Tag: Focus

Building a Thriving Classroom Community – “Bond & Beyond” – Faculty Focus
Across college campus classrooms, students of all ages have a deep need to feel welcomed, included, and engaged in their learning communities. In order to best prepare our college students for their professional careers, professors and instructors should foster social and emotional learning in their learning spaces. Social and emotional learning is linked to the success of students, teachers, and school environments (Usakli & Ekici, 2018). Social and emotional learning builds community and fosters collaboration in learning spaces. Faculty can foster that community and connection with their students beginning on the very first day of classes. Students begin to feel included and welcomed in their learning environment immediately upon entering the room.

By engaging in social and emotional learning, students can gain social awareness which increases their empathy and promotes student understanding of people they encounter from diverse backgrounds (Sorbet & Notar, 2022). The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning or CASEL (www.casel.org) introduces five areas of competency. Those five areas include: self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and self-management. These five competencies are crucial in developing students’ social and emotional knowledge and skills. These social and emotional skills provide students with the ability to understand and regulate their emotions as well as the emotions of others (Schonert-Reichl, 2017; Casel, 2020).

Every classroom is the starting point for a community to come together and form a cohesive group, no matter the age or ability of the students. This is an opportunity for active student engagement and can be utilized no matter the course modality. When students feel like they belong, they are more likely to be present both in attendance and participation. Community is important in every classroom, in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous, as it is both a benefit to the students and the instructors.

This is a space that is committed to achieving academic goals as well as promoting social interaction and collaboration. Building a community means everyone is involved in social and emotional learning (SEL). Engaging in SEL encourages awareness of others, their backgrounds, and allows a place for empathy among students. The classroom is the perfect environment for students to encounter others who may be very similar to themselves, but it is an even better place for them to increase their opportunity to experience other people who are quite different from themselves (Sorbet & Notar, 2022).

How can we practically add some community-building ideas into our classrooms in action? Four core ways of building community and improving social and emotional learning (SEL) in any classroom are discussed below. These strategies can be used in any classroom setting, whether it’s pre-K or college, as most people want to feel included and part of the group.

1. Welcoming Students

Start the first session with a greeting, an icebreaker, set the ground rules for the room, and establish norms and expectations for the community. Verifying the pronunciation of a student’s name, or the name they would prefer to be called, along with personal pronouns, is a great way for a student to be recognized and seen. When having students meet one another, avoid forcing my name is, where you’re from, what’s a fun fact, allow the ice to melt while asking students to work together on a common task such as: completing a puzzle, solving a riddle, or creating something among themselves – keeping the stakes low and encouraging communication. Remind the students that they are a team, and teams work together for one another. What are some examples to get started? Starting with cooperation and connection, this starts them off without having to immediately talk about themselves, establishes a comfortable environment, and eases them into the class/course.

What does this look like?
- Personally greet each person as they enter the classroom.
- Networking Bingo: Cards with various statements, “same major,” “plays an instrument” “left-handed.”
- Visually appealing space with artwork, posters with various people groups, comfortable seating arrangements, etc.
2. Getting to Know Your Students and One Another

Act quickly to learn names so that you can recognize the face and put a name with it quickly. This is likely to happen faster in an elementary classroom, but college students want to be known just as much as adolescents. Do not be afraid to have name cards; utilize the photos from the school’s roster system to create a quick reminder of who is who in your classroom. One other way to learn names is to take a quick video and plan the classroom with their name tags set in front of their table seats. This way, you can go back to the office and watch the videos a few times and get familiar with who sits where and learn their names. Set a goal of having them memorized by the third week of a full semester course.

What does this look like?
- Speed Meeting: 2 minutes, 2 people in each group, do this several days in a row or several times in one day. Giving a prompt such as “What’s one thing you are excited to learn about in this class” to get the conversation started.
- Think-Pair-Share: A good way to get students to contemplate a topic, question, or concept, so they do not feel put on the spot for an answer. They think to themselves, pair with a partner to discuss, then share with a larger group or the whole class (Kagan, 2017).
- Celebrations: Have celebrations for birthdays, accomplishments, achievements.
- Small Groups: Have students work together to research and explain a concept.
- Mentorships: Encourage mentorships among classmates.
- Journal: Encourage students to journal, inspire emotional expression.
3. Words of Affirmation and Praise

Reinforcement and affirmation work well in college classrooms and K-12 classrooms as well. Recognizing and reinforcing appropriate responses, hard work, good citizenship, and positive community involvement are essential. Whether it is a policy to do verbal shout-outs, write notes, or send emails, letting students know that you notice them and their efforts is another way to reinforce their contribution to the community.

What does this look like?

Student Shout-Outs: Class members can share words of encouragement and appreciation to other students for strengthening relationships and building positivity.

Encouraging learning and community outside the classroom can also be incorporated into any age group. Integrating real-world experiences that a student can easily accomplish that connects their content of the course with the real-world adds to the validity of the course content. Encouraging students to engage in service learning by volunteering, engaging in campus or community needs. This may be a campus-wide clean-up day, spring cleaning day if a storm comes through that knocks down limbs off trees, or the like.

What does this look like?

Form study groups, organize optional coffee meet-ups, or other optional ways students can connect outside of the classroom. These may look like a park play date on the 2nd Saturday or each month from 1-3 pm at the City Park for your younger students and families.

No matter what type of community-building efforts are made, the students in the classroom will benefit. As with anything in the teaching world, start small and see what works. If one activity or idea works with one classroom of students, try it again, but know it may not work the same way the next time around. Students are resilient and adaptable; they will observe you, the teacher, as trying to make the classroom fun and friendly.

Dr. Raglena T. Salmans, EdD is an assistant professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, Exercise & Sport Science at Eastern Kentucky University. She has over 20 years of experience in higher education. Dr. Salmans teaches student success seminars, leadership, event planning, and program management courses and serves as an internship coordinator for the Recreation and Park Administration program. Her research interests consist of college success strategies, professional preparation and leadership development, and building community in classroom settings in preparation for real-world application.

