Learning Communities

LCs are small groups of faculty/instructors who come together regularly over the course of a year to discuss various aspects of their teaching, support each other, and/or work together to solve a shared pedagogical problem or question.  LCs can range from informal to quite structured, depending on the needs and goals of the group. The CTL is currently planning for next semester and is always open to LC suggestions based on faculty interest.

What are some examples of Learning Communities?

A learning community might be formed to:

• Support a cohort of faculty at a similar point in their careers
• Share ideas for improved teaching of a particular pedagogical approach (like service learning or problem-based learning)
• Investigate the potential of a new classroom practice or tool (like “flipping” or student response systems)
• Build community and support for teaching a common course (like First Year Seminars or Intro to Biology)
• Discuss scholarship on issues of concern to faculty and their classrooms (like diversity or campus climate)
• Connect faculty in more intentional ways with people and services that might improve student learning

What are the advantages to joining a LC?

Well, just to name a few, a LC can provide: new ideas for teaching, opportunities to slow down and reflect, scholarly camaraderie, intercollegiate connections, emotional support, potential avenues for publication, and, often, a free lunch! Above all, a LC is a safe place to challenge yourself to grow as a teacher and life-long learner.

The CTL encourages faculty to nominate an LC.  If you have an idea for a group that is focused on issues in teaching and learning, please email ctl@claremont.edu with the type of group, a main contact person, and what interest already exists for it.

Fall 2025 LC’s

Coming soon!

 Past LC’s

Advising Student Teams Learning Community

Hosted by: Werner Zorman, HMC

This learning community invites advisors of student teams to explore the challenges, best practices, and pertinent theories associated with fostering thriving student teams. Join us for engaging conversations about your experiences and actively take part in exercises designed to enrich your toolkit for guiding students towards success in their collaborative endeavors and group projects.

Alternative Approaches to Grading

Hosted by: Sadie Otte, DNS

CTL co-director Sadie will facilitate this LC on ungrading / alternative assessment. The learning objectives of this LC:

• Participants will develop their personal assessment values
• Participants will prepare assessment practices and policies in line with their values
• Additional learning objectives or edits to those above may be added in consultation with participants

The intention of this LC is to help participants who are already interested in alternative assessment find or create a model that works for their specific course context. So perhaps you would like to ungrade but aren’t sure how. Or perhaps you’ve used alternative assessment before but need to refine your practice. There is no perfect way to ungrade, and participants will be encouraged to find a system that works for them, their students, and their course context. Meeting times and frequency will be determined by the group. The LC will provide resources, discussion topics, and/or structured working time, along with a supportive community to help you brainstorm ideas or troubleshoot your course.

Alternatives to Course Evaluations

Hosted by: Barbara Junisbai, PIT

Despite numerous equity and measurement biases, course evaluations remain a primary metric of teaching effectiveness in faculty hiring and promotion decisions (Kreitzer and Sweet-Cushman, 2021). In this LC we will get clear about the shortcomings of course evaluations and spend the bulk of our time together researching and envisioning a range of alternatives. Alternatives—from feminist and decolonial approaches to evaluation to longitudinal teaching portfolios and anything in between—will depend upon the individual teacher’s capacity, timeframe, pedagogical values, and developmental goals. Consideration of power and structure is also key, as not all faculty have leeway to innovate and go against the institutional and disciplinary grain. At the end of the semester, we will share what we’ve learned, to help inform institutional and individual faculty practice. Possibilities include, but are not limited to, a resource guide with sample alternatives, a pre-recorded presentation, and/or a live discussion/panel.

Assignments Beyond the Traditional Research Paper

Hosted by: Liz Galoozis, TCCS Library

Engaging students in the insights, joys, and challenges of academic research is fundamental to many courses and assignments. But traditional research paper assignments aren’t the only way to accomplish this goal. Studies* have shown that other types of research assignments lead to more equitable student outcomes, and are also less vulnerable to being written by generative AI like ChatGPT.

In this learning community, we’ll explore alternatives to the research paper that engage students in new and creative ways while reducing opportunities for plagiarism. We’ll read some research on how students interact with research assignments, look at examples of assignments (like grant proposals, creative or digital projects, and analog assignments, to name a few), and talk about the details of implementing them. We will also discuss how to take advantage of the wide variety of sources and tools available at The Claremont Colleges Library and beyond. We’ll meet every two weeks, at a time and place to be determined by the group.

*e.g., Hobbs, Singer-Freeman, and Robinson 2021 and Gabriel 2018

Diversity in Higher Ed FLC

This group of faculty focused on having some shared material (like an article) each meeting to provide a common basis for discussion. Some of the topics this FLC have discussed are:

• Literature on best practices in inclusion and diversity
• First-gen and socio-economic concerns
• The psychological burden of undertaking contentions conversations
• 5C and 7C resources for discussion on gender, sexuality, and disability

Embodied Pedagogies

Hosted by: Barbara Junisbai, PIT

FLC members chose readings from scholars in contemplative pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, and pedagogies of care, among others.

