Higher Education Commons^™

Educational Development Efforts Aligned With The Assessment Cycle, Phyllis Blumberg

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Using an assessment cycle as an organizing framework, this article illustrates how educational development and assessment mutually complement each other. It describes an assessment study conducted to determine if two colleges at a small university met their strategic goals to increase the adoption of learning-centered teaching. This study served the parallel function of assessing the impact of sustained educational development efforts by the Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to promote learning-centered teaching. The majority of interviewed faculty reported using learning-centered approaches. The data collection method itself also served as a teachable moment for faculty who do not attend CTL …

Faculty Perceptions Of Teaching Information Literacy To First-Year Students: A Phenomenographic Study, Lorna M. Dawes

UNL Libraries: Faculty Publications

This study examines faculty perceptions of teaching information literacy and explores the influence of these perceptions on pedagogy. The study adopted an inductive phenomenographic approach, using 24 semi-structured interviews with faculty teaching first-year courses at an American public research university. The results of the study reveal four qualitative ways in which faculty experience teaching information use to first year students that vary within three themes of expanding awareness. The resulting outcome space revealed that faculty had two distinct conceptions of teaching information literacy: (1) Teaching to produce experienced consumers of information, and (2) Teaching to cultivate intelligent participants in discourse …

Rhetoric As Inquiry: Personal Writing And Academic Success In The English Classroom, Erica E. Rogers

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Holistic and critical pedagogy, an approach to learning and teaching, integrates the everyday realities students live, with the systemic and institutional objectives of education itself. Working with theories from composition, rhetoric, feminist studies, and cognitive psychology from a teacher-researcher perspective, this dissertation explores and theorizes holistic, critical pedagogy within the composition classroom while outlining the use of personal writing as a means to develop critical consciousness. Student study participants kept “Inquiry Notebooks,” semester-long personal writing projects that served as receptacles for practical and theoretical engagement with a variety of texts and ideas, then interviewed after the course to discuss their …

Promoting Global Empathy And Engagement Through Real-Time Problem-Based Simulations: Outcomes From A Policymaking Simulation Set In Post-Earthquake Haiti, Chad Raymond, Tina Zappile, Daniel J. Beers

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

We introduce a real-time problem-based simulation in which students are tasked with drafting policy to address the challenge of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in post-earthquake Haiti from a variety of stakeholder perspectives. Students who participated in the simulation completed a quantitative survey as a pretest/posttest on global empathy, political awareness, and civic engagement, and provided qualitative data through post-simulation focus groups. The simulation was run in four courses across three campuses in a variety of instructional settings from 2013 to 2015. An analysis of the data reveals that scores on several survey items measuring global empathy and political/civic engagement increased …

An Examination Of Students Perceptions Of "Learning" In A Study Abroad Experience And Recommendations For Effective Pedagogy, Scott Dickmeyer, Ronda Knox

Speaker & Gavel

Undergraduate study abroad programs are becoming more popular in our increasingly global society. Students consider the opportunity to study abroad to be a personally impacting educational experience. This study provided empirical data demonstrating that study abroad experiences are unique as students learn in ways that differ from the tradition classroom. Additionally, the results indicate that students struggle with the interdependent terms study and abroad. The experience of living abroad is exceptionally educational as well deeply personal and impacting. However, traditional classroom study practices (reading textbooks, taking exams, etc.) impose obstacles for the experiential learning (living in another culture). As such, …

Are We Teaching Them Anything?: A Model For Measuring Methodology Skills In The Political Science Major, Christi Siver, Seth W. Greenfest, G. Claire Haeg

Political Science Faculty Publications

While the literature emphasizes the importance of teaching political science students methods skills, there currently exists little guidance for how to assess student learning over the course of their time in the major. To address this gap, we develop a model set of assessment tools that may be adopted and adapted by political science departments to evaluate the effect of their own methods instruction. The model includes a syllabi analysis, evaluation of capstone (senior) papers, and a transcript analysis. We apply these assessment tools to our own department to examine whether students demonstrate a range of basic-to-advanced methodological skills. Our …

