Faculty Training and Development
ASAP sets a daunting challenge to BMCC faculty, administration and staff: graduate an entire cohort of 200 students in within three years with the guarantee of jobs or transfer to a four-year college. Faculty development is a key factor in achieving those goals.
Before stepping into the classroom, educators go through a four-day program aimed at preparing faculty to work in interdisciplinary teams matching the block programs for ASAP students in the five programs of study: Liberal Arts, Business, Accounting, Human Services, and Early Childhood Education.
This development program introduces faculty to many pedagogical concepts, including:
Developing learning outcomes
Inquiry-based learning
Habits of the mind
Learning communities
Collaborative learning techniques
Developing interdisciplinary projects
Outside consultants from other colleges present the topics in workshop fashion, with faculty going through a particular learning experience or issue through discussion, presentation and reflection.
Goals
ASAP officials at BMCC want to create an education environment that maximizes teaching and learning. Some goals are:
• Interdisciplinary Teams Working Together
All students are placed in a block program of four classes for at least the first two semesters. Each block contains four different instructors who work together to connect their courses on a single theme. ASAP Faculty Interdisciplinary Projects
• Supplemental Instruction
All classes have Supplemental Instructors (SIs) who act as model students and offer teaching outside of the classroom via test prep sessions, review sessions and extra help on difficult topics.
• Ongoing Communication
Since much of the faculty consists of part-timers, the teachers will hold office hours to meet with students, other faculty, ASAP staff and Supplemental Instructors. The faculty also will attend events held for ASAP students.