Faculty Study Group Program—2007-2008
Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (CEUT)

Monique Dufour, Coordinator
msdufour@vt.edu
231-7534

Faculty Study Groups (FSG) pursue collective, sustained inquiry into specific issues and questions about teaching and learning. Each FSG develops its own topic of inquiry, and devotes an academic year to its study. FSGs are driven by their members’ curiosity and commitment to understanding. Through meaningful collective inquiry, the FSG Program seeks to foster a collegial environment that values pedagogical exploration, experimentation, and renewal, and promotes learning together.

The inquiry of FSGs is supported and sustained by three writing occasions:

1. Formulating the Inquiry: Proposal
   Details follow below.

2. Sustaining Deep Engagement: Mid-Year Inquiry Reflection
   During the final meeting of the fall semester, FSGs will engage in thinking and writing about their ongoing inquiry, and planning for the spring. FSG professional development grants will be disbursed upon CEUT receipt of the group’s Mid-Year Inquiry Reflection.

3. Making Work Public: Dissemination Project
   FSGs are encouraged to find ways to share their work in ways that they consider most appropriate. CEUT will work with each group to develop a dissemination plan.

Formulating the Inquiry: The Faculty Study Group Proposal

The proposal process is designed to help the FSG to refine its plans and guide its inquiry, and to help CEUT to support deep engagement and significant impact on teaching and learning. CEUT is happy to talk with groups as they write their proposals, and to offer guidance and feedback to proposals-in-process. Contact Monique at msdufour@vt.edu to set up a time with one of us at CEUT to talk it over.

Please, use the proposal-writing process to develop your group’s sense of purpose, and to decide on your process. Frankly, we have no interest in instituting a process that is perfunctory or burdensome. Rather, we encourage you to take on the process as a way to chart your inquiry by thoughtfully articulating your ideas and goals. Proposals will likely run about two pages. All proposals will be read with care, and will receive substantive feedback from CEUT.

The final deadline for proposals is Friday, September 28. However, proposals are considered as they are received. FSGs who wish to begin earlier than September 28 should submit their proposals as soon as they are ready for consideration. Please submit your proposal as a Microsoft Word document or PDF to msdufour@vt.edu.

In your proposal, please consider and write about the following:

I. Inquiry: Purpose and Process

Identify the Issues
What are the issues in teaching and learning that you want to address? What current challenges in teaching and learning give rise to your inquiry?

If your group plans to study a specific pedagogical technique (such as case studies, rubrics, or cooperative learning), please name and describe the specific teaching and learning issues that the techniques might address.

Pose the Questions
What is it that your group wants to understand? What don’t you yet know that you want to? Try to formulate your FSG inquiry in the form of some guiding questions.

Consider Resources
What are potentially useful resources for your inquiry? Resources may include people, organizations, domains of inquiry, journals, and texts, to name only a few.

Define Commitment and Success
What are your specific expectations for productive participation in the group?
How would you like for group meetings to proceed?
What would you like to come of your collective inquiry?

II. Logistics

Group Name
Please give your group a unique, specific name that captures the nature of your collective inquiry.

Group Roster
Please list each group member’s name, including her/his position or title, department, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Identify a primary contact person for the group. Please note that groups should have no more than eight members.

Scheduled Meetings
In order to be sure that all members will be able to participate, and to give your group a concrete place on your calendars, please schedule your meetings for the fall semester, and include this schedule in your proposal. We encourage groups to plan 10-12 meetings per year, 5-6 a semester.

Group Archive
FSGs will best sustain their inquiry if they keep clear records of their work over time. Please provide a plan for maintaining some kind of archive of your inquiry that will be useful and intelligible to the group.