The WIDER Vision
The focus of our group has been on the dissemination of evidence based teaching methods across campus. The project team grew organically as we prepared the first grant application. We invited a wide group of individuals to the meetings and those that kept returning over time became the core team. As a group, we then shaped the project such that each member of the team contributed an element that they cared most deeply about. This led to a shared ownership of the project as a whole as we prepared our initial grant submission. When it was funded, this gelled the team and the group has maintained its core ever since.
As the project progressed, we have had the opportunity to share the work repeatedly to a variety of audiences both internal to campus and external across the country. Each team member has been invited to participate in these events to ensure substantial visibility for the individuals involved. This allowed the team members to learn to articulate their perspective on our shared vision.
The third part of the process involved sharing this vision with our colleagues on campus. This process is still on-going, but the mechanism for us is now pretty well established. We do it through a series of workshops and events that occur regularly. These include PD events open to the entire university community on evidence-based teaching methods as well as departmental group meetings that focus on teaching and student success. These meetings allow us to spread our vision to new groups on campus, recruiting additional faculty who are ready to make changes and adopt student-centered approaches. Identifying these individual and reaching out to them with the support they need to adopt is critical to our success.
Related
Center Profile: Office of Teaching and Learning - Wayne State University