The voices of faculty who have gone through the process of developing and delivering a blended course can be powerful aids for those just embarking on the process. Faculty members learn best from peers, but mentors may not have time to meet all colleagues' needs. With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Simmons College is creating online faculty case studies designed to address this challenge. The Department of Academic Technology at Simmons College has created an online resource for blended faculty that intertwines faculty voices with examples, documentation of best practices, and self-guided checklists for course development and quality assurance. Each case, built around a videotaped faculty interview, focuses on a specific teaching challenge or problem: fostering a sense of community in large enrollment classes, course redesign for blended (hybrid) learning, facilitating online discussions, supporting students in blended learning contexts, etc. Session participants will view case study excerpts and also receive copies of rubrics and assessment instruments developed for the project.