Effective Teaching Practices In Online Higher Education, Kim Mcmurtry

CCE Theses and Dissertations

In the context of continuing growth in online higher education in the United States, students are struggling to succeed, as evidenced by lower course outcomes and lower retention rates in online courses in comparison with face-to-face courses. The problem identified for investigation is how university instructors can ensure that effective teaching and learning is happening in their online courses. The research questions were:

1. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in higher education according to current research?
2. How do exemplary online instructors enact teaching presence in higher education?
3. What are the best practices of effective online teaching in …

‘Knowing Your Students’ In The Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Classroom, Robyn Moloney, David Saltmarsh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The population movement of globalization brings greater cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD) to communities and education systems. To address the growing diversity in school classrooms, beginning teachers need an expanded set of skills and attitudes to support effective learning. It is an expectation today that teachers know their students and how the students learn. It follows that lecturers and tutors should also know something of the cultural and linguistic profile of their pre-service teacher education students. This article reports a study in a university which examined its teacher education practice in this light. It assessed the curriculum provision of material …

Rick's Taxonomy, Mary Crossley

Articles

This Essay uses the influential educational work Bloom’s Taxonomy as a jumping-off point for exploring how Rick Matasar’s scholarship relating to leadership in and the goals of legal education provides a guide for identifying, prioritizing and pursuing the core values and objectives of the legal education enterprise in a time of profound change. This Essay briefly describes Bloom’s Taxonomy and its status in the educational literature. Then it highlights two ways that Matasar’s leadership scholarship displays kinship to Bloom’s Taxonomy. His approach to describing a problem, analyzing its nature, and synthesizing and evaluating possible responses to the problem is …

Sferc Poster Proposal, Lilia C. Dibello, Ruth Ban, Veronica Gesser

South Florida Education Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Resources Across Units And Universities To Address Academic Literacies And Research Skills In Ontario Graduate Students, Melanie Mills, Elan Paulson

Western Libraries Presentations

Student2Scholar (S2S) is a fully online and open course that aims to teach academic literacies and research skills to social science graduate students. Set to launch in December 2015, S2S was conceived of and created by a diverse and distributed team of academic librarians, university staff, and graduate students from three Ontario Universities: Western, the University of Toronto, and Queen’s. Members of the project team brought with them varying degrees of experience and expertise across a range of disciplinary and teaching and learning backgrounds, including: adult education, information literacy, and online learning (to name only a few).

S2S serves as …

Pim Pedagogy: Toward A Loosely Unified Model For Teaching And Studying Comics And Graphic Novels, James B. Carter

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The article debuts and explains "PIM" pedagogy, a construct for teaching comics at the secondary- and post-secondary levels and for deep reading/studying comics. The PIM model for considering comics is actually based in major precepts of education studies, namely constructivist foundations of learning, and loosely unifies constructs inherent therein with other available frames and frameworks for studying comics. As such, the article fills a dire need in the scholarly literature on comics pedagogy and paves a way for those who seek to teach comics courses in the future but who need direction and for those who seek to study/read comics …

Adapting To A Virtual Learning Environment, Winston H. Maddox

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This participatory action research (PAR) dissertation examines the experiences of five experienced faculty transitioning from teaching in a traditional classroom to a virtual learning environment. The research participants used technology to deliver course material and reflected on the changes in their pedagogical practice. Data were collected using four phased sessions, including the completion of interview questions, individual interview video sessions, and group video sessions and the review of participant video validation postings. Research participants used journaling to reflect on their values, beliefs, assumptions, and experiences associated with teaching and learning. Research participants teaching in virtual learning environments were provided an …

Outsourcing Learning: Is The Statecraft Simulation An Effective Pedagogical Alternative?, Chad Raymond

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Although rising costs have been a general trend in higher education since the early 20th century, a fundamental restructuring of the higher education marketplace is currently underway. In recent decades students and their parents have been forced to finance college education through greater and greater debt. As a result, students and their families are increasingly demanding that institutions of higher learning provide evidence of value. Universities must now ask what methods of instruction most efficiently expand a student's knowledge base. Can instruction that has been traditionally supplied in a physical classroom be delivered more effectively at lower cost through digital …