Expanding Climate Education Learning Community

Hosted by: Lelia Hawkins, HMC

While many of us want to include more climate content in our courses, finding the time and resources to do this work can be challenging and perhaps even intimidating. Sometimes, a little accountability makes all the difference. The HMC Hixon Center for Climate and the Environment is partnering with the Center for Teaching and Learning to expand the number of faculty and staff, and the variety of courses, engaged in undergraduate climate education. We welcome participants seeking to innovate at any scale, from a single homework assignment to a full course. While we welcome participants with all levels of expertise in climate, we are particularly interested in supporting faculty and staff who have very little experience in this area. In this LC, we will:

• share resources for incorporating climate change into your curriculum
• offer feedback on ideas for including climate in your course
• foster a community of professionals at the Claremont Colleges with similar interests in climate education
• and create accountability for progress toward your individual goals with check ins over meals, either breakfast or lunch, on alternate weeks

First 5 Learning Community

Hosted by: Michelle Decker, SCR

This learning community will provide a collegial, open space for faculty and instructional staff in their first five years at the colleges to find ‘your people’ while we discuss strategies for thriving at the 5Cs. We will talk about what’s most relevant for our members. Possible topics include: challenges of and strategies for teaching at a liberal arts college; how to prepare teaching-related statements for tenure and review; how to mentor and advise well, and how to establish boundaries; nuts and bolts of syllabus design and time management; work-life balance, and teaching-research-service balance. 

Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education

Hosted by: Warren Liu, SCR

FLC members read and reflected on Indigenous & Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View (2019).

Justice Education FLC

This was a group of faculty who have taught, will teach, or were interested in teaching “inside-out” courses. They generally met monthly.  Some of the topics this FLC  discussed were:

• What are the teaching strategies that folks have found to work well?
• Dealing with expectations both “inside” and “outside” students have about each other, and faculty expectations of these students.
• What other opportunities are there to participate in justice education?
• Logistics of teaching inside-printing, materials, travel, registration, etc.
• Managing stress of requirements of dress, behavior, etc. when going inside, and of leaving half your students behind, responsibility for student safety.

Learner-Centered Classroom

In this FLC faculty read about, discussed, tried, and reflected on the efficacy of learner-centered classroom techniques.

Metacognition

Hosted by: Cory Davia, CMC

This group explored strategies for helping students become more self-aware about their learning processes. 

Note Taking and Study Skills

Hosted by: Cory Davia, CMC

This group will explore questions related to how students prepare for class and how we can help them develop study habits suited to their goals. For instance, we’ll consider different kinds of note-taking strategies and modalities, different roles note-taking can play in a class, and ways of helping students become more self-aware about their reading habits and approach to studying. We’ll meet every two weeks, at a time and place to be determined by the group.

Otherwise Pedagogies

Hosted by: George Ygarza, PIT

Scholars Moten and Harney describe entering the space of the undercommons as a ‘ruptural and enraptured disclosure of the commons … where the commons give refuge, where the refuge gives commons.’ (Moten and Harney, 2004) As contingent faculty (part-time, visiting, and adjunct) how do we make use of the liminal space we occupy to engender community? How do we convert these liminal spaces and ways of being in them as sites of refuge and care to inform a liberatory pedagogy? Guided by the notion of the undercommons, this Faculty Learning Community invites BIPoC contingent faculty and early scholars to come together to think through the ways in which our experiential, ancestral and lived knowledges can define our pedagogy and other aspects of our work in academe.

Teaching When the World is on Fire Learning Community

Hosted by: Sara Hollar, CTL

This learning community is for anyone questioning how to teach effectively in the current era of climate change, war, student protest and more. How do we teach right here, right now? We’ll use the book Teaching While the World Is on Fire and it’s as a jumping-off point for exploration and analysis. The book is organized into sections with essays on politics, safety, race, gender + sexuality, and climate, primarily aimed at K-12 educators. We’ll work together to assess if any of the messages from this book can be adapted and applied to higher education, and to the Claremont Colleges.

Visioning and Teaching

Hosted by: Barbara Junisbai, PIT

in the past two years, barbara has been practicing visioning in her professional and personal life, in her teaching and service, and with her organizational studies students. the process follows a “backward design” model: we take a moment, in community, to name what joyful, meaningful, and fulfilling teaching (and life!) looks like for each of us. we then plot out in a playful, generous, and possibility-filled way concrete steps, resources, deadlines, and accountability structures that help us realize our vision. meeting time and place to be determined by participants.

Workshopping Lectures for Effective Teaching Learning Community

Hosted by: Melissa Chadburn, PIT

This Learning Community aims to create a collaborative space for faculty members to actively practice, critique, and refine their lecture delivery skills, fostering a culture of continuous improvement in teaching effectiveness through peer feedback and shared best practices.

Goals:

• Enhance teaching quality: Equip faculty with strategies to design engaging and impactful lectures tailored to diverse student needs.
• Foster a collaborative learning environment: Provide a safe space for open discussion, constructive feedback, and shared learning among peers.
• Promote reflective practice: Encourage faculty to critically analyze their teaching approaches and identify areas for improvement.