Dr. Stefanie R. Sorbet, EdD is an associate professor in the Department of Elementary, Literacy, and Special Education at the University of Central Arkansas. She has over 25 years of experience in both elementary and higher education combined. Dr. Sorbet instructs positive classroom management courses and supervises interns in their field placement. Her research agenda consists of mentoring novice and preservice teachers in classroom management, social and emotional learning, and building community in classroom settings across all disciplines and grade levels.

References

CASEL. (2020, August 1). Advancing Social and Emotional. Retrieved from www.casel.org

Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2017). Social and emotional learning and teachers. The Future of Children, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0007

Sorbet, S. R., & Notar, C.E. (2022).Social and Emotional Learning: Meeting and Addressing Educator and Student Concerns While Providing Benefits for All Involved. Social Science, Humanities and Sustainability Research. Vol 3, No 3. https://doi.org/10.22158/sshsr.v3n3p95

Usakli, H., & Ekici, K. (2018). Program on multiple trajectories of social-emotional and misconduct behaviors. Prevention Science, 18, 214-224
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July 28, 2025
Harnessing Intercultural Expertise in an International Classroom – Faculty Focus
The increasing internationalization of higher education does not automatically lead to global knowledge and skill exchange in the classroom. Hierarchical barriers in pedagogy and classroom geography impede peer-to-peer learning. This article outlines the benefits of using a community cultural wealth approach – with an example – to disrupt academic and cultural hierarchies by drawing on the multiplicity of students’ assets, skills, and knowledge bases within international cohorts. Such a method enables international students to share their diverse expertise and breakdown assumptions about where and in whom relevant knowledge and information lies.

The Challenge of Hierarchy

I have been asking myself the following questions with increasing frequency as I grapple with teaching international cohorts of learners:
- How can I move away from being considered the sole source of knowledge in the classroom?
- How can I enable my international students to benefit from each other’s knowledge and insights?
- How can I support students to co-construct their learning?
As an educator, working out how to center students in the process of learning remains an ongoing challenge, whether working with international or domestic students. For international students, their diverse expertise and experiences add significant value to the learning community. Yet, many of these students have experienced the banking model (Freire 1996) in their previous educational experience, where they were likely considered empty vessels to be filled with information by their instructors. Thus, when confronted with the liberal expectations of a Western education, where students are expected to engage with new people and evaluate and apply new knowledge, many feel underequipped to succeed, as they wrongly assume they have nothing to contribute. This fear of lack may further drive international students to remain in cultural enclaves within the classroom, to mask their concerns. In the grips of this fear, the benefits of an international education are not immediately granted by proximity in the classroom space.

A community cultural wealth model may help to overcome these challenges. This model, developed by Yosso (2005), foregrounds other than academic assets that students possess, including linguistic, familial, navigational, cultural, resistant, and community “capitals”.

This model disrupts the banking model of education as students are affirmed as arriving replete with assets and releases students from their fears by affirming a diverse array of expertise and in whom this expertise may reside. As social theory arises from daily life (hooks, 1994), in response to the circumstances of one’s existence and its connection to history, politics, and power, the community cultural wealth model enables students to connect their life experiences with their learning. Not only does this model transform student-to-student learning, but it also transforms instructor-to-student learning, upending the classroom hierarchy around who in the room holds relevant and useful information (Schoen 1991), and reducing reliance on the instructor as the arbitral of knowledge.

Asset Recognition and Intercultural Exchange

In both the USA and the UK, I have taught Master level courses in public health ethics. In these courses, I help the students to consider ethics applying theory and using evaluation tools to assess degrees of harm or benefit a given policy might cause. Regardless of country, Master’s cohorts consist of students from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, in varying proportions. Most of these students have trained as clinicians or hold degrees in the hard sciences.

One semester, Indian students were in the majority. I shared a case that helped students to consider the impacts of Indian government policy, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which provides financial incentives for poorer, rural Indian women to give birth in a hospital. The case, developed by D. K. Bhati (2016, section 4.12, case 4), highlights the clash between traditional birth practices and hospital birth incentivization and the various challenges it poses, amid the benefits. Underpinning information in the case included cultural nuances around marriage migration to the husband’s region, traditional practices of returning to the wife’s homestead to deliver, maternal consent, maternal control over financial resources, as well as logistical issues around lack of continuous emergency care for obstetrics and the exclusion of private health care provision from the program.

My intention was to explore the risks and benefits of incentivization through a case that would foreground the strengths of Indian cultural expertise. I gave each student a number from one to five to allocate them away from their comfort situations into ones in which each group formed a diverse assemblage of backgrounds. There, they were to discuss the case, by working through a set of questions. These included questions Bhati (2016) provided in the case:
- Who are the various stakeholders involved and what are their values and perspectives?
- What are the pros and cons of using cash incentives for a public health program?
- Given her status as poor, young, married, and pregnant, how could the young wife’s autonomy have been upheld?
- Should there be different notions of autonomy depending on context – individualist (Euro-American) sensibilities or interdependent (non-individualist, non-Euro-American) sensibilities?
To these, I added the following questions:
- Given her lack of status societally, how might the cash incentive remain in the mother’s care?
- The JSY policy recommends that fathers or mothers be sterilized to prevent future pregnancies; should this be incentivized with cash? Is this a just incentivization? Explain.
As anticipated, some Indian students were able to provide context for the case and speak from a place of knowing, about rural birthing practices, marriage migration, lack of health literacy, and power imbalances between husbands and wives and their respective families. Unexpected outcomes, which arose in the dialogues, were supplemental knowledge from across the cohort. These included familiarity with other governments’ policies on maternal health, similar situations involving poor rural women in other geographical locations, related experiences from those practicing obstetrics, and insights from the academic theory. Further unexpected outcomes arose through students’ recognition of their educational and social differences between those represented in the case, and themselves, revealing gaps that the ‘cultural experts’ could not fully broker. Interestingly, the recognition of this gap increased senses of connection across the cohort, as the students realized that amid their differences of language, culture, and nation, they shared class, wealth, and education-based assets.

