Author: University Relations

By Emma Morris, Dean, Atlanta Campus

Here at the Atlanta campus, I have recently been preaching the benefits of holding our professors and students to a higher standard. However, not everyone receives the message well. I have just read four Christian Worldview and Senior Synthesis papers that are almost unintelligible. That makes me wonder what we are teaching our students. I also wonder how they have passed all the courses prior to this Capstone class.

There are many reasons why should we care enough to hold our students to a higher standard in their work. Here are a few:

1.      God’s standard. First and foremost, the Lord demands our best. Colossians 3:23 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people.” I think teachers forget that when they pamper students in hopes of a good evaluation, they are not helping the student learn. Yes, we should build constructive relationships with our students, but not keeping students accountable to do quality work dishonors the Lord and is unhealthy for everyone. Remember; we are here to teach, not to be loved. We, as teachers, are the only ones who can hold our students to a standard of academic rigor on the regular course material. I have been a recipient of some of that student unhappiness. Sure, it hurts, but those same students often come back later to say that being held accountable in class changed their lives and even helped them live up to other commitments.

*If you are worried about evaluations, know that your Dean reviews those evaluations and notes potential reasons for any surprisingly low scores.

2.  Communication. Effective writing and speaking are must-have skills in the business world and beyond. Poor communications can cost a company thousands, if not millions, of dollars because of misunderstood instructions or messages. Poor communications reflect poorly on the brand of the company. Who wants a poor communicator representing the company brand? Our students should leave with excellent communication skills so that they can build successful careers on that solid foundation.

3. The value of a Belhaven degree. Just like a company doesn’t want the brand represented by a poor communicator, Belhaven should not accept this, either. If a Belhaven graduate gets a job and the student cannot function at the expected level, our programs are cheapened. We don’t want employers to say (however quietly), that they will never hire another Belhaven graduate if this is the quality of their graduates. Everyone loses if the Belhaven brand suffers.

4.  Success. A student who has been held to higher standards will perform better on the job. One of our current MBA students recently earned a healthy, six-figure job. She started at Belhaven as an undergraduate making only $35,000. She worked hard for her B.A. and has learned the value of strong writing and presentation skills.

5. Independence. Just like we allow our children to fall as they are learning to walk, we must be able to let our students stumble in order to learn. Our programs are designed to help students gain better control of their destinies. They should be ready to spread their wings and fly solo once they have earned a Belhaven degree. If we are constantly handing out “A” grades, will our students ever push themselves to work harder and do better?

6.  Obligation. We are contracted legally to teach our students, not indulge them and make good friends. We just had one of our own graduates fail MSL601. Indulging this student in her undergraduate program only set her up to fail at the graduate level. Is the failure hers or ours? Neither party is fully guilty, but neither party is innocent, either.

7. Integrity. As we stand before God and man, we cannot be liars or deceivers. Leviticus 19:11b says, “Do not deceive or cheat one another.” and Proverbs is also full of admonitions not to lie or steal. Excessive grace is no longer grace; it is deception. Students should not be graduating with less than adequate skills, and permitting them to pass a class without being fully equipped is deceitful and unacceptable.

Remember that we are here to teach our students to the best of our abilities; we are not here to be loved. In fact, two of our toughest teachers are often—eventually—the students’ favorite teachers. You see, setting and keeping standards often yields love as the byproduct!

Although these are only a few reasons why we should be holding our students to higher standards, I am sure they are enough to prepare you to challenge your students to “be all they can be.”

 

By Dr. Tom Randolph, Belhaven-Chattanooga Adjunct Instructor

See webinar discussing this model at: http://belhaven.adobeconnect.com/p9lo05svniy/

Curiosity inspires experimentation that in turn inspires innovation. Every class should have innovation, both personal and business, as its central focus. This will better prepare students for the 21^st Century of global competition and lifelong learning. There are many ways to learn but only one way to think logically. That one-way is the Scientific Method for experimentation: question, purpose, research, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, and conclusion. It is a mental framework for innovation. It tests and measures empirical evidence as a way of thinking to continually making things better in any pursuit of learning.

