Evaluating Virtual Communities of Practice for Faculty Development.

Communities of practice, which enable sustained collaboration among fellow practitioners, have potential for advancement of faculty development, but traditionally employ face-to-face meetings with inherent economic and geographical limitations. Our virtual community of practice (VCP) model exposes engineering instructors from across the country to research-based educational practice and engenders enduring community among the participants. This investigation examined the impact of VCP participation on awareness, attitudes, and adoption of research-based educational practice. Results indicated that participation improved the participants' awareness of, attitudes toward, and adoption of research-based educational approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]