I highlight this example as a watershed moment. Following these intercultural conversations, students’ confidence increased over their capacity to understand, to integrate different voices, and to use and critique evidence, exemplified in their individual coursework. Throughout the semester, students more readily reorganized themselves into small groups, without my explicit directing, suggesting that once nudged across boundaries, the benefits of learning to and from one another outweighed emotional resistance. Informally, students expressed their appreciation of learning together and further related that this approach would support them as public health practitioners, where they would need to connect to, communicate with, and learn from people different from themselves. The community cultural wealth approach further enabled me as instructor to overcome my internalized hierarchies of knowledge creation by allowing learning to unfold in accordance with the various skills in the room, and to arrive at unanticipated and novel outcomes.

By breaking down academic and cultural hierarchies in the international classroom, both the students and instructors can acknowledge and advance diverse understandings and harness the richness of an international cultural, professional, and educational encounter.

Julie Botticello holds a PhD in Anthropology and has taught in the UK and the USA for the past 20 years, predominately to diverse and international cohorts of students, on subjects relevant to the social sciences and to public health. Julie holds a teaching fellowship at the University of New Haven on inclusive pedagogy, teaches a group of incarcerated women at a Federal Prison, and serves as the program director for the undergraduate Health Sciences BS degree.

References

Bhati, D. K. 2016. Case 4: Decoding Public Health Ethics and Inequity in India: A Conditional Cash Incentive Scheme—Janani Suraksha Yojana, in H. Barrett, D. W. Ortmann L, Dawson A, et al., editors. Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe. PubMed. Cham (CH): Springer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK435775/#ch4.Sec21

Freire, P. 1996 [1970]. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Hammondsworth: Penguin.

Hooks, Bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.

‌Schön, D. 1991 [1983]. The Reflective Practitioner, How Professionals Think in Action, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

Yosso, Tara J. 2005. “Whose Culture Has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth.” Race Ethnicity and Education 8 (1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006.
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July 25, 2025
Harnessing Intercultural Expertise in an International Classroom – Faculty Focus
The increasing internationalization of higher education does not automatically lead to global knowledge and skill exchange in the classroom. Hierarchical barriers in pedagogy and classroom geography impede peer-to-peer learning. This article outlines the benefits of using a community cultural wealth approach – with an example – to disrupt academic and cultural hierarchies by drawing on the multiplicity of students’ assets, skills, and knowledge bases within international cohorts. Such a method enables international students to share their diverse expertise and breakdown assumptions about where and in whom relevant knowledge and information lies.

The Challenge of Hierarchy

I have been asking myself the following questions with increasing frequency as I grapple with teaching international cohorts of learners:
- How can I move away from being considered the sole source of knowledge in the classroom?
- How can I enable my international students to benefit from each other’s knowledge and insights?
- How can I support students to co-construct their learning?
As an educator, working out how to center students in the process of learning remains an ongoing challenge, whether working with international or domestic students. For international students, their diverse expertise and experiences add significant value to the learning community. Yet, many of these students have experienced the banking model (Freire 1996) in their previous educational experience, where they were likely considered empty vessels to be filled with information by their instructors. Thus, when confronted with the liberal expectations of a Western education, where students are expected to engage with new people and evaluate and apply new knowledge, many feel underequipped to succeed, as they wrongly assume they have nothing to contribute. This fear of lack may further drive international students to remain in cultural enclaves within the classroom, to mask their concerns. In the grips of this fear, the benefits of an international education are not immediately granted by proximity in the classroom space.

A community cultural wealth model may help to overcome these challenges. This model, developed by Yosso (2005), foregrounds other than academic assets that students possess, including linguistic, familial, navigational, cultural, resistant, and community “capitals”.

This model disrupts the banking model of education as students are affirmed as arriving replete with assets and releases students from their fears by affirming a diverse array of expertise and in whom this expertise may reside. As social theory arises from daily life (hooks, 1994), in response to the circumstances of one’s existence and its connection to history, politics, and power, the community cultural wealth model enables students to connect their life experiences with their learning. Not only does this model transform student-to-student learning, but it also transforms instructor-to-student learning, upending the classroom hierarchy around who in the room holds relevant and useful information (Schoen 1991), and reducing reliance on the instructor as the arbitral of knowledge.

Asset Recognition and Intercultural Exchange

In both the USA and the UK, I have taught Master level courses in public health ethics. In these courses, I help the students to consider ethics applying theory and using evaluation tools to assess degrees of harm or benefit a given policy might cause. Regardless of country, Master’s cohorts consist of students from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, in varying proportions. Most of these students have trained as clinicians or hold degrees in the hard sciences.

One semester, Indian students were in the majority. I shared a case that helped students to consider the impacts of Indian government policy, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which provides financial incentives for poorer, rural Indian women to give birth in a hospital. The case, developed by D. K. Bhati (2016, section 4.12, case 4), highlights the clash between traditional birth practices and hospital birth incentivization and the various challenges it poses, amid the benefits. Underpinning information in the case included cultural nuances around marriage migration to the husband’s region, traditional practices of returning to the wife’s homestead to deliver, maternal consent, maternal control over financial resources, as well as logistical issues around lack of continuous emergency care for obstetrics and the exclusion of private health care provision from the program.

