Using Learning Communities to Build Faculty Support for Pedagogical Innovation: A Multi-Campus Study.

EDUCATIONAL change; COLLEGE teacher attitudes; TEACHING methods; UNIVERSITY faculty; HIGHER education; TEACHER development; SERVICE learning; UNIVERSITIES & colleges

The article discusses findings from a three-year study of the institutionalization of service-learning in U.S. higher education institutions, noting the relevance of faculty attitudes toward educational innovations. The authors emphasize the importance of learning communities and of alignment with faculty members' personal values to convince faculty to buy into pedagogical innovations. Other topics include getting faculty to take ownership of an innovation, providing space for open discussion of the program, and orienting the innovation effort toward assisting professional development among faculty.