Learning and Teaching Professional Development: An Australian Community of Practice Case Study
Abstract
Teaching can be an isolated and private experience; however, communities of practice (CoPs) provide faculty academics teaching on-campus or distance students with a safe community to share and grow their practice. The authors present a case study of a CoP established for first-year course leaders at an Australian regional, online and distance education university. The article includes an exploration of three categories of higher education CoPs and the challenges of engaging academics in learning and teaching quality initiatives. They argue that the creator CoP approach outlined in this case study to support learning and teaching professional development can provide an embedded approach that meets both the needs of academics and institutional goals.
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