While leader identity development (LID) and meaning making are interwoven and essential for student development, little research has explicitly explored their intersection. In this article, we briefly summarize the work of two research projects that explored the intersection of LID and meaning making, including a review of the findings that…

Educators are responsible for developing generic graduate capabilities, but the theoretical justification for teaching techniques is infrequently articulated. This conceptual paper aims to provide theory-informed principles to guide teaching practice in developing future-focused generic capabilities. The paper describes future-focused generic…

Building on and going beyond Young and Muller's theory of powerful knowledge, this article seeks to articulate a model of a future-oriented, knowledge-rich curriculum by invoking David Lambert's "capabilities" approach and "Bildung"-centred "Didaktik." The curriculum is "knowledge rich" in three respects.…

Background: Young people are more likely to develop into effective learners, productive adults, and engaged citizens when their learning environments afford them certain kinds of experiences. For example, students are more likely to succeed when they experience a sense of belonging in school or experience schoolwork as personally relevant.…

This practitioner reflection shares insights based on our seven-year journey pursuing an ambitious curriculum transformation espousing partnerships pedagogy within the School of Business (SOB) at Western Sydney University (WSU). With a significant proportion of first-generation and culturally and linguistically diverse students, employability is…

From over a decade of collecting data, we know that students who are peer educators experience significant gains as a result of their role as peer educators. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the student learning outcomes student peer educators derive from being involved in these applied learning experiences.

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) and study abroad share many epistemological and pedagogical foundations and have been on parallel tracks for many years yet rarely intersect. This paper has two goals: (a) to invite study abroad researchers and practitioners to consider findings and practices from OAE to further enhance study abroad, and (b) to…

In this book, the authors bring together in one place essential information about college students in the US in the 21st century. Synthesizing existing research and theory, they present an introduction to studying student characteristics, college choice and enrollment patterns, institutional types and environments, student learning, persistence,…

In Montessori education, the teacher is ideally very caring, but not in the customary way. In most traditional schools, teachers try to help children by taking charge and giving them lots of instructions. The Montessori teacher is much less directive. She or he wants to help children by providing tasks that enable them to develop their powers on…

Nearly one half of students planning to earn a STEM degree either change majors or leave college without a degree. The completion percentage is much lower for underrepresented minorities, of whom less than one third complete their STEM degree within six years. At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the STEM Boot Camp program was designed to…

Evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, when implemented effectively, lead to measurable and potentially long-lasting improvements in many areas of children's lives. In the short term, SEL programs can enhance children's confidence in themselves; increase their engagement in school, along with their test scores and grades; and…

In an opening address to the university community a few years ago, Thomas Haas, President of Grand Valley State University set out three key concepts (three contemporary Rs) to guide thinking as the institution grows and develops. They all have to do with student success: relevance, rigor, and return on investment. Haas articulated that the…

During the past 20 years, the afterschool field has been held accountable in varying ways--first, on the ability to provide safe places for young people to spend time while their parents work; then, on success in helping to improve participants' academic achievement as a supplement to the school day. Today, measuring success in afterschool…

For decades now, Shattuck-St. Mary's School (Minnesota) has worked tirelessly to support students as they pursue their passions. In particular, the Centers of Excellence--nine programs in which students can dive deeply into areas of personal interest--allow students to fulfill the traditionally rigorous preparatory school curriculum while…

The competence and learning outcomes approach, which intends to improve effective performance of academic staff and students, is becoming dominant in today's higher education. This was quite different 15 years ago. This contribution aims to offer insight in the reforms initiated and implemented, by posing and answering the questions why the time…