Communities of practice are open to all COD employees.
To join an existing community of practice, contact the facilitator listed below or complete the registration form (COD login required).
The purpose of our Community of Practice is to support College of DuPage’s students in their preparation for and success in English 1101: Composition I and English 1102: Composition II, our two gateway English courses. This proposed community of practice would create space for faculty across Developmental English, English Language Studies (ELS), and Composition Studies to collaborate in centering equity and actively working towards removing barriers for marginalized students in our writing classrooms. We also want to invite staff from the Learning Commons, the Office of Access and Accommodations, Counseling and Advising, and any other departments and divisions who want to collaborate in centering equity and actively working towards removing barriers for marginalized students in our writing classrooms.
Facilitator: Jill Grauman
To explore the uses for A.I. in academia, to learn how to detect its use by students, and to learn how to steer students to use it ethically.
Facilitators: Bob Hazard and Jarret Dyer
This Community is Currently Inactive.
This community of practice will develop strategies to help students develop the cultural capital necessary to successfully navigate college, exposing the "hidden curriculum" of faculty expectations, college bureaucracy, and more.
Improving Student Resilience and Success through Character Strengths, Self-Regulation, Coping Skills, and Metacognition
Intended as an Innovation Community, we hope to learn about, develop, and implement strategies to help students learn skills for overcoming the stress and anxiety they are facing in school, work, and life. Psychological science has discovered a number of candidate principles and strategies that can help, and recent research has begun to test the effectiveness of interventions in the areas listed in the title of the Community of Practice.
Facilitator: Ken Gray
Inclusive pedagogies are teaching approaches that prioritize diversity, equity, and accessibility, ensuring all students feel valued, engaged, and supported in their learning. The Inclusive Pedagogies Community is open to COD instructors interested in discussing, sharing, and developing strategies, resources, and best practices that foster inclusive learning environments, address diverse student needs, and promote equitable educational outcomes.
Facilitators: Karin Evans and Jenn Kelley
We would like to form a dedicated group to strategize methods for building a stronger civic engagement strategy at COD. How do we integrate civic engagement strategies into the classroom since research shows that civic engagement has a positive effect on academic engagement? Research has found that civic engagement activities, when designed well, are associated with increased graduation rates and learning at community colleges (and K-12 and four year schools as well) (Astin and Vogelgesang 2006; Bridgeland, DiIulio, and Morison 2006; Prentice and Robinson 2010). We want to use this Community of Practice to design these activities and to strategize a longer term strategy for COD with respect to civic engagement.
Facilitators: Maureen Heffern Ponicki
This Community is Currently Inactive.
Our Community of Practice recognizes that asking for help can be difficult. There are many factors that can hinder a student's ability to get help - from practical barriers (scheduling or transportation conflicts), to preconceived notions about help-seeking behaviors, to simply knowing where help can be found. This community of practice hopes to gather information about what prevents College of DuPage students from using Math Assistance Area (MAA) resources, and to discuss, develop, and implement actions to help students overcome these challenges. We will begin our focus on students in STEM gateway courses (MATH, CHEM, PHYS, CIS) for which MAA provides tutoring.
To propose a community of practice, fill out this short form at https://forms.office.com/r/fii81wfr2E or contact the Faculty Chair of Professional Development at fpd@cod.edu.
By proposing a community, you are indicating an interest in building a community of practice at COD. The name and description of your community will be published on this guide and you can begin the process of recruiting members and considering your Action Plan.
The facilitator’s role in the community of practice is one of consulting, connecting, facilitating, helping, and guiding. Facilitators cultivate and sustain the community through
The facilitator’s role is also one of a curator who collects, organizes, and shares data and collective knowledge throughout the lifespan of the community.
The individual who proposes a community doesn't have to be the one who facilitates it. Additionally, facilitation can be managed by one or more individuals in a community - you should feel free to share the responsibilities of facilitation in any way you like within your community. For example, one person could focus on content and communication and the other on organizing and facilitating meetings.
CoP facilitators will be the primary contact for the community and will be part of the Faculty Development Community of Communities, a group of co-investigators collaboratively exploring the role and impact of communities of practice at COD.
This year, the open guide Engaging Our New and Future Students: Communities of Practice Guide for Facilitators is available to help get the facilitation process started in our new communities. Facilitators are invited to co-create the guide as we learn together what it means to bring communities of practice together at COD.
Faculty development, both synchronous and asynchronous, will be available for facilitators and communities throughout the year. Facilitators may also wish to request professional development for their CoPs to support group formation, action research, or other tasks. Contact the Faculty Chair of Professional Development at fpd@cod.edu for more information.
Contact the Faculty Chair of Professional Development at fpd@cod.edu to request professional development for your community of practice. Possible topics include:
CoP facilitators are invited to join the Community of Communities, a community of resource and practice to support the knowledge building activities and innovation endeavors of communities of practice.
The Community of Communities uses Discord as a platform for communication, collaboration, and fostering interactions among its members. Contact Jenn Kelley to learn more.
Documents require COD login