Bridging Bible and Biology: The Impact of Faith Integration on the Spiritual Growth of Students in Christian Higher Education

DAISY SAVARIRAJAN | SU FONG

 The integration of faith and learning (IFL) is an integral part of Christian higher education. The recent years have seen a spate in published studies testifying to an intense pursuit of meaningful IFL by many institutions of Christian higher education.  However, little scholarship has been devoted to explore the influence of faith integration in science and its effect on the spiritual growth of students. A private, Christian university in the Southwest United States, has integrated the Christian worldview (CWV) in at least 30% of courses in college programs. Instilling the core Christian convictions into each student’s total college life has been one of the distinctive tasks of the University. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to understand how CWV develops in Biology and (2) how IFL affects the personal faith of students. The data was collected, over a period of three consecutive years 2016 to 2018, from students preparing for Health Care and Science careers. Using the survey design with open-ended questions, 489 participants provided responses to articulate the Christian worldview perspective of microorganisms and diseases. Findings reveal a positive impact of IFL on the personal faith of students. The results also indicate students demonstrating growth in their understanding of the biblical worldview within the context of Biology. 

Counselor Development as The Hero’s Journey: Reflections from a Counselor Educator

DANIEL A. KAUFMANN

The use of the monomyth to shape the narratives of fiction with deep meanings, while feeling both new and recognizable, is consistently experienced across all cultures throughout time. As past publications have utilized this approach to subconscious symbolism to explain many experiences, it has not yet been utilized to explain the process of counselor development. The structures utilized in this exploration of the Hero’s Journey concept include the seminal work Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (1949) being applied to the structure of counseling development as reviewed by Rønnestad and Skovholt (2003). Each stage of the journey will be translated into an understanding of how students grow from before their master’s program through their senior years as experts in the counseling field. The following article will engage this metaphor to explore the narrative of a counseling student on their quest to become a counseling professional through use of the stages from the monomyth as used to describe the Hero’s Journey.

Team Teaching the Active Way: A Case Study about the Student Learning Experience

MENDI DAVIS | RENEE WINTER

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the students’ learning experience when utilizing a team teaching approach in an online doctoral program at a private university located within the Southwestern region of the United States. The theoretical foundation of Community of Inquiry developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) supported this study. The overarching question that drove this study was, “How do students in an online doctoral program describe the team teaching learning experience?” The sample consisted of six doctoral students from a private university enrolled in an online doctoral course. Participants were interviewed and videotaped using Zoom. Data were obtained through semistructured interviews with open-ended questions that focused on the student experience. The interviews were transcribed and coded to identify themes. The discussion of the findings included the importance of access to the instructor, instructor feedback, and student support. Participants reported that their student learning experience was enhanced due to the team teaching model. Future research should examine the team teaching model from the perspective of the instructor and from a variety of courses.

An Analysis of Communicative Interactions in School: Learning from Layered Messages in Humor

KIMBERLY ILOSVAY

The ability to communicate through oral language is an innate human characteristic (Chomsky, 1968; Pinker, 2007) and is a product of the social process (Vygotsky, 1978). Though the language “. . . in people’s heads does not always translate automatically into appropriate words and phrases . . .” uttered through the mouth (Chafe & Danielwisc, 1987, p. 4), effective oral communication requires the producer to choose carefully from his or her lexicon and syntax knowledge to express specific intentions to listeners. As interactions among diverse peoples are becoming easier and more frequent, so too are the mismatches in communication. This is especially true within the constraints of the education system where students are in contact with a diverse group of other students. Educators are always seeking effective ways to eliminate the disparities in communication present in the classroom. Researchers have long touted humor as a beneficial communication tool for classroom learning (Crossman, 1964). However, the effects of certain types of humor on students have largely gone unexamined. Through an analysis of humor used in classrooms in three different countries, this paper will highlight the prominent types of humor used and argue that some of the most widely used humor is counterproductive for student success. An analysis of the layered messages in specific humor reveals the impact of language use that might be helpful for educators and others to consider. Implications that positively influence instructional practices for educators are also discussed.

Preservice Teacher Experiences in Formal and Informal Co-Operative Learning Groups in a Mathematics Course

MAHATI KOPPARLA | DIANNE GOLDSBY

Co-operative group learning is known to be an effective instructional practice, especially for mathematics. While group work can be incorporated into the classroom in multiple ways, not every group is a co-operative learning community. In the current study, class observations and preservice teacher interviews were used to compare experiences during formal and informal group work. The findings indicate that formal co-operative learning groups, or prolonged interaction with the same group of people, develops a sense of strong community within the classroom, thereby providing a safe space and facilitating discussions. Preservice teachers involved in formal co-operative learning reported they learned better, gained confidence in the subject, and associated positively to using group work in their future classroom. However, preservice teachers involved in informal co-operative learning had neutral perceptions about group work. We suggest that prolonged interactions among the group members is required to establish effective co-operative learning groups.