My intention was to explore the risks and benefits of incentivization through a case that would foreground the strengths of Indian cultural expertise. I gave each student a number from one to five to allocate them away from their comfort situations into ones in which each group formed a diverse assemblage of backgrounds. There, they were to discuss the case, by working through a set of questions. These included questions Bhati (2016) provided in the case:
- Who are the various stakeholders involved and what are their values and perspectives?
- What are the pros and cons of using cash incentives for a public health program?
- Given her status as poor, young, married, and pregnant, how could the young wife’s autonomy have been upheld?
- Should there be different notions of autonomy depending on context – individualist (Euro-American) sensibilities or interdependent (non-individualist, non-Euro-American) sensibilities?
To these, I added the following questions:
- Given her lack of status societally, how might the cash incentive remain in the mother’s care?
- The JSY policy recommends that fathers or mothers be sterilized to prevent future pregnancies; should this be incentivized with cash? Is this a just incentivization? Explain.
As anticipated, some Indian students were able to provide context for the case and speak from a place of knowing, about rural birthing practices, marriage migration, lack of health literacy, and power imbalances between husbands and wives and their respective families. Unexpected outcomes, which arose in the dialogues, were supplemental knowledge from across the cohort. These included familiarity with other governments’ policies on maternal health, similar situations involving poor rural women in other geographical locations, related experiences from those practicing obstetrics, and insights from the academic theory. Further unexpected outcomes arose through students’ recognition of their educational and social differences between those represented in the case, and themselves, revealing gaps that the ‘cultural experts’ could not fully broker. Interestingly, the recognition of this gap increased senses of connection across the cohort, as the students realized that amid their differences of language, culture, and nation, they shared class, wealth, and education-based assets.

I highlight this example as a watershed moment. Following these intercultural conversations, students’ confidence increased over their capacity to understand, to integrate different voices, and to use and critique evidence, exemplified in their individual coursework. Throughout the semester, students more readily reorganized themselves into small groups, without my explicit directing, suggesting that once nudged across boundaries, the benefits of learning to and from one another outweighed emotional resistance. Informally, students expressed their appreciation of learning together and further related that this approach would support them as public health practitioners, where they would need to connect to, communicate with, and learn from people different from themselves. The community cultural wealth approach further enabled me as instructor to overcome my internalized hierarchies of knowledge creation by allowing learning to unfold in accordance with the various skills in the room, and to arrive at unanticipated and novel outcomes.

By breaking down academic and cultural hierarchies in the international classroom, both the students and instructors can acknowledge and advance diverse understandings and harness the richness of an international cultural, professional, and educational encounter.

Julie Botticello holds a PhD in Anthropology and has taught in the UK and the USA for the past 20 years, predominately to diverse and international cohorts of students, on subjects relevant to the social sciences and to public health. Julie holds a teaching fellowship at the University of New Haven on inclusive pedagogy, teaches a group of incarcerated women at a Federal Prison, and serves as the program director for the undergraduate Health Sciences BS degree.

References

Bhati, D. K. 2016. Case 4: Decoding Public Health Ethics and Inequity in India: A Conditional Cash Incentive Scheme—Janani Suraksha Yojana, in H. Barrett, D. W. Ortmann L, Dawson A, et al., editors. Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe. PubMed. Cham (CH): Springer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK435775/#ch4.Sec21

Freire, P. 1996 [1970]. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Hammondsworth: Penguin.

Hooks, Bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge.

‌Schön, D. 1991 [1983]. The Reflective Practitioner, How Professionals Think in Action, Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.

Yosso, Tara J. 2005. “Whose Culture Has Capital? A Critical Race Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth.” Race Ethnicity and Education 8 (1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006.
Source link
July 25, 2025
Being the Nurse in the Family: Balancing Caregiving and Self-Care Amidst Grief and Stress – Faculty Focus

Editor’s Note: While this article comes from a nurse’s perspective, the heart of it—caring deeply for others while trying to care for yourself—will resonate with educators in every setting. The self-care reminders shared here are meaningful and relevant, no matter what or whom you teach.

As nurses, we train to provide care for others—whether it is in the hospital, clinic, or community. However, many of us also play the role of caregiver within our own families, particularly during times of tremendous grief and stress. Whether it is caring for a sick loved one, supporting a family member through a crisis, or managing the aftermath of a loss, the emotional and physical demands of being the nurse in the family can feel overwhelming. In these challenging times, it is crucial to maintain balance—not only for the sake of those we care for, but also for our own well-being.

This article will explore how nurses can manage the delicate balance of caring for family members while prioritizing their own health and emotional resilience in the face of grief and stress.

The Emotional Toll of Being the Family Nurse

Grief and stress affect individuals differently, but for the nurse who is also a family member, the role can carry extra weight. The skills that we so readily apply in a professional setting—compassion, empathy, attentiveness—become deeply personal when applied to family members.

Watching a loved one suffer or navigating the complexities of a loved one’s health challenges can trigger feelings of helplessness, sadness, and frustration (Bijnsdorp, Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Boot, van der Beek, & Pasman, 2022). At the same time, the desire to “fix” or “care for” can amplify these emotions, making it harder to separate our professional instincts from the personal bond we share with the individual.

The emotional toll of being the nurse in the family can exacerbate the sense of responsibility, particularly when there are multiple tasks to juggle, such as managing medication, coordinating care, and offering emotional support. In addition to the physical and logistical demands, the emotional labor of caregiving can lead to burnout, depression, or even anxiety (Mir, Bakht, and Shah, 2024).

Acknowledging the Need for Self-Care

As a nurse, you are educated in taking care of others, but it is easy to forget that caring for yourself is equally important. The notion of self-care often takes a backseat when caregiving becomes all-consuming (Trees Bolt, 2025). However, neglecting your own needs amid grief and stress can be detrimental to both your own health and your ability to care for your loved one effectively.

To maintain your physical, emotional, and mental well-being, it is essential to establish self-care practices, even during the most demanding times. Here are some strategies for managing stress and grief while continuing to be there for your family:

Set Boundaries

It can be difficult to set boundaries when you are deeply engaged in the care of a loved one. However, it is essential to recognize that you cannot be available to others 100% of the time. Setting boundaries means giving yourself permission to take breaks, asking for help, and recognizing when you need rest. For example, you may need to limit the number of visitors or care tasks during certain hours to allow for self-care time. Clear communication with family members about your needs can help prevent feelings of guilt or resentment from building up.

