Along with a host of higher education institutions (HEI), Ryerson University has championed social innovation in its programming for the past several years, culminating in the development of the Office of Social Innovation (OSI). They define social innovation as the practice of using creative and collaborative approaches to challenge historical…

At California State University Northridge (CSUN), Stevie Ruiz's students reflect the multiracial communities of Los Angeles County. The students are children of immigrants, working class, first-generation college students, and queer people of color. Students share a wealth of knowledge that is shaped by race, gender, sexual, and class inequality…

By sharing an honest, thoughtful dialogue about how their different identities affect their experience of feminism and feminist spaces, Z Nicolazzo and Crystal Harris model duoethnographic dialogue--a type of dialogue across difference that has the potential to be a catalyst for transformative student learning.

American author Napoleon Hill stated that "with every disappointment, heartbreak, or failure, there exists an equal (usually greater) positive benefit." In this article, the author shares how weathering her own personal storms has helped her to guide her students to the learning opportunities inherent in their challenges. Her experience with the…

College instructors are more than teachers; they are also observers, and the observations they make can teach them much about their students--both who they are and what motivates them. As a college instructor and a certified ropes course facilitator, the author has had the opportunity to observe her classes and those of her colleagues at the ropes…

People remember information that is important to them--because it is fundamental to their well-being, or because it matters to them in some other significant way. This is all one really needs to know about unlocking student learning. People learn and remember information that matters to them. So what matters to students? That is a complicated…

This article describes what the author, a faculty member, learned from the student development professionals at his university, the people who plan student activities and run residence halls. Most faculty think little of their student development colleagues, to the extent that they consider them colleagues at all. The author describes how he…

In this article, the author provides a model that juxtaposes leadership, critical theory, and learning to address the needs of educators, the organization, and students. This model provides educators with a foundational approach to nurture students' critical consciousness through self-awareness and to actualize transformational change within their…

Throughout many ethnic communities, culture, place, and education have always been important to each other. There are countless creative strategies and approaches to education, inclusion, and personal development that can be derived from studying cultural spaces within any culture. In this article, the author looks specifically at the African…

This article describes a program at Saint Louis University that uses reflection to frame the transformative qualities of learning. The Week of Reflection brings learning outcomes to the center stage of teaching and learning at SLU. It allowed educators a glimpse of the complex and often mysterious synergy taking place as students develop and grow…

As a professor in a graduate program in college student affairs, the author thinks of herself as an expert on the college experience. For the past 12 years, she has taught courses and conducted research on college students, their learning and development, the campus environment, and trends in higher education. Like any good scholar, she makes it a…

Most individuals who work in higher education seek the same outcome: student learning. Knowing that partnerships between faculty and student affairs educators offer the best hope for students' experiencing the kind of learning that higher education promises, individuals at Baylor University are taking small steps toward building and sustaining…

After attending a session at a conference and experiencing transformative learning, educator often attempt to use those same activities to replicate that learning for others in their own educational environment. They tend to remember and rely on "that great activity" and lose sight of the complexities of why or how that learning occurred. The…

"Who is responsible for developing, ensuring, and assessing learning outcomes--student affairs, academic affairs, or both?" This question yielded a spirited debate between faculty members and student affairs professionals in the author's course Disability in Higher Education and Society. The author was prompted to learn more about this…

How do and should students develop--emotionally, socially, intellectually, morally, and spiritually--on a college campus and, more particularly, as members of a residential learning community? What advantages does a learning community offer over the more fragmented and specialized cafeteria of courses in place on most campuses? What new structures…