Communities of Practice are defined as an organized group of professional people who share the same interests in resolving an issue, improving skills, and learning from each other’s experiences.
Community of Practice members:
- Share expertise in and commitment to the focus area.
- Engage in collective dialogue and activities to learn how to enhance similar initiatives.
- Produce a collection of resources. For instance, shared experience, knowledge, tools that informs their work (individually or the field).
Communities of Practice are important because they:
- Connect people who might not have connected on their own.
- Provide a shared space to connect around one another’s experiences.
- Enable dialogue.
- Stimulate learning by promoting self-reflection, coaching, and communication.
- Capture and diffuse existing knowledge to assist members in enhancing their field.
- Introduce a collaborative process to stimulate ideas.
- Produce purposeful actions that deliver results.
- Generate new knowledge.
Learning theories associated with Communities of Practice:
- Constructivist Theory – create new knowledge based on current/past knowledge.
- Critical Theory – address inequalities in institutions.
- Social Learning Theory – observing and modeling behaviors leads to learning.
Role Communities of Practice play in the Shared Competencies:
The goal of each community is to lead efforts in enhancing undergraduate education around the community’s competency area. This goal is achieved by answering key questions and taking actions during the following phases:
1. Design Phase: Research Questions
- What does the competency mean in various disciplines?
- What are 4-5 key learning outcomes all students should know and be
able to demonstrate? - What does successful demonstration of the learning outcomes look like?
2. Ideation & Education Phase: Questions and Actions
- What do faculty and staff need to support students in their competency development?
- Who, campus or national experts, can engage faculty and staff in professional development opportunities?
- When will these professional development opportunities take place?
Learn more about the Communities of Practice and their work:
If you are interested in joining a community, please e-mail competencies@syr.edu.
Ethics, Integrity, and Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
This community developed a rubric to assess student learning during the 2022-23 academic year. The rubric was tested during the spring 2024 semester and is undergoing full scale assessment in spring 2025.
Critical and Creative Thinking
This community developed a rubric to assess student learning during the 2022-23 academic year. The rubric was tested during the spring 2024 semester through the Shared Competencies Academy: Signature Assignments for Critical and Creative Thinking.
Scientific Inquiry and Research Skills
This community developed a rubric to assess student learning during the 2022-23 academic year. The rubric was tested during the spring 2024 semester through the Shared Competencies Academy: Signature Assignments for Scientific Inquiry and Research Skills.
Civic and Global Responsibility
This community developed learning outcomes and a rubric to assess student achievement. The outcomes and rubric were first tested in the spring 2023 semester, revised to align with the Academic Strategic Plan in fall 2024, and is undergoing full scale assessment in spring 2025.
Communication Skills
This community developed a rubric to assess student learning during the 2022-23 academic year. The rubric was tested during the spring 2024 semester through the Shared Competencies Academy: Signature Assignments for Communication Skills.
Information Literacy and Technological Agility
This community developed learning outcomes and a rubric to assess student learning during the 2021-22 academic year. The outcomes and rubric were tested in the inaugural Shared Competencies Academy: Signature Assignments for Information Literacy and Technological Agility in the spring 2022 semester. ILTA underwent full scale assessment in spring 2024. To view and discuss the results contact competencies@syr.edu today!
This community developed a rubric to assess student learning during the 2022-23 academic year. The rubric was tested during the spring 2024 semester through the Shared Competencies Academy: Signature Assignments for Communication Skills.
Community of Practice members (*.pdf)
Learn more about how the rubric was created and tested
Engage in professional development on Information Literacy and Technological Agility
Review the Information Literacy and Technological Agility Research Guide
Learn more about Communities of Practice:
- Cambridge, D., Kaplan, S., & Suter, V. (2005). Community of practice design guide. Retrieved from https://transitiepraktijk.nl/files/Community%20of%20practice%20guide.pdf.
- Communities of Practice One Page Overview (*.pdf).
- Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business School Press.
- Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.