Delegate Tasks When Possible

As a nurse, your training and education equips you to care for others, but it is crucial to remember that tending to your own well-being is vital; caregiving does not have to be a solo endeavor. Delegate tasks, when possible, whether it is managing household chores, running errands, or organizing transportation for appointments (Alanazi, Shaban, Ramadan, Zaky, Mohammed, Amer, & Shaban, 2023). Family members, friends, or professional services can offer support—whether it is a neighbor preparing meals, a sibling helping with daily routines, or a caregiver service stepping in for several hours. Remember, delegating is not a sign of weakness; it is a way to preserve your own energy and ensure that you can give quality care without burning out.

Seek Emotional Support

Grief and stress can feel isolating, and it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you must carry the burden alone. Seek support from others who understand your emotional and physical needs (Fallek, Tattelman, Browne, Kaplan, & Selwyn, 2019; Rahmani, Hosseinzadeh, & Gholizadeh, 2023). This could include talking to a trusted friend, joining a support group, or speaking with a therapist who specializes in grief or caregiver stress. Sharing your feelings with others allows you to process emotions that may be difficult to express otherwise.

As a nurse, you understand the importance of emotional health, but it is easy to neglect your own emotional needs when you prioritize taking care of others. Regularly checking in with yourself can help you identify any signs of distress or burnout before they become overwhelming.

Practice Mindfulness and Stress-Relief Techniques

In times of grief and stress, practicing mindfulness or stress-relief techniques can be incredibly beneficial. Simple practices like deep breathing, meditation, or even a quick walk outside can help reduce anxiety and bring you back to the present moment (Kong, Tong, & Lui, 2024).

Yoga, journaling, or other forms of creative expression can also be valuable ways to process emotions in a safe and constructive manner.

Mindfulness helps counteract the tendency to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the situation. By staying grounded, you can better manage your responses to stress and provide more compassionate care to your loved one.

Maintain Healthy Routines

During times of grief and caregiving, it can be tempting to put personal routines on hold. However, maintaining healthy habits—such as regular sleep, eating nutritious meals, and staying physically active—can significantly improve your ability to cope with stress (Bodziony, 2022). Sleep and nutrition are critical to emotional resilience, and regular physical activity releases endorphins, which can improve mood and reduce feelings of anxiety or sadness.

While it may feel impossible to prioritize exercise or sleep when you are juggling caregiving responsibilities, even small steps—like taking short walks or prioritizing a 10-minute rest period—can help replenish your energy and improve your ability to care for others.

Acknowledge and Accept Your Emotions

Being the nurse in the family does not mean you have to suppress your emotions. It is important to recognize and accept your feelings of grief, sadness, frustration, and even anger. These emotions are a normal part of caregiving and loss. By acknowledging and processing your feelings, you can better manage them and avoid emotional exhaustion (Fallek, Tattelman, Browne, Kaplan, & Selwyn, 2019). Give yourself permission to feel what you are feeling without judgment.

If you experience moments of doubt or guilt about needing time for yourself, remind yourself that you are better equipped to care for others when your own needs are met. Taking care of yourself is not selfish; it is necessary for sustaining your ability to support your family in the long term.

Conclusion

Being the nurse in the family during times of grief and stress is a profound responsibility that requires resilience, compassion, and self-awareness. However, it is vital to remember that you can only offer the best care to others when you take the time to care for yourself. By setting boundaries, delegating tasks, seeking support, practicing mindfulness, and maintaining healthy routines, you can better navigate the challenges of caregiving while preserving your own well-being. Grief and stress are inevitable, but by taking initiative-taking steps to care for yourself, you can continue to be a source of strength for your family while ensuring that you remain emotionally and physically capable of facing the difficult road ahead.

Angie Timm earned her BSN (1991), from OSF St. Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in Peoria, IL. and MSN (2011) from University of Phoenix with an emphasis in Health Care Education. Angie Timm is an Assistant Professor at Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing, Peoria, Illinois.

Dr. Maureen Hermann earned her BSN (1995), MSN (2011), and DNP (2016), with an emphasis in leadership, from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in Peoria, IL. Dr. Maureen Hermann is an Associate Professor at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.

References

Alanazi, M.A., Shaban, M.M., Ramadan, O.M.E., Zaky, M.E., Mohammed, H.H., Amer, F.G.M., & Shaban, M. (2024). Navigating end of life decision making in nursing: A systematic review of ethical challenges and palliative care practices. BMC Nurs 23, 467. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02087-5

Bijnsdorp, D. M., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., Boot, C. R. L., van der Beek, Al, J., & Pasman, H. R. W. (2022). Caregivers burden at the end of life of their loved one: Insights from a longitudinal qualitative study among working family caregivers. BMC Palliative Care, 21(142). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-022-01031-1

Bodziony, MS. (2022). Creating a healthy grieving process. Society of Behavioral Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.sbm.org/healthy-living/staying-healthy-while-coping-with-grief

Fallek, R., Tatelman, E., Browne, T., Kaplan, R., & Selwyn, P. (2019). Helping healthcare providers and staff process grief through a hospital-based program. American Journal of Nursing, 119(7), 24-33.

Kong, Y., Tong, Z., & Liu, L. (2024). Nurses’ self-care levels and its related factors: A cross-sectional study. BMC Nurs 23, 835. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02510-x

Trees Bolt, E.E. (2025). Nurses need care, too – How curbing self-sacrifice can prevent burnout. American Society of Registered Nurses. Retrieved from https://www.asrn.org/journal-nursing/3241-nurses-need-care-too%e2%80%94how-curbing-self-sacrifice-can-prevent-burnouts.html

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July 23, 2025
General Education for Working Learners in the Age of AI – Faculty Focus

Reams have been written about the challenges with general education at US colleges and universities. Students often view general education requirements (gen eds) as “hurdles” to overcome on their way to the learning that matters to them. Campuses invest enormous time and energy revising their gen ed programs of study to create the kinds of interconnected learning experiences that produce broadly educated degree completers. When the vision of gen ed is realized for learners, they learn the habits of mind that result in the durable skills employers are looking for – critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and curiosity. Gen ed is great, so why is it discussed as a “hurdle.”