Like any skill, this mindset requires practice for improvement. Every class I teach requires students to directly apply textbook knowledge to one personal and one business experiment during the entire course using SMART goals. They must be simple, doable, cost no money, require no approval, and be personally meaningful. Each week students stand in front of the class to answer six questions as their sales pitch. What are their one best weekly take-away ideas from the textbook, Christian book, Bible, personal experiment, work experiment, and one feedback question to the class to help the presenter?

The content of the class discussions (best take-away ideas) is in the context of students’ personal and work experiments (applications) that seek to apply learning in practical real life ways, now, not some distant future. Teachers should not repeat in class what students can do alone at home. Reading is the students’ responsibility. Class discussion should not be textbook regurgitations. In contrast, classrooms should be vibrant innovation laboratories where students inspire and challenge each other to apply experimental action learning to change things for the better.

Albert Einstein said, “Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” Our brains were not designed to remember long-term knowledge that learners view as meaningless. The brain defines meaningless as anything that cannot be practically used to make things better. Use it or lose it! He defined intelligence as the ability to change.   A lot of know with little do is an education without innovation. Learning is meant to change people’s lives for the better, not merely memorize information to pass tests and then forget it. Tony Wagner wrote, “The world does not care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what you know.” Students should constantly ask themselves, “How can I use this now?”

God counts everything: the head’s hairs, the sparrow’s fall, and the stars’ names. He counts them to measure them. God tests many things. This testing is experimentation for the believers’ good and growth. In Deuteronomy 8, the children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years (measurement). This time was to test them (run experiments) to see what was in their hearts, whether they would obey his commandments or not. Scripture records in Daniel 1 how he ran a two-week (measurement) food/drink experiment using the Scientific Method. Daniel and his friends ended up proving themselves healthier and better nourished.

Romans 12:1,2 says believers are to be living sacrifices transformed (continually changed) from the patterns (thinking paradigms) of the world to new and better biblical worldview patterns. How? By testing the will of God, i.e. continually running personal experiments of faith to prove for themselves that God keeps his good, acceptable, and perfect promises.

All life is experimentation because all life is choices with risk. Everyone constantly makes decisions as experimentation: directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously. Luke 10:27 teaches believers to love God with all their minds, i.e. logically, systematically, empirically.

If you would like to know more about using experiments to enhance student engagement and learning in your class, please contact Randolph at trandolph@belhaven.edu.

I want to thank those of you that were able to attend our webinar yesterday. I firmly feel that technology can be a successful tool in any classroom when used properly. As we went through some foundational starting points I mentioned several questions to ask as you approach the use of any new technology in the classroom. I have outlined those again below:

• Does the technology alter the message being communicated?
• Has the technology been simplified as to be easily grasped by the learner?
• Have I clearly communicated my expectations to the learners?
• Does the technology enhance the learning?
• Have I tested the technology?
• Will everyone be able to use and access the technology being used?

 

In addition to these questions I mentioned several resources that I regularly read and monitor when it comes to technology and teaching in general. I am providing that list here. As well as one that was reminded to me after the webinar. This is really just the starting point. There are numerous resources out there and you cannot expect to know them all but staying abreast of some should help you to stay connected to what is happening in the broader world of academia.

Collaboration Tools

Dropbox.com

ScreenHero.com

Google Hangouts www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/

binfire.com

Docs9.com

Cloudappsportal.com

Blogs/Websites/Tech Sources/Conferences

Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/

Inside Higher Ed Tech specifically https://www.insidehighered.com/news/focus/teaching-and-learning

Tech and Learning magazine (free subscription) http://www.techlearning.com/default.aspx

Chronicle: Wired Campus email newsletter http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/

ProfHacker blog http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/

Educause http://www.educause.edu/

The Online Learning Consortium (formerly Sloan-C) http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/

University Business http://www.universitybusiness.com/

Distance teaching and learning conference https://dtlconference.wisc.edu/

Best wishes as you continue to shepherd your students toward a deeper understanding of the content. Remember you are the authority and technology is simply a means to help you lead the learner to deeper understanding!

Blessings,

Dr. Lee Skinkle