Hello Colleagues:

I have been using Biblical scripture in my courses to let my students' know how much God loves them. In addition; I convey to my students' that I am here to help them and to answer any questions that they have. I seek to apply the Fruit of the Spirit in my courses based on our Holy God's tenets of Grace based on: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. 

In some student situations this has been tough for me to apply, especially when specific students' have been challenging me. However, as a Christian, after I reflect, I give them grace, as Christ has given me grace and forgiven me.

God Bless!

Joseph

Joseph, Excellent spiritual applications! Where do you post these scriptures within the course or platform? How else can we include GCU ‘s mission and Christian worldview? 

Tennille Feldbush 

I am sorry that I am coming to this discussion late, but I wanted to know if you all have done any work on gratitude outside of the realm of Christianity?  I realize that this might be a heretical notion in this forum, and if it isn't a welcome thought, please delete my post.

I am a Christian, but I came to my faith in my 20s, and so I am a bit more attuned to what a non-Christian thinks.  One thing that I wanted to share was that it wasn't a set of bible verses that were instrumental in my conversion, it was seeing how much gratitude others (who were Christians) had and how giving they were of their time and resources.

I just think that it is possible to teach the virtues of charity outside of the Bible, and honestly, it is often more appealing to non-Christians who might be interested in learning more about Jesus.   

I think that you can grow and teach gratitude outside of the Bible. I realize that this might be a controversial idea, but I think that it is very important point to consider. 

Best.

-erin 

Erin Wais-Hennen Great idea, Erin! One idea is to approach gratitude through the mindfulness vein that is quite popular right now. I have yet to do this, but I think this would be one such approach. How might mindfulness and gratitude posts or activities develop in your classes, anyone?

Nice, Joseph! That is an excellent way to organize by fruits of the spirit! In what way, do you show grace in the classroom? What kinds of things do you incorporate? 

Hello Tennile and fellow colleagues:

I post Biblical scipture in several areas in my courses: 

1. Class Wall
2. I post a prayer forum (voluntary) within my Question to Instructor forum area for the first day of my courses. I initially have three specific posts by me before the courses start to hopefully start the prayers and conversations.
3. Within my weekly (Week 1 to Week 8) discussion assignments (DQ 1 and DQ 2)
4. I always post a biblical passage at the beginning of my Weekly announcements for my courses.

For me, we should seek to have active conversations with our students' based on our Faith. For me, this encouraging to discuss this with our students to let them know that our Holy Father loves us.

God Bless!

Joseph

Hello Mary and fellow colleagues:

QUESTION: What way, do you show grace in the classroom? What kinds of things do you incorporate?  

For all of my online courses, I welcome my students to my courses and inform them what is expected of them at the very beginning of my course through my welcome announcements and course announcements throughout the course. My expectations for the course are very clear. When I receive a message from a student that is having issues, I will seek to call them to discuss the issue or concern. I do empathize with them, however; I do expect the student to complete their assignments on time based on the assignment directions and assignment rubric, which is mandatory for GCU. When a student informs me about a specific issue they are having, I will grant them grace for one or a few assignments to get on track, however; I do let them know that I and GCU expects them to submit their assignments on time. When a student has a medical issue, I do my best to help that student and give them the best advice I can about their course. I will pray with them or about their family member. I have done this for almost five years with GCU students, (July 2020 will be 5 years teaching online with GCU). I seek to "Love my neighbor as myself" a most important tenet from our Holy Father. 

As a Christian professor, I seek to communicate with my students and check my courses throughout the day to find out if any my students have any questions and or concerns.

God Bless!

Joseph

Wonderful examples! I am sure your students appreciate these posts and care. Do you find that students' replies incorporate similar methods like bible verses, thoughtful work, and graceful/caring tone? Do you think your class setup has this effect? Have you been in a course without such setup? Was the environment or tone noticeably different?

