Stumbling upon a Community of Practice: Moving to Blended Delivery in a Community College Developmental Writing Course: The Case of Communication Foundations at Sheridan College

摘要

Jan Parker (2013) has recently imagined a form of SoTL inquiry which takes “the classroom as the place for the development of knowledge- and meaning-making, the site and focus of ‘teaching-led research’”(p. 23). Taking this call to action to heart, this presentation focuses on how a group of writing teachers in a community college, tasked with converting a traditional developmental writing course into a blended learning delivery model, stumbled into becoming a reflective community of practice focused on how blended learning tools affect student learning. Stating with a belief that good curriculum design should involve students, not just as “pilot” participants, but as part of the design team, we discuss how this approach encountered a number of obstacles which made such good intentions more difficult to effect than imagined. We then show how collaborative conversations amongst group members from multiple perspectives and stakeholders - administration, faculty and students –influenced teaching and evaluation strategies in the course design and delivery. Most importantly we explore how this initial foray into the scholarship of teaching and learning has laid out the groundwork of a project that will focus on how students’ learning is impacted by the changes that have emerged as the community has developed. The presentation will be of interest to SoTL practitioners working with on-line and blended delivery and interested in their impacts on teaching and learning.