Sadly, students often trudge through gen ed courses, without realizing the intended benefits. Among college provosts (90% of whom are proponents of gen ed) only 32 percent believe that students at their colleges understand the purpose of general education requirements. There is an incredible disconnect between this well-intentioned structure and the lived experiences of most learners. What’s the root cause of the disconnect? Relevance. “Why am I doing this?” is a question that has reverberated from the minds of learners for decades. The sentiment is especially cacophonous in online education. At least in a face-to-face classroom, a student can meet a new friend or connect with a professor. The only silver lining most online gen ed learners can find is an opportunity to practice their grit and perseverance to overcome the hurdle and get to the relevant coursework.

A New Way Forward

What if there was a different way? Before AI, it would seem impossible to improve the relevance of general education coursework for every individual learner. But a new reality is upon us. Imagine the following scenario as the new future of general education for working adult learners.

Meet Tara. Tara has been working full-time at Dunkin’ Donuts for five years. She is now a manager and has acquired significant competencies related to managing her teams, hiring people, training new employees, and managing difficult customer situations. She has been gradually trying to finish her bachelor’s degree in business administration, taking online courses, and squeezing in her homework around caring for a family and managing employees.

Currently, she is in a general psychology course, and although she finds the concepts interesting, she is grinding her way through online discussion boards to finish her degree. Tara is curious, capable, and committed, but she is not looking forward to this course (or any of her general education courses).

A New Approach

Let’s imagine that Tara had been provided with a different option- an option that recognizes her role and uses AI to individualize her general education competencies. First, her employer offers to pay for a portion of her education as a benefit of her employment, a practice that actually saves the employer money. The employer also agrees to provide a mentor for Tara who will meet with her every 2 weeks to review her goals, monitor academic progress, address concerns, and help her see the connections between her learning and their business operations. The mentor has access to a shared platform that is also accessible and regularly updated by faculty and advisors at the educational institution.

Tara’s first assignment in general psychology reads as follows:

“Hi Tara! Welcome to psychology. In this course you are going to learn many valuable concepts, theories, and frameworks, and you are going to be asked to consider which theories most align with your own way of being in the world. The best part of this course is that you get to make connections between the concepts you are learning and family and/or work life. That means that as a working learner, your burden will feel lighter because things you are experiencing at work can be used as assignments for class. How does that work? Let’s dive in.

First, open your institutional instance of generative AI. Grab the syllabus for this course and drop it into the chat bot. Select the “Learning Designer” persona and paste in the following prompt for the bot.

Please design a semester-long work-based learning experience to teach me the psychology concepts and learning outcomes that are described in the attached syllabus. [INSERT YOUR JOB HERE Ex: I work a customer service job in the fast-food industry, and I manage a team of employees]. Using the concepts and learning outcomes described in the attached syllabus document, generate a list of 20 tasks that I could accomplish in my job that would show my understanding of the psychology learning outcomes described in the syllabus.

Tara provides the prompt to AI and receives the following list of tasks:

1. Identifying Customer Needs: Use psychological concepts to identify and understand customer needs and preferences.

2. Effective Communication: Apply principles of effective communication to resolve customer inquiries and complaints.

3. Empathy in Practice: Demonstrate empathy by actively listening and responding to customer concerns, showing understanding of their emotions.

4. Problem Solving: Use critical thinking skills to analyze customer issues and develop appropriate solutions.

5. Feedback Analysis: Evaluate customer feedback to identify patterns in behavior and make informed decisions for service improvement.

6. Behavioral Observation: Observe and interpret body language and verbal cues to better understand customer satisfaction and needs.

7. Conflict Resolution: Implement conflict resolution techniques to manage and resolve disputes amicably.

8. Cultural Sensitivity: Show awareness of cultural differences when interacting with diverse customers, adapting communication styles as needed.

9. Stress Management: Apply stress management strategies to maintain composure and effectiveness during high-pressure interactions…. Etc.

The assignment instructions continue, and Tara creates a work plan for herself for the semester, choosing a number of the AI generated tasks and planning to submit one as an assignment every 1-2 weeks as directed in her coursework. Tara reads that she will be asked to make connections between the theories she is learning about in her coursework and the tasks she is able to complete and submit from her workplace. Not all the tasks are possible for her with her role, but from a list of 20, she is easily able to choose 8.

Now, this seemingly unrelated general education course feels relevant to Tara’s work life. She is not being asked to manufacture responses to hypothetical scenarios on weekly discussion boards. She is being asked to use the knowledge and skills she has developed at work to scaffold new information related to the field of psychology. Generative AI provides an opportunity for any learner to do the same task with results that are individualized to them.

If you’re interested in how the prompt differs for another student, Tim uses the same prompt but adjusts it for his job as a certified nursing assistant in a nursing home. The tasks generated for Tim are as follows:

Based on the psychology syllabus you provided, here are 20 tasks that you could accomplish in your role as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) to demonstrate your understanding of psychology concepts and learning outcomes:

1. Identifying Behavioral Patterns: Observe and document common behavioral patterns among residents to identify psychological principles at work.

2. Reflective Journaling: Maintain a reflective journal where you connect daily experiences at the nursing home with psychological concepts such as mental processes or social behavior.

3. Empirical Analysis: Analyze case studies or specific situations from work to draw logical conclusions about behavior and mental processes.

4. Research Evaluation: Evaluate existing psychological research or data related to elder care practices and suggest ways to improve care based on findings.

5. Ethics in Practice: Discuss or present how ethical principles guide your behavior and decision-making process in patient care.

6. Collaboration Exercise: Work effectively with other CNAs or healthcare professionals to develop a care plan for a resident, using psychological insights.

7. Communication Skills: Demonstrate effective communication and listening skills in resident interactions, informed by psychological theories of communication.

8. Cultural Sensitivity: Recognize and respect the cultural backgrounds of residents, integrating psychological concepts of diversity. Etc.

