Teaching and Learning
Those of you who have responsibilities for teaching and learning will be glad to know you'll have lots of support, as well as some special opportunities here. We encourage you to make the most of both! Here's a start:
Library Services in the LRC
Librarians in the LRC can assist you with in-class orientations for your students; classroom project research support; ordering materials for short term use or for the permanent collection; and special topic research, including the development of bibliographies. One of the librarians will periodically visit your department meetings in her role as library liaison for your department. They'll be especially familiar with resources in your area of interest. Check with your department chair to see who your library liaison is, and feel free to contact her directly whenever you need assistance.
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Professional Development
The Professional Development Center is located in the Learning Resource Center. You can get help here with using technology to support your course activities. In addition, the
Learning Technologies web site has information about using the College network and email, using multimedia carts, developing staff web pages and course materials with Front Page and using Blackboard
as a course management tool. Faculty who are interested in attending a special workshop, conference or other professional development activity, may submit a proposal to the Faculty Development Fund. Forms should be available from your department chair. The annual college-wide in-service program, called Interim, is held every year just prior to the beginning of the spring semester. The
Vice President and selected staff plan activities for a given year. If you have suggestions for topics of interest, be sure to let
these folks know. Finally, divisions and departments regularly plan activities of specific interest. You'll be encouraged to take an active role in those.
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Alternative Delivery
There are lots of alternative delivery opportunities for you here at KCC. If you're interested in distance learning, you may want to teach a telecourse, interactive TV course or develop and/or deliver an online course. At the least, you may want to add a web component to your traditional course or use PowerPoint to enhance your classroom presentations. If you enjoy interdisciplinary instruction, you may want to team-teach a learning community course with an instructor from a different discipline. More and more, programs are being offered in an open entry/open exit format or some other variation of time, such as weekends or concentrated sessions in the summer. Developing courses in formats that meet the needs of a diverse student population is always a challenge. We welcome your input! Regardless of the format involved, you might encourage your students to consider a service learning project, where real world experiences enhance their learning. Be sure to ask your department chair and fellow faculty more about all of these exciting opportunities!
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Learning Technologies
The focus of the Learning Technologies group is to assist KCC faculty in achieving their instructional objectives by providing training, instructional design, and ongoing support for commonly used and emerging methodologies and technologies.
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Special Committees
There are multiple ways to increase your professional involvement here at KCC, but one of the most rewarding is serving on committees that make a difference. What do you care about most? Most likely, there is a group that shares your interests and concerns. Check with other colleagues for suggestions. Here are a few examples:
General Education Assessment Committee - reviews new and existing courses to ensure we are assessing the general education graduation competencies listed in the catalog. Email for more information.
Enrollment Management Committee - plans and promotes methods that improve the College's retention of students and assesses recruitment materials, techniques and schedules. Email for more information.
Developmental Education Committee - facilitates communication, coordinates services and makes recommendations to Academic Cabinet relative to the developmental education services. Email for more information.
Technology Committee - reviews, revises, and recommends technology use on campus. When appropriate, it recommends policy direction to the President's Council for consideration and approval. Email for more information.
Education Faculty Learning Community - is an informal group of faculty and administrators who meet occasionally to discuss issues related to the education curricula offered at KCC. Additionally, they work with regional colleges and universities to improve the transfer experience for our education majors. They offer an annual Spring Seminar for Education Majors that focuses on transfer, student teaching, the first year teaching experiences, interviewing and resume work, and other topics of interest to our students and faculty. Membership is voluntary and they have a lot of fun together. Email for more information.
Program Advisory Committees - regularly reviews and advises changes in occupational curriculum, content, instruction and equipment.
Program Review Committees - conduct an in-depth self-study of each program on a regular cycle.
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Outreach
There are a variety of means of promoting your efforts. The College web site will provide links to information about your program, and you're encouraged to help develop that information. Regular College publications, like the Bruin and the KCC Connection, as well as articles and ads in the local newspapers will share information about your program and activities with students and the community. You'll be encouraged to take an active part in the community, and, particularly, in those activities that have special relevance to your area of expertise. Finally, you'll want to explore professional networks and partnerships that can be instrumental in advancing the success of your program. You might check the links from the community pages for a place to start.
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