Hello Tennille:

Sometimes student provide bible verses, however; the majority of the students; work is thoughtful and caring work. Now, I truly feel my course set up has this effect. Prior to this, I did have issues with my tone, this is something I have been working on. One of the reasons why I like this discussion series is based on gratitude/attitude. As a business person, I expected my employees to perform and in the classroom I expected this as well. I needed to change my tone, especially for me to reach my students. Engagement is the ultimate goal for an online class with your students and practicing a gracious view of them can change the dynamics of your courses.   

Joseph

This is a great topic. In my Ethics class I shared this article on how employees who were grateful were actually less likely to steal, cheat and be dishonest. We discussed how gratitude than actually leads to more ethical behavior and treating others better. Thank you for posting on this important topic!

https://hbr.org/2019/04/when-employees-feel-grateful-theyre-less-likely-to-be-dishonest

Nathan Terlisner That is a great article to share! I agree it does lead to ethical behavior. In our experiences and research, both Tennille and gave found out that students are more likely to focus more on reaching success when the instructor encourages gratitude. Also, I hold a gratitude day on the last day of my ground classes. This is where the students address what they are most grateful for when it comes to different aspects of their learning experience. Thank you for sharing this! I am glad you are enjoying the topic!   

Nice ideas, Joseph and Nathan, about supporting quality work through gratitude, ethics, tone, etc.! This is a helpful article! What other external links, materials, Web 2.0 tools, etc. have helped you include this type of discussion or supported positive classroom environments? 

Hello Colleagues:

I post a lot of information from different websites and from youtube, for my weekly announcements:

Trust in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord! Christian Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M__eHGicWc 

Sources to help my students:

• https://www.capsim.com/blog/an-introduction-to-porters-generic-strategies/ 
• https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_82.htm
• https://www.toolshero.com/strategy/porters-generic-strategies/

Reference:

Monahan, M., & Rahman, S. (2011). Porter's generic competitive strategies: How appalachian businesses use them to compete. Competition Forum, 9(1), 26-37. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/912504897?accountid=7374 

Joseph

Hi Joseph, Those are some great links to use. I especially like how you incorporate Christian Music. Sometimes, in the online classroom, I include a music video from a Christian Artist to encourage fellowship among the students. These are some great sources. I think it is helpful to include these links.  I appreciate you sharing!

Nice examples everyone! What posts or activities in your courses do you think often inspire the most motivation to engage in course materials and efficacy in meeting objectives? Do/can these have an element of gratitude or positivity?

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Easter! How can posting about a holiday create positive or grateful environments? What posts or activities do you use for the holidays? Can any incorporate gratitude more directly? How so? 

Great topic! 

I have found that showing empathy and understanding towards students can go a long way towards creating an atmosphere of respect.  This is true all the time but even more powerful during these difficult times.  Teaching in a graduate program, many students are working professionals with family responsibilities as well.  Demonstrating empathy when they are struggling is essential.

Stay safe everyone

Nice ideas about our current times and empathy! What issues might develop if we do not show empathy? How can gratitude based responses or activities help us foster or show empathy?

Hi Mike, I agree that showing empathy is important especially those who are struggling. What kind of language or verbiage do you use when you correspond with students in the Private Forum, classroom, and/or in the DQ forum to show empathy?

I have created a series of Video Bible Action Quotes that I post in the weekly announcements. These are 45-60 second videos focusing on a Scripture and how we can easily apply it in our lives. Students are constantly sending me messages that the particular verse encouraged them about something they were dealing with that day!
Here's an example: http://virtualmarketingprofessor.com/VBAQ27/

Michael Saunders thank you for this specific example and concept! I am glad students are enjoying this addition and showing gratitude! How might gratitude be fostered in grade feedback, group activities, and other responses or setup?

Hi Michael, I love that! I have never heard of these! They sound great! I appreciate you sharing. This is a good way to encourage them each week and it sounds like your students are enjoying them. Moreover, I also find that I focus on showing the student what can be done to improve versus what they do wrong. Do you often include any type of words of encouragement within your grading comments?