Notice that for Tara and Tim, completing any of these tasks without any other coursework, reading, video lectures, tutorials, or information would be a challenge. It would also be a challenge to ask AI to complete the assignments given that Tara and Tim will also be asked to discuss these tasks with their workplace-based mentor who will verify completion in the platform they share with the university. The grades in the course honor the on-the-job learning with at least a third of the points dedicated to the tasks Tara and Tim can accomplish at their place of employment. These assignments are not “additional” but are a core part of the curriculum.

There are guiding questions and ideas for Tara and Tim to discuss with the mentors provided by their employer. At these mentor meetings, Tara and Tim are asked to share the work-based tasks they completed with their mentors and solicit feedback from the work-based mentor.

For example, Tim describes how he applied empathy and support to a resident, showcasing his understanding of psychological needs and processes, and making a connection to a video lecture he was assigned in his coursework. Tim’s mentor uses the shared online learning platform to validate that Tim is demonstrating empathy and support in the workplace and can reflect on that competency as a skill he is aware of developing.

Tara describes how she uses psychological motivation techniques with her team of employees. She is making connections between theory and practice and asking thoughtful questions about her observations of the employees she manages.

Employers are just as invested in developing and retaining great employees as educational institutions. When leaders in these spaces work together, the results are incredibly impactful for working learners.

The Faculty Experience

Faculty are recognizing that there is little need for them to deliver content aside from providing clarifications, feedback, examples, and guidance to students to connect them with resources that meet their needs. Tim and Tara could easily be in the same section of general psychology, taught by the same instructor and submitting similar assignments but with different contexts. The faculty instructor spends most of their time meeting one on one or in small groups with students rather than delivering content for synchronous class meetings.

In this scenario, it will be essential to clearly identify exactly what competencies learners are expected to master through the general psychology course. Clear articulation of the competencies will predict the types of outputs learners receive.

Additionally, the instructor may want to include an approval step to ensure that the AI generated tasks selected by the learner are appropriate for their learning and for the people with whom they interact. Clear guidance around what they are ethically permitted to do (i.e., don’t provide counseling, legal or medical advice if you’re not licensed to do so) may be necessary.

With the reduction in time spent delivering in-person instruction, instructors can provide great value to learners with brief, targeted, 15-minute 1 on 1 meetings to review their work, respond to questions, and provide feedback. Faculty will also quickly realize where course materials (videos, exercises, prompts) need to be bolstered when they encounter common issues among students.

Generative AI is changing education as we speak. Embracing the power of AI to individualize general education curriculum could have a significant impact on retention and completion while also solving the public perception that general education is irrelevant. Imagine a reality where graduates are reporting that the most helpful courses in their degrees were the general education courses where they learned to practice the kinds of durable skills prized by today’s employers.

Dr. Erin Crisp, EdD, serves as the AVP for Learner Success and Workforce Pathways in the University of Tennessee System. Crisp has enjoyed a variety of roles in K-12 and postsecondary education related to teaching, academic innovation, and instructional design. Her ideas have been published in Inside Higher Ed, EDUCAUSE Review, Tech Trends, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Atlantic. Her spouse, three adult sons, and two dogs are a continuous source of joy second only to living in Knoxville, Tennessee where opportunities for hiking abound and the Volunteer spirit is strong.

Source link

July 21, 2025
General Education for Working Learners in the Age of AI – Faculty Focus

Reams have been written about the challenges with general education at US colleges and universities. Students often view general education requirements (gen eds) as “hurdles” to overcome on their way to the learning that matters to them. Campuses invest enormous time and energy revising their gen ed programs of study to create the kinds of interconnected learning experiences that produce broadly educated degree completers. When the vision of gen ed is realized for learners, they learn the habits of mind that result in the durable skills employers are looking for – critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and curiosity. Gen ed is great, so why is it discussed as a “hurdle.”

Sadly, students often trudge through gen ed courses, without realizing the intended benefits. Among college provosts (90% of whom are proponents of gen ed) only 32 percent believe that students at their colleges understand the purpose of general education requirements. There is an incredible disconnect between this well-intentioned structure and the lived experiences of most learners. What’s the root cause of the disconnect? Relevance. “Why am I doing this?” is a question that has reverberated from the minds of learners for decades. The sentiment is especially cacophonous in online education. At least in a face-to-face classroom, a student can meet a new friend or connect with a professor. The only silver lining most online gen ed learners can find is an opportunity to practice their grit and perseverance to overcome the hurdle and get to the relevant coursework.

A New Way Forward

What if there was a different way? Before AI, it would seem impossible to improve the relevance of general education coursework for every individual learner. But a new reality is upon us. Imagine the following scenario as the new future of general education for working adult learners.

Meet Tara. Tara has been working full-time at Dunkin’ Donuts for five years. She is now a manager and has acquired significant competencies related to managing her teams, hiring people, training new employees, and managing difficult customer situations. She has been gradually trying to finish her bachelor’s degree in business administration, taking online courses, and squeezing in her homework around caring for a family and managing employees.

Currently, she is in a general psychology course, and although she finds the concepts interesting, she is grinding her way through online discussion boards to finish her degree. Tara is curious, capable, and committed, but she is not looking forward to this course (or any of her general education courses).

A New Approach

Let’s imagine that Tara had been provided with a different option- an option that recognizes her role and uses AI to individualize her general education competencies. First, her employer offers to pay for a portion of her education as a benefit of her employment, a practice that actually saves the employer money. The employer also agrees to provide a mentor for Tara who will meet with her every 2 weeks to review her goals, monitor academic progress, address concerns, and help her see the connections between her learning and their business operations. The mentor has access to a shared platform that is also accessible and regularly updated by faculty and advisors at the educational institution.

Tara’s first assignment in general psychology reads as follows:

“Hi Tara! Welcome to psychology. In this course you are going to learn many valuable concepts, theories, and frameworks, and you are going to be asked to consider which theories most align with your own way of being in the world. The best part of this course is that you get to make connections between the concepts you are learning and family and/or work life. That means that as a working learner, your burden will feel lighter because things you are experiencing at work can be used as assignments for class. How does that work? Let’s dive in.

