Transformative Teaching and Learning Responding to a Changing World - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transformative Teaching and Learning

Keynote Session, Saturday, May 19, 9:00 a.m.

Josh Fee, Ph.D.

Dean of the School of Graduate & Professional Studies, Asbury University,

Responding to a Changing World

Three Significant challenges facing Christian Higher Education today:

• How will institutions embrace and maintain institutional identity

in the face of significant social/cultural concerns and changes?

• How will institutions respond to changing student demographics

as well as the related needs and interests of a changing student population?

• How will colleges and universities adapt the ways they provide

learning experiences in response to rapid evolutions in technology?

Ou Our Ch r Choi

• ice:

Christian higher education institutions are faced with the challenge of choosing whether they will operate reactively to the changing world around us OR whether they will lead through these changes with transformative education that impacts the world for Jesus Christ.

Ou Our Pu r Purpos rpose:

Our business is education, but our purpose is changing lives to impact the world by preparing people for service.

Ou Our Opport r Opportunity

2016, approximately 6.5 million students nationwide enrolled in some type of distance education course. Embracing the high calling – begins with aligning what we do in the classroom with the mission of the larger organization.

OCU’s Mission

Prepare students to serve effectively in the church and society by providing a holistic, Christ-centered, biblically integrated education in the Wesleyan tradition. How do we have this impact?

• We excel at relationships
• We do it through community

This was Jesus’s model for bringing about transformation in the lives of his followers and this model is transferable to how you design and deliver learning experiences today. It is relationship that makes transformation possible.

“Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works

• f art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient

and modern times.” ― Philip Schaff

Faculty has a critical role in the work of this university to achieve its mission!

What does transformative education look like in an online environment?

Transformation happens when Walls are broken and fear is overcome!

Our Core Values:

Christ-Centered

Our community of interdependent students, faculty, and staff seeks to honor and obey Jesus Christ, who is present in Spirit and speaks in Scripture, and to advance God’s purposes in the lives of every member.

Changing student demographics…less students choosing Christian universities because they are distinctly Christian.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume that your students do not know the love of Jesus Christ or perhaps have had a negative experience within a Christian

• community. In view of that assumption, how

would you approach your role as facilitator?

ASSUM SSUME

In view of this, how would you approach your role as a facilitator of learning?

• Use this opportunity to invite students into conversations about

knowing and following Jesus

• Have the courage to share your story or testimony
• Have space for students to share their stories
• Share the responsibility of community learning

Our Core Values:

Biblically Based

Our academic and student development programs cultivate a deep and enduring faith that affirms the authority of Scripture and embraces Christ as the authentic center of life.

Students often express a fear of not having “technical knowledge or depth of knowledge of Scripture”. Faculty express apprehension in terms of their ability to fulfill the role of integrating faith.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume your students may have never

• pened a Bible.

ASSUM SSUME

In view of this, how would you integrate that reality into the learning experience?

• Keep it simple
• Evaluate what you can do on a daily/weekly basis to expose students

to scripture

Our undergraduate and adult curriculum integrates faith and learning in a scholarly environment that fosters critical and creative thinking, academic excellence, and professional competence.

Our Core Values:

Student Oriented

There is a greater transactional distance between the student and you as the instructor, the student and the larger community, the student and resources from the institution, etc.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume your students do not know how to be successful in your course.

ASSUM SSUME

In view of this, how are you showing up in your courses and demonstrating leadership in the educational experience?

• Respond to emails
• Providing feedback in timely manner
• Think about ways to work smarter
• Use alternate and creative ways to provide feedback

When students do not know how to successfully navigate the course.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume your students do not know what they are supposed to be doing at any given time in a course.

ASSUM SSUME

• Consider audience
• Stress of not finding what they are looking for or where they need to go

Our Core Values:

Ministry Motivated

Our emphasis on ministry and missions extends beyond the classroom into real-world experiences that prepare students for a lifetime of service in ministry.

Leadership Focused

Our students experience and engage the world in ways that prepare leaders to serve and transform their professions, churches, and communities.

Students lack confidence in their potential…and it really impacts motivation.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume students have not embraced their capacity to make a difference in the their families, their immediate communities, their workplaces, or the world.

ASSUM SSUME

• Faculty leaders are always bringing along other people, encouraging them

to a clear sense of their potential to accomplish great things.

• Transformative teaching is less about faculty being able, but when faculty

are available

We seek to provide an excellent academic environment for the acquisition of both knowledge and wisdom.

Our Core Values:

Academically Excellent

The past has not always been positive.

BA BARRI RIER

Assume students have had a bad or unsuccessful experience with higher education leading up to this. They don’t know why this learning is meaningful to them other than the practical reality that they need a degree.

ASSUM SSUME

• Not Empty Vessels or Blank Slates – Students come with lots of baggage,

experiences, past struggles…they are primed for something new.

• Approach instruction as if every student you encounter has not yet chosen a major

and they are waiting for someone to share with them the kind of contagious joy about a field or a subject that prompts them to move in that direction.

In Closing . . .

Your charge as faculty is to:

• Constantly seek out training and development.
• Be joyful and excited! It can be contagious!