Science of Networks FLC
Applications due Friday 9/14/2007.
Download application form here.
Email application to forbes@cs.duke.edu AND cit@duke.edu.
Questions? Email Jeff Forbes at forbes@cs.duke.edu.
What are Faculty Learning Communities?
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) provide a venue for faculty to develop their knowledge of teaching, learning and pedagogy, build a supportive community for each other, and create a product(s) useful to the University community and beyond. FLCs are typically year-long opportunities, during which faculty set and implement group goals as well as work on innovation in their own course(s). FLCs usually meet at least monthly (often more frequently), for both working and social events. FLCs have a small budget for their activities, a faculty member as a facilitator, and a CIT liaison who serves as a consultant and information source to the group.
Topic for this FLC
This FLC will be two semesters long (Fall 2007-Spring 2008), centered around pedagogy and materials for teaching about the science of networks. The Science of Networks is described well by Duncan Watts in Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age.
In a way, nothing could be simpler than a network. Stripped of its bare bones, a network is nothing more than a collection of objects connected to each other in some fashion. On the other hand, the sheer generality of the term network makes it slippery to pin down precisely, and this is one reason why a science of networks is an important undertaking. Understanding networks in this more universal fashion is an extraordinarily difficult task. Not only is it inherently complicated, but also it requires different kinds of specialized knowledge that are usually segregated according to academic specialty and even discipline. Physicists and mathematicians have at their disposal mind-blowing analytical and computational skills, but typically they don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about individual behavior, institutional incentives, or cultural norms. Sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists, on the other hand, do. And in the past half century or so they have thought more deeply and carefully about the relationship between networks and society than anyone else—thinking that is now turning out to be relevant to a surprising range of problems from biology to engineering. But, lacking the glittering tools of their cousins in the mathematical sciences, the social scientists have been more or less stalled on their grand project for decades...The science of networks must become, in short, a manifestation of its own subject matter, a network of scientists collectively solving problems that cannot be solved by any single individual or even any single discipline. It's a daunting task, made all the more awkward by the long-standing barriers separating scientists themselves.
In short, the science of networks is a compelling yet intellectually rich area of study that engages a wide variety of disciplines.Therefore, we plan to gather a group of faculty to work together across disciplines as a "network" to address this emerging area. Participants in this FLC will create materials that focus on social networks in a way relevant to their discipline but which will incorporate aspects of computing and other disciplines due to the input of other FLC members.
If you have been interested in utilizing the tools and methods of computing to model and analyze networks, or in adding teaching and learning components in the area of social networks or the science of networks to your course, and are interested in developing interactive materials in company of a group of like-minded colleagues, this FLC is for you.
Description of Networks FLC
Owen Astrachan, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, will serve as facilitator for this FLC. The members of the FLC will develop course materials/modules, tools, and a community exploring the science of (social) networks. Student assistants and CIT staff will be able to provide technical assistance and consulting during the module development process.
The FLC will meet monthly for eight total meetings.
- [late Sept/early Oct 2007] Initial planning meeting
- [Nov] Review of the network science literature and tools
- [Dec] Review of the network science literature and tools
- [Jan 2008] Develop modules for use in courses
- [Feb] Develop modules for use in courses
- [March] Employ and review initial assessment techniques for the modules
- [April] Employ and review initial assessment techniques for the modules
- [May] Final summary meeting
The target participant in the FLC will be faculty who have interest in the Science of Networks or are interested in adopting some of the modules for their own courses. Each selected participant in the FLC will receive a $1,500 payment for his or her research account.
In 2008-2009 academic year, there will be a second FLC open to all participants in the first FLC. In addition to faculty from the Duke, this community will meet bimonthly and involve faculty from UNC, NC A&T, and NCCU (2 faculty from each school).
FLC Application 2007-08
To apply, download and complete the application form, and submit via email to forbes@cs.duke.edu AND cit@duke.edu.
ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS DUE: 5 pm EDT, September 14, 2007.
For questions about the FLC program or about the application process or form, email Jeff Forbes at forbes@cs.duke.edu.