North Central Sociological Association 2014 Teaching Address: The John F. Schnabel Lecture—Sociology’S Special Pedagogical Challenge, Jay R. Howard

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Instructors and students must overcome a course’s special pedagogical challenge in order for meaningful and important learning to occur. While some suggest that the special pedagogical problem varies by course, I contend that the special pedagogical problem is likely to be shared across a discipline’s curriculum, rather than being unique to each course. After reviewing a three-part typology of learning outcomes for sociology, I argue that the development of students’ sociological imaginations is sociology’s special pedagogical challenge; I then offer some general guidelines for teaching strategies to enhance the students’ success in developing a sociological imagination.

Pedagogy For A Wicked World: The Value And Hazards Of A Transdisciplinary, Dialogue-Driven, Community Engagged Classroom Model, Danielle Lake

Danielle L Lake

Faculty Integration Of Technology In Undergraduate Courses At Private Colleges And Universities, Evelyn G. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to investigate the integration of technology in undergraduate courses by faculty at private colleges and universities. Integration of technology is using technology as an instructional tool to improve teaching and learning (Clayton-Pedersen & O’Neill, 2005; Wilson & Hayes, 2000; Woodbridge, 2004). Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) 7 principles for good practice in undergraduate education provided the theoretical framework for this research. The researcher conducted a survey of full-time faculty at 21 private colleges and universities in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The results of the study indicated that faculty use …

Augustinian Approach To Holistic Christian Pedagogy, Adam Schultz, Neal Deroo

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Presenters explain how in their CORE philosophy class they seek to demonstrate that their students' real life-spiritual life distinction is symptomatic of a dualism endemic to contemporary Christianity (section 1), and that their reading of Augustine's Confessions can provide a unified and holistic corrective to it (section 2) and that doing so helps students see a more radical vision of Christian faithfulness, one that calls for a holistic, life-wide response to the work of Christ that will not allow for an easy distinction between ‘spiritual’ life and everyday life (section 3).

Transitioning To Writing About Writing: A Consideration Of The Metawriting Teaching Approach At The University Of Arkansas, Katie Michelle Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses case studies of six Teaching Assistants and Instructors to analyze the curricular and pedagogical shift from a writing-through-literature model to the Composition II course to a metawriting approach during the 2014 spring semester at the University of Arkansas. The administrative decision from the Program in Rhetoric and Composition to make this transition came in response to the 2007 article by Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs in College Composition and Communication outlining a "Writing about Writing" approach to teaching composition.

A Newcomer’S Perspective On The Changing Academic Library: Library To Learning Commons, Lauren Hays, Lindsey Warner

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

Academic libraries are undergoing a great deal of change as they transform themselves from a traditional library to a learning commons. These changes are driven by an increased focus on assessment, data-driven decisions, the need to reach students, and a focus on teaching information literacy. Library schools are responding to transformations in the field through changes in recruitment practices, advising strategies, technology integration, and curriculum. The combined goal of these activities is to ensure that schools can create a diverse group of graduates who are prepared to meet the pedagogical, technological, and administrative challenges of the changing academic library environment. …

An Examination Of Embedded Librarian Ideas And Practices: A Critical Bibliography., Carl R. Andrews

Publications and Research

Although this annotated bibliography is primarily targeted to library science professionals in an academic setting, the literature examined can very easily support secondary and college level general education teaching initiatives. The majority of the literature examined in the list comes from journal articles. The author focused primarily on actual case studies that take place in an undergraduate academic setting. Attention was paid to community colleges and schools where there are students in need of remediation. The author was also interested in seeking out literature that addressed the needs of student academic success after an embedded program was implemented. Non-traditional embedded …

Blogging Beyond Blackboard For Deeper Learning, Marie A. Hulme, Pilar Munday

English Faculty Publications

Presentation by Marie Hulme and Pilar Munday at the Fairfield University Center for Academic Excellence Annual Conference on Innovative Pedagogy & Course Redesign May 29-30, 2014.