In the most simplest terms, but perhaps profound, we are called to love God and love others as the most important of His commands. And when we are at our best, we do this by recognizing that God loves each one of our students in our classes  just as preciously and passionately as He loves us. And when we try to model and emulate that love by seeing the uniqueness and amazing qualities of each one of our students, this gratitude comes out.  This post and replies have encouraged me to make that a focus this week and see what difference it could possibly make. Thank you all!

Brent Hodges Love is paramount! Thank you for this reminder! What factors, feelings, or situations sometimes get in the way of this prerogative? How can we remind ourselves and our students to be grateful when times, feedback, or assignments are tough?

Great, Brent! I like what you said about showing the love of God to others. Gratitude does show up when we focus on emulating that love. Also, it is awesome that you are focusing on this for the week in your classes. What do you plan to add to your posts that might be different than your normal responses? What kind of verbiage do you plan to utilize to show love and encouragement to your students? Also, share with us as to how it goes this week. 

God Bless!

How do you think faculty can foster this student engagement and success by incorporating gratitude or positivity in the classroom? What similar methods are you using or considering to promote these types of learning interactions? And what are the outcomes you have observed or might predict? 

Hi Mary and Tennille: 

Such a great topic! From the Class Wall onward, I like to involve students in building or strengthening their gratitude practice. 

For their Class Wall introduction, as an optional addition,  I ask students to include a "Go-To" Gratitude Bible verse or quote. These verses seed my "Sunday Bible Verse from our Class Wall Introductions" post. In some classes, two or three verses are included per week! Some students in different classes list the same verse and it is fun to connect students virtually from different classes and different states through their verse!  For each verse, I include a photo that I create or search to find and a link to the verse. 

After Week 1 Class Wall introductions, the Class Wall becomes our voluntary Prayer Wall... since the verses are already there, students have great Go-To verses to add to their prayers.

Round about Week 4, in one of my gratitude CATs, I ask students to return to the Class Wall and reread the introductions and prayer requests. To indicate their participation, students may post our in-class hashtag "#Gr8tful4U" and respond as they feel comfortable. Some students add more response text and some add requests to the Class Wall/Prayer Forum. I also utilize a "10-to-1" CAT. 

It is so wonderful to teach at an institution that encourages a spiritual worldview and an emphasis on gratitude!! 

~Helen :)

Helen Teague That is great you use the wall to continue supporting students by using the class Wall to include Bible verses. That is a great form of encouragement and also the prayers! Do you respond to some of these with further words of support after they have responded? What kinds of statements do you use to show support spiritually?

Hi, Helen! That is wonderful that you start out the class wall with gratitude pieces and include verses, prayer, and hashtags! Great! Tell me more about the hashtags.  Where else do these appear? Do you reference these in posts or use them elsewhere? Tell me more about the 10-1 Cat. What does that entail? If someone wanted to include these pieces in their classes, what would you tell them?

"And when we try to model and emulate that love by seeing the uniqueness and amazing qualities of each one of our students, this gratitude comes out"

So well-said

I am enjoying this discussion

Thanks for all the keen insights

Jeffrey Kaplan

GCU Chair/Methodologist

Faculty Advisory Board Member (2019-20)

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Jeffrey Kaplan Yes! What a wonderful example!

Jeffrey Kaplan I totally agree! I find that emulation brings out the best in students' attitudes toward the completion of their coursework and objectives. They tend to have more confidence in themselves just knowing that your there to support and pray for them!   

Hi Tennille~~ Thanks for replying! (I wasn't sure if I replied correctly to the original question since I am a little late to the forum.)

Hashtags are very fun and integrative for all students b/c online courses are too often heavy on linguistic skills and strong reading and typing. Students who may have challenges in reading, replying, ESOL, and just tired eyes after long days (!) find the use of Hashtags to be welcome respite. 

in general, at the start of class I post that for our class I will wrangle some Twitter resources and education, science, math, tech superTwitter heroes under a general class hashtag (such as #GCUTEC520, #GCUTEC595, etc...) on my Twitter feed.  My Twitter "handle" is in my Profile. Yesterday, for example, I tagged a Twitter with the class hashtag. Students can easily see all class hashtag posts from all current and previous classes just be searching. I also invite them to participate in several quality Twitter chats from reputable sources. (These are really fun!! )

During early class days, I'll first incorporate in-class usage of hashtags in my replies and grading comments (i.e. #SlamDunk, #Fierce!, #WayToGo! #ThanksButMoreThanks!) and encourage students to do the same as a type of signature (hashtags do not replace initial post responses). 

