This paper presents the results of a pilot SoTL study re: a non-traditional leadership course delivered in three sections of a foundational General Education course at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada in 2016-17. This non-traditional course focuses explicitly on ontological change (a change in way of being) rather than epistemological…

Testing has been a contested aspect of education for decades. The way in which testing, standardized tests, and student motivations correlate is a separate issue. This action research study investigates the relationship between pre-tests and students' perception of their personal growth. Three classes of 11th grade U.S. History were utilized to…

The current New Senior Secondary curriculum was implemented in Hong Kong in 2009. This educational reform promotes a paradigm shift in learning and teaching strategies, with the ultimate goal to prepare secondary school students for meeting the changing needs of the workplace and for lifelong learning. This paper reports empirical findings by…

Reflective practice supports critical thinking and assessment skills through analyzing one's own life experiences, and the role of reflection in learning has been long recognized. However, drawbacks of many reflective practice assignments are their broad scope and lengthy written requirements. I propose that the reflection process is robust enough…

There is growing global awareness of the importance of what are often labelled as 'natural environments' for human health, well-being and cognitive development. However, fostering learning in such 'natural environments', as they may be differently experienced and understood, requires a review of theoretical and practical approaches in teacher…

Students learn best when teachers get out of the way. Unfortunately, university classrooms continue to be intensely teacher-centric, are driven by the teacher's agenda and calendar, and embrace simple models rather than complex alternatives. These simple types of learning environments frustrate students' development of the risk-­taking and choice…