Flipping the Classroom to Teach the Evaluation of Research Articles and the Development of Scientific Literacy

PAMELA MONAGHAN-GEERNAERT

Scientific literacy is a key skill for college students. Flipped classroom techniques provide useful tools for students to learn material outside of the classroom to be applied during class time. In this study, students were assigned homework that entailed watching two video podcasts that explained the process for finding and reading peer-reviewed journal articles. Students then completed a survey corresponding to each video podcast asking about the effectiveness of the video podcast and their satisfaction with the perceived knowledge and skills they learned. In class, students worked in groups to practice the skills taught in the video. One hundred and six students completed both surveys. The results indicate that the students found the video podcasts very helpful in finding and reading the articles (89% Finding, 92% Reading). The students believed that watching the video podcasts would help them complete the in-class assignment (92%), that the information would be useful for other classes (90%), and that they preferred watching (and rewatching) the video podcasts on their own time instead of during class time (52%). The flipped classroom methodologies, specifically video podcasts, provide a formative tool for delivering visual instruction of how students can acquire skills in scientific literacy.

Self-Monitoring Influences Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Own Group Conformity Pressure

TAKEESHA ROLAND-JENKINS

Own-group conformity pressure refers to experiencing pressure to conform to standards that a specific ethnic group established. The own-group conformity pressure theory posits that own-group norms subtly indicate how targeted individuals should behave socially. Ethnicity-related backlash is a form of harassment for violating ethnic stereotypes that elicits this form of conformity pressure. Self-monitoring helps thwart work-related backlash for gender deviance. This quantitative causal-comparative study investigated if there are any significant differences in own-group conformity pressure scores for 160 graduate students in APA accredited programs and CACREP accredited programs in the United States who have low self-monitoring scores or high self-monitoring scores. The participants took a Self-Monitoring Scale and Own-Group Conformity Pressure Scale survey, and a one-way MANOVA facilitated the simultaneous analysis of three research questions. The multivariate effect of self-monitoring (low or high) on the variables combined (style/interests and social relations), representing own-group conformity pressure, was not significant, Wilks’ Lamba = .964, F(2, 157) = 2.971, p = .054, but this result was close to the criterion alpha. A significant between-subject effect was observed for social relations, F(1, 158) = 5.969, p = .016, with high-self monitors yielding a higher mean of 3.48, 95% CI [3.05, 3.91] for social relations than low self-monitors with a mean of 2.84, 95% CI [2.53, 3.15]. The significant result for own-group conformity pressure regarding social relations addressed a previous gap in the literature and demonstrated that self-monitoring skills influence students’ perceptions of own-group conformity pressure, especially students who are high self-monitors.

The Benefit of Utilizing Brain-Based Learning in Higher Education Online Environments

RENEE M. WINTER

Higher education has experienced a significant transformation from traditional face-to-face instruction to online instruction. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine to what extent postsecondary online faculty utilized brain-based learning techniques as part of their academic practices in the online asynchronous learning environment and to assess differences in the use of these techniques between online full-time and online adjunct faculty employed by two public universities and one private university located in the Southwest region of the United States. The theoretical framework of Hart’s (1983) brain-based learning theory (BBLT) informed this study. The sample consisted of 539 accepted and completed surveys. The participants completed 55 questions based on brain-based learning. Quantitative data were collected using Klinek’s (2009) questionnaire about brain-based learning knowledge, beliefs, and practices. The data from the questionnaire measured the online faculty’s knowledge, beliefs, and practices of brain-based learning techniques. The data were analyzed using descriptive information about the sample computing frequencies of the variables. Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities were conducted to complete the descriptive statistics for the first research question. The statistical analysis used for research question two and three was Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) using a 2×2 factorial design to test the hypotheses. The researcher found that there was a significant difference between the BBLT practices of the online faculty from public (M = 3.45) and private universities (M = 3.28), F (1, 294) = 1.62, p = .004, ŋ² = .044. The study revealed that there is a lack of knowledge about BBLT supporting the need for professional development and training.

Being Thrown Under the Bus and Rising Above the Fray: Maintaining Authenticity

KRISTINE QUADE | AMANDA K. BEAVER | LAURA FRY | DANIELA BULMINI | ELVIA MILLER

The qualitative descriptive study was conducted to explore how female leaders describe remaining authentic when being scapegoated. The participants were twelve senior female leaders in either for-profit or non-profit roles in Arizona. While not all women were able to maintain their authenticity during the scapegoating experience, the experience of scapegoating was transformational in finding their authentic self.

Teaching Students with Disabilities at the College Level

REBEKAH DYER

The number of students with disabilities who attend college is increasing, however, many of them are not completing their degree program (Fleming, Plotner & Oertle, 2017).  Many students with disabilities are not socially prepared to attend college. They may struggle with developing relationships with peers and faculty, which leads to a lack of feeling supported (Herts et al., 2014).   There are a variety of perceptions regarding individuals with disabilities from peers and faculty that can negatively impact students with disabilities in college (Baker, Boland & Nowik, 2012).  Students with disabilities do have a legal right to receive accommodations at the college level, however, many students are not aware of those rights or choose not to implement them. Colleges/universities and faculty need to be a support system for students with disabilities. They need to be proactive in being informed about the law and the types of accommodations they can provide. Students with disabilities can be successful in college if everyone works together to set them up for success.

*This is a reprint from 2018 Volume 7 with corrections to the title