Summer Faculty Workshop: Research Across the Curriculum

Applications for the next cycle of RAC will open in March 2025

Research Across the Curriculum is a professional development program to help faculty create or modify a research-based assignment in a course and integrate information literacy in their teaching. The workshop will be offered over 3 half days, May 28-30, in person at GCC. The workshop will be facilitated by a librarian, and participating faculty will receive a $300 stipend, plus a light breakfast each day.

This workshop will provide you with the time, support, and peer feedback to improve an existing research-based assignment, or try adding a research component to your class for the first time. In addition to an assignment, participants will create a curriculum to support research skills and a method for grading and giving feedback.

There are 10 available spots, which are open to both adjunct and full-time faculty. New participants will be given preference, though participants from previous years will be considered if space allows; faculty who apply by May 12th will also be given preference. 

We have had 41 faculty participate in this workshop since its inception. Ask your colleagues about it! A 2019 participant said:

“I really enjoyed this workshop and I got so much more out of it than I was expecting. Besides just doing a huge amount of work in a few days I left the workshop feeling connected to the faculty in a way that I had not experienced before and with my enthusiasm for teaching my courses expanded even further. Thank you for the experience!”

Not quite sure what this workshop might look like? Here is a sample of our syllabus:

Day 1

  • Icebreakers and introductions
  • Defining information literacy
  • Introduction to backwards design
  • Discussion of applications within your discipline/course
  • Assignment and/or homework: develop and/or finalize information literacy learning outcomes for your course; reading(s)

Day 2

  • Present and discuss learning outcomes
  • Teaching research skills
  • Teaching supports for information literacy
  • Example information literacy curricula
  • Assignment and/or homework: revise learning outcomes; create a rough outline for a research curriculum for a course; brainstorm ideas for research assignments.

Day 3

  • Information literacy and student transfer – what happens after GCC?
  • Examples of creative research assignments
  • Work in groups to develop research assignment(s) and update syllabi
  • Present research assignments and final thoughts
  • Final deliverable: research assignment(s) and updated syllabi for one course

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to library@gcc.mass.edu