by expert pedagogues Alee Lee, Mackenzie Glover, and Kristin Millard.
  This LC provides a supportive space for faculty to experiment with new group learning methods, overcome classroom barriers, and build a strong partnership with their LAs. We’ll be meeting once a month throughout the academic year to engage in interactive, theme-based workshops featuring short presentations, hands-on activities, real-time classroom implementation between sessions, and optional peer observations.

  Deliberative Dialogue

  Facilitator: Megan Van Deventer

  Helping our students engage in meaningful dialogue, critical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving across differences is one of the most vital–and challenging–skills we can foster in higher education today. Building on last year’s foundational ACUE framework, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) invites you to join this year’s Deliberative Dialogue Learning Community (LC). This year, we are taking the ACUE framework off the screen and putting it directly into practice in our Weber State classrooms. Together, we will adapt these dialogue strategies to fit our specific coursework, our student body, and local initiatives. Our bi-monthly sessions will center on working through real-world teaching scenarios so you can build confidence in facilitating constructive conversations in your courses.