As a CAT summary, I will ask students to summarize key concept, readings, etc... with a #hashtag. In another early course CAT, Students share something they are grateful for,  or a Teaching Motto, Favorite Teacher etc...  Then for circular instruction, I ask them to revisit their earlier CAT reply post and create their own Hashtag to accompany their gratitude sentiment or motto, favorite teacher, etc.... (i.e. if students are grateful for their job, then the hashtag may be "#LuvMyStus (love my students) or #GeologistsRock!)

Also, as instructors, we are all the recipients of so many poignant ideas from Students... I send a Private Forum request to publish to "real" Twitter under our class hashtag and their first initial. Students 100% grant permission! 

The scope and depth of these engagement strategies, depend on the class and their receptivity (online as in F2F, some classes are more "talkative and sharing"). In one class, we declared the class hashtag "boring" and students submitted replacement ideas and we "voted" on the choices via a Private Google Forms survey. 

These activities have the dual benefit of actively introducing students to the concepts of collaboration, student voice, student-led engagement, online community, course PLN, and inquiry-based learning.

Hope I did not go on too long! Thanks again for asking! ~Helen

Helen Teague Nice activity! I also think it's great you surveyed your students' receptiveness to the activity. I believe that students respect that.  Thank you for sharing the activity! 

BTW: Here are two blog posts discussing...

Pedagogical Benefits: https://4oops.edublogs.org/2018/08/15/nerd-research-minute-august-15-ed-benefits-of-twitter/

Class Created Hashtag and GCU student response: during COVID-- Educate From Home #EFH instead of Work From Home: https://4oops.edublogs.org/2020/03/28/e-learning-whats-working-for-you/

Helen Teague Thank you :) 

Helen Teague Thank you for sharing the links with the group!

Pedagogical Benefits: https://4oops.edublogs.org/2018/08/15/nerd-research-minute-august-15-ed-benefits-of-twitter/

Class Created Hashtag and GCU student response: during COVID-- Educate From Home #EFH instead of Work From Home: https://4oops.edublogs.org/2020/03/28/e-learning-whats-working-for-you/

Thanks for these resources

Always helpful

Jeff Kaplan

GCU Chair/Methodologist

College of Doctoral Studies

Friday, April 17, 2020

The educational benefits of encouraging gratitude in the classroom include increased critical thinking and receptiveness to constructive criticism on coursework. In higher education, it is still common for students to approach course requirements with negative expectations and attitudes, especially as this level is where critical thinking and independent study increase. How might gratitude methods be developed within formative and summative assessments?

Mary Petty 

Great ideas, Mary! How often could these gratitude assessments be added to a classroom and to which parts of the class, ie. the assignments and discussion? Could instructors provide weekly positivity or gratitude posts? Examples: Week one discussion post about what students have learned, what helped they have received, etc. in the past, a final week discussion post about “cheers for peers” or who/what helped them most. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! How can self-care help us show gratitude during the workweek? 

Here is an example of a gratitude post near course end:

Does anyone have a cheer for a particularly helpful student, comment, peer review, etc.? Which student inspired you during the course and how/why?

Hello colleagues 

My method of teaching can be described as a philosophy of mentorship. What that means is that I guide and help the student (mentee) solve his or her own problem, rather than provide the answer. I believe that when the teacher’s role is to guide, providing access to information rather than acting as the primary source of information, the student’ quest for knowledge is met as they learn to find answers to their questions

Dr. Alex Onukwugha

Alexander Onukwugha That's a wonderful approach! How can we guide students to consider or show gratitude without spelling it out for them?

Awesome! Nice ideas!