Journal of Education and Human Development

Teaching and Learning Communities: Empowering Adjuncts and Ensuring Quality
Maribel Valle, Troy Fuchs

Abstract
Due to the need to lower costs in higher education, there has been an increased reliance on adjunct and nontenure track faculty to delivercurricular content. At the same time, academic departments are concerned with ensuring quality and the standardization of course content, while maintaining high levels of course relevancy and currency. Too often, this has been translated into a top-down approach which alienates and minimizes the expertise of the adjunct, limiting the potential for innovative approaches. This paper provides examples of solutions that have been tried, both successfully and unsuccessfully, and describes an experimental model that could assist in bridging the gap between non-tenured faculty and departmental administrations while ensuringhigh levels of student outcomes and course consistency. The Teaching and Learning Community (TLC) model provides a venue and a culture that encourages collegial reciprocal flow of content, pedagogical techniques, and embedded assessments. By utilizing the accessibility and social tools of a modern Learning Management System, TLC improves the quality of experience for all parties with minimum cost impact.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v4n1a1