With the start of the autumn semester come multiple Learning Community (LC) opportunities for faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students to grow in knowledge, experience, and professional relationships with colleagues sharing common interest in developing as educators and scholars. The Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning is currently accepting applications to join three unique LC cohorts scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year. Faculty, lecturers, and instructional staff are invited to apply to join the annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) Learning Community. Additionally, through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), the Drake Institute will facilitate two year-long LCs for graduate students and postdocs interested in a career in higher education. The first, the CIRTL at Ohio State LC, brings participants together in learning about the fundamentals of evidence-based teaching, positioning them for success in the instructional role(s) they will fulfill as future faculty. Graduate instructors and postdocs having instructional responsibilities are also invited to apply to the annual Teaching as Research LC, also hosted as part of Ohio State’s membership in CIRTL. This LC serves to prepare participants to engage in scholarship around their teaching and culminates in a poster showcase of planned and implemented SoTL or DBER projects at the annual Ohio State Academy of Teaching Conference held each spring. To learn more about and express interest in the SoTL/DBER LC, please visit https://drakeinstitute.osu.edu/our-programs-and-services/faculty/research-support. To explore opportunities related to CIRTL at Ohio State, visit https://drakeinstitute.osu.edu/our-programs-and-services/grad-students-and-postdocs/cirtl.
Two additional LCs supported by the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning have already formed and are set to begin early in the term. The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) LC, facilitated by the Office of International Affairs with support from the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning brings together an outstanding, committed group of instructors to learn about and develop their own COIL course. In addition, the inaugural Sustainability Education Learning Community at Ohio State has been formed and will begin meeting in September 2024. This learning community brings together a rich and diverse cohort of faculty interested in exploring innovative approaches to the pedagogy of sustainability across the full range of academic disciplines at Ohio State. Participating faculty will become catalysts for transformative pedagogy and leaders for sustainability education across the campus.