A Virtual Community of Practice for Enhanced Teaching and Convergence to Strengthen Student Learning, Engagement, and Inclusion

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty are suddenly thrown into a world where they have to teach virtually, forcing them to innovate in their teaching practice without the ability to “chat with their colleagues” next door. Additionally, many faculty do not know how to create an inclusive classroom, which is crucial for students who have also lost their learning community and support structure. Many faculty are afraid to include issues of inclusion and diversity, feeling ill equipped and unsupported. As tensions rise across the US, there is a critical need for engineering students to be able to discuss issues involving inclusion in the classroom as well as apply their abilities as engineers to make a significant impact (both positively or negatively) on inclusion through their applications and innovations. Without the proper support for the faculty to innovate and foster inclusive classrooms, millions of students will suffer in their education. Additionally, without a trusting support group, most engineering faculty would not choose to assume the risk. In response, we developed a community of practice with six teaching fellows who shared, watched, commented on, and emulated each other's classroom recordings. The teaching fellows learned a significant amount from each other, courageously implemented activities focused on inclusion and awareness in their classrooms, observed greater awareness among their students on inclusion issues, and were able to mentor faculty and publish about the data driven best practices that they completed.