Moving On....and Moving Forward

To what extent did you achieve your goal?

I am satisfied that I am well on the road to achieving my goal. Initially when I decided to build a Faculty Learning Community, I set out to hold two Lunch and Learn sessions prior to the end of my self-regulated inquiry course. While we've only had one, there is a second session scheduled for December 2nd and I am confident that we will meet on this date and share best practices. As a faculty, we've agreed to Lunch and Learn sessions for the next six months and I will continue to spearhead the effort to build this community.

What were the reasons for how your inquiry turned out?

My inquiry in the end did turn out as I'd hoped and we had a reasonably good start. I think that I struggled with time management somewhat and this led to delays in the launch of the first Lunch and Learn session. In reflecting, I think as much as I thought about my own time constraints and other commitments, I didn't consider (enough) that faculty participants themselves would have their own time limitations.

The inquiry turned out to be somewhat different than I first planned and this was because I needed to adjust the goal - not just in terms of when to roll out the faculty learning community, but also in terms of how I would reach my audience. As I was attempting to book our face-to-face meeting, it occurred to me that it would be very useful to have an online forum to reach additional group members. I realized we could share best practices in an online group and it wasn't always necessary to sit in the same room. I have also committed to extending the reach by trying to videotape sessions and upload them to our newly formed Facebook group.

One final observation related to how my inquiry turned out is that the group developed into a more informal commitment than I had originally imagined. I see this as a positive change and already have noticed that faculty are more willing to commit to the initiative. We have so many "formal" mechanisms for learning built into our college system, so providing a less structured environment has worked well. In some ways, having faculty participate without requiring them to do so, is a great indicator of self-regulated learning.

Upon final reflection, what might you do differently if you were to do it again?

Upon final reflection, the one big thing that I would likely do differently would be to pay more attention to my audience and their needs. I think a big delay was getting faculty to commit and I had to move the first Lunch and Learn session twice. I should have been more sensitive to their commitments and time constraints they were under....perhaps a simple survey prior to setting the date?

I would also consult the experts sooner (something that continues to challenge me). I think I had some great resources available through our teaching and learning staff and they could have given me some guidance with regard to recording the first session. I will be consulting them for our second session in December for sure!

What effect has working toward this goal had on your own feelings of self-efficacy as an SRL learner?

I am miles from where I started - this is truly how I feel about my own self-efficacy beliefs. I feel as though I am now more committed to strategies such as setting goals and planning out the path. I understand how important reflection and really using it as a means of pre-planning to map out the best means of achieving something and then using it to look back on how things worked out. I definitely feel more empowered and ready to move forward in my quest to complete my Professional Masters of Education.