This paper describes a qualitative study which took place over a two year period with academic staff engaged on a blended Masters programme delivered with the learning environment based around problem-based learning. At the pedagogical level, transformative practice has the potential to engage students as critical thinkers, by encouraging them to…

The 13th iteration of the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2020) was originally arranged to take place in Ifrane, Morocco. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) epidemic, EDM 2020, as well as most other academic conferences in 2020, had to be changed to a purely online format. To facilitate efficient transmission of…

So much of teaching is now driven by data (i.e., test scores) and dictated by "best practices" that teachers are losing confidence in their own creativity. Yet, despite these unfortunate consequences of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the important work of teachers remains unchanged. That work is the work of connecting personally and…

In quantum physics, whatever is observed is changed; therefore, it is all perception. Given those findings and to save Tiedeman from interpretation, in this article, he speaks for himself in 5 areas: (a) his professional credo, (b) the Harvard Studies in Career Development, (c) the 1983 Assembly to Advance Career, (d) statistics of vocational…

This essay discusses an approach to teaching religious studies in a general education or core curriculum that I have experimented with for the last decade, which I call the "Learning Covenant." The Learning Covenant brings together various pedagogical theories, including transformational, experiential, contract, and cooperative learning, in an…

This article provides a first-person account of a training program in group dynamics. It is deliberately written in the first-person to capture the highly personal nature of group dynamic analysis. Proceeding through an intensive account of six days of T-groups, module facilitation, and facilitator feedback sessions, the author examines painful…

For this essay, the author takes as an organizing premise Jodi O'Brien and Judith A. Howard's notion of responsible authority--that "teaching is a value-based activity" in which educators should be striving to engage students in academic pursuits in order to create a moral citizenry. That is, educators need to acknowledge that they wield the power…

Workplace learning circumscribes processes leading to the development of competencies and skills through daily work. It is of increasing importance for many modern enterprises, which consider themselves as being learning organisations, to make use of the potential of their employees in order to be competitive within global markets. Dealing with…

Pedagogical literature focuses on the effectiveness of first-year programs on students' success in college. Less attention is devoted to the effects these programs have on faculty. In this study, focus groups were conducted with 20 faculty members who teach first-year seminars at North Carolina State University, a large, public research…

Worldwide immigration and quests for rights by minority groups have caused social scientists and educators to raise serious questions about liberal assimilationist conceptions of citizenship that historically have dominated citizenship education in nation-states. The author of this article challenges liberal assimilationist conceptions of…

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore and describe the experiences of transformative learning in seminary students and clergy who have participated in a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) residency program while providing pastoral care to patients in an acute care hospital setting. This research focuses on the affective…

This research study examined the long-term effects of a professional development study tour to Southeast Asia that took place in 2001. Participants included ten public school teachers from Western Massachusetts, which has a significant population of people of Vietnamese and Cambodian descent. Funded by a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant,…

This article explores the conditions under which international social work field placements may be effectively administered. The positive and negative potential of international placements is examined. A review of empirical and theoretical literature in the related fields of service learning and international volunteering reveals that role taking,…

A disorienting dilemma is a catalyst for change in perspective that may culminate in transformative learning. The authors analyze three activities in higher education that created disorienting dilemmas--a field trip, a service-learning experience, and study abroad. Results indicate that a disorienting dilemma can prompt students and faculty to…

With the introduction of free primary education throughout Africa over the past 20 years, the demand for more qualified teachers has grown tremendously (Nilsson, 2003). Mainstream teacher education programs, typically consisting of 1-3 years of residence in teachers' colleges and some form of practice teaching, are unable to meet this…