Culture, Leadership, And Activism: Translating Fink’S Taxonomy Of Significant Learning Into Pedagogical Practice, Toby S. Jenkins

Toby S Jenkins

Through the article, I share the theoretical foundations, structure, knowledge acquisition, and outcomes of a cultural leadership course. The process for course development integrates several theories and research methods into practice: L. Dee Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning, Feminist Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Portraiture/Phenomenology. This course has been piloted at two universities and represents a partnership between the Student Affairs Division and the College of Humanities & Social Sciences at both institutions. This article explores the importance of culture, examines knowledge production on leadership outside of traditional academic venues, and paints a portrait of culture and leadership in the …

21st-Century U.S. Safety Professional Educational Standards: Establishing Minimum Baccalaureate Graduate Learning Outcomes For Emerging Occupational Health And Safety Professionals, Wayne Edward Hartz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

How can the public be assured of competency in those professing to protect its occupational health and safety (OSH)? Currently, in the U.S. there are 193 higher education OSH programs, 186 with baccalaureate degrees with over 55 different degree titles. This research seeks to define minimum OSH baccalaureate graduate core competencies across all programs by asking: What would employers look for in a portfolio to demonstrate competence in a new OSH graduate? Professional members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) participated as subject matter experts in an anonymous online survey to provide framing data. The ASSE Educational Standards …

Gaise In Discipline-Specific Courses, Beverly Wood

Publications

While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses designed for students in a specific major, providing explicit evidence for this assumption.

The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College Report’s Goals for Students and Recommendations for Teaching are used as a framework for a qualitative study …

Mainstreaming Climate In The Classroom: Teaching Climate Change Planning, Elisabeth M. Hamin, Daniel J. Marcucci

Elisabeth M. Hamin

Climate change planning, both mitigation (reducing greenhouse gasses) and adaptation (designing built environments for changed climate conditions), is an area of emerging importance in both planning practice and education. This research examines the uptake of climate issues in planning education programs primarily in the U.S., and compares course content to leading climate change planning practice and research concepts. Studio and seminar courses are emerging in a variety of universities, and are addressing many of the key research concepts for mitigation and adaptation. Beyond stand-alone classes, the article argues the need to mainstream climate considerations in core planning curricula. Modeling this …

The Gaise College Report: The American Statistical Association Meets Sound Pedagogy In Central Virginia, Beverly Wood

Publications

Research in undergraduate statistics education often centers on the introductory course required for a large percentage of college students. While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses in various academic departments to provide explicit evidence for this assumption. The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College …

Counseling In An Andragogical Approach, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The introduction provides the unique preparation of the author in both field for merging counseling and andragogy - the art and science of helping adults learn. Providing general counseling information, he then gives a sketch and time gaps of publication in adult education and counseling. Next, he presents a chronology of publications merging the two fields. In future trends a comprehensive model for counseling in adult education is constructed, including: an andragogical approach, dimension of maturation, closing connecting counseling and learning, with life tasks, challenges, and dealing with our human values and priorities within human system of adult life. Examples …

Wholly Formed: Realizing The Formative Power Of Co-Curricular And Curricular Education., Drew Moser, Steve Morley, Jeff Cramer

Drew Moser PhD

This research paper presentation advocated for a deeper integration of curricular and co-curricular education to foster holistic formation in college students.

Assessing Technology Skills In An Undergraduate Business Course, Kimberly Hollister, Nicole B. Koppel

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article focuses on how an undergraduate program of an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an accredited business school, incorporates assessment on the use of information technology in a computer business course. To meet the new AACSB standards regarding assessment and adequately determine "if and what students are learning?" This article presents the technology learning goals, the associated learning objectives and the specific technology-related behaviors and actions that are assessed. In addition, specific examples of student assignments are presented as well as how these assignments are designed and assessed in relation to the learning objectives for the …