Learning Teams of four to six members will be organized to assist learners in meeting the course goals. Learning team membership will remain stable throughout the course to maximize potential advantages of the experience. The Learning Teams will serve several purposes in addition to specific team assignments, including: (1) providing assistance to other members in completing assignments and mastery of course concepts, (2) providing support and encouragement to other team members, and (3) providing an opportunity to discuss, debate and apply course material in depth in a small group setting.

The learning teams should be organized by the second class meeting. Each team should combine a mixture of various learner backgrounds and experiences. These teams of peers will provide an opportunity to grapple with issues and concepts related to contemporary issues in higher education.

Specific tasks of the learning teams will include:

Complete in class exercises and discussion assignments.

1. Review and reinforce important concepts from class presentations and discussions.
2. Plan and present a study committee report in a mock institutional board meeting. The class members will be the institutional board.
3. Provide support and study resources for requirements. (This is optional, but learning teams can certainly assist each other.)
4. Could serve as the group for the synchronous chat.
5. Provide anonymous, typed feedback to other team members of the team on their contribution to the team. (As debating with myself I have decided not to make this a requirement but I urge you to do it for the reasons below. Honest feedback is a gift!)

As aspiring higher education professionals, each member brings to the learning team unique experiences, backgrounds and skills. The learning team will provide an opportunity to enrich the learning experience for others in the course through appropriate sharing and professional dialogue. Much of the work in higher education is completed by committees and task forces yet graduate work often focuses on individual, competitive efforts rather than group, collaborative efforts. The feedback guide will suggest formative rather than evaluative feedback to help each team member learn to be a better contributor to the group.