First, open your institutional instance of generative AI. Grab the syllabus for this course and drop it into the chat bot. Select the “Learning Designer” persona and paste in the following prompt for the bot.

Please design a semester-long work-based learning experience to teach me the psychology concepts and learning outcomes that are described in the attached syllabus. [INSERT YOUR JOB HERE Ex: I work a customer service job in the fast-food industry, and I manage a team of employees]. Using the concepts and learning outcomes described in the attached syllabus document, generate a list of 20 tasks that I could accomplish in my job that would show my understanding of the psychology learning outcomes described in the syllabus.

Tara provides the prompt to AI and receives the following list of tasks:

1. Identifying Customer Needs: Use psychological concepts to identify and understand customer needs and preferences.

2. Effective Communication: Apply principles of effective communication to resolve customer inquiries and complaints.

3. Empathy in Practice: Demonstrate empathy by actively listening and responding to customer concerns, showing understanding of their emotions.

4. Problem Solving: Use critical thinking skills to analyze customer issues and develop appropriate solutions.

5. Feedback Analysis: Evaluate customer feedback to identify patterns in behavior and make informed decisions for service improvement.

6. Behavioral Observation: Observe and interpret body language and verbal cues to better understand customer satisfaction and needs.

7. Conflict Resolution: Implement conflict resolution techniques to manage and resolve disputes amicably.

8. Cultural Sensitivity: Show awareness of cultural differences when interacting with diverse customers, adapting communication styles as needed.

9. Stress Management: Apply stress management strategies to maintain composure and effectiveness during high-pressure interactions…. Etc.

The assignment instructions continue, and Tara creates a work plan for herself for the semester, choosing a number of the AI generated tasks and planning to submit one as an assignment every 1-2 weeks as directed in her coursework. Tara reads that she will be asked to make connections between the theories she is learning about in her coursework and the tasks she is able to complete and submit from her workplace. Not all the tasks are possible for her with her role, but from a list of 20, she is easily able to choose 8.

Now, this seemingly unrelated general education course feels relevant to Tara’s work life. She is not being asked to manufacture responses to hypothetical scenarios on weekly discussion boards. She is being asked to use the knowledge and skills she has developed at work to scaffold new information related to the field of psychology. Generative AI provides an opportunity for any learner to do the same task with results that are individualized to them.

If you’re interested in how the prompt differs for another student, Tim uses the same prompt but adjusts it for his job as a certified nursing assistant in a nursing home. The tasks generated for Tim are as follows:

Based on the psychology syllabus you provided, here are 20 tasks that you could accomplish in your role as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) to demonstrate your understanding of psychology concepts and learning outcomes:

1. Identifying Behavioral Patterns: Observe and document common behavioral patterns among residents to identify psychological principles at work.

2. Reflective Journaling: Maintain a reflective journal where you connect daily experiences at the nursing home with psychological concepts such as mental processes or social behavior.

3. Empirical Analysis: Analyze case studies or specific situations from work to draw logical conclusions about behavior and mental processes.

4. Research Evaluation: Evaluate existing psychological research or data related to elder care practices and suggest ways to improve care based on findings.

5. Ethics in Practice: Discuss or present how ethical principles guide your behavior and decision-making process in patient care.

6. Collaboration Exercise: Work effectively with other CNAs or healthcare professionals to develop a care plan for a resident, using psychological insights.

7. Communication Skills: Demonstrate effective communication and listening skills in resident interactions, informed by psychological theories of communication.

8. Cultural Sensitivity: Recognize and respect the cultural backgrounds of residents, integrating psychological concepts of diversity. Etc.

Notice that for Tara and Tim, completing any of these tasks without any other coursework, reading, video lectures, tutorials, or information would be a challenge. It would also be a challenge to ask AI to complete the assignments given that Tara and Tim will also be asked to discuss these tasks with their workplace-based mentor who will verify completion in the platform they share with the university. The grades in the course honor the on-the-job learning with at least a third of the points dedicated to the tasks Tara and Tim can accomplish at their place of employment. These assignments are not “additional” but are a core part of the curriculum.

There are guiding questions and ideas for Tara and Tim to discuss with the mentors provided by their employer. At these mentor meetings, Tara and Tim are asked to share the work-based tasks they completed with their mentors and solicit feedback from the work-based mentor.

For example, Tim describes how he applied empathy and support to a resident, showcasing his understanding of psychological needs and processes, and making a connection to a video lecture he was assigned in his coursework. Tim’s mentor uses the shared online learning platform to validate that Tim is demonstrating empathy and support in the workplace and can reflect on that competency as a skill he is aware of developing.

Tara describes how she uses psychological motivation techniques with her team of employees. She is making connections between theory and practice and asking thoughtful questions about her observations of the employees she manages.

Employers are just as invested in developing and retaining great employees as educational institutions. When leaders in these spaces work together, the results are incredibly impactful for working learners.

The Faculty Experience

Faculty are recognizing that there is little need for them to deliver content aside from providing clarifications, feedback, examples, and guidance to students to connect them with resources that meet their needs. Tim and Tara could easily be in the same section of general psychology, taught by the same instructor and submitting similar assignments but with different contexts. The faculty instructor spends most of their time meeting one on one or in small groups with students rather than delivering content for synchronous class meetings.

In this scenario, it will be essential to clearly identify exactly what competencies learners are expected to master through the general psychology course. Clear articulation of the competencies will predict the types of outputs learners receive.

Additionally, the instructor may want to include an approval step to ensure that the AI generated tasks selected by the learner are appropriate for their learning and for the people with whom they interact. Clear guidance around what they are ethically permitted to do (i.e., don’t provide counseling, legal or medical advice if you’re not licensed to do so) may be necessary.

With the reduction in time spent delivering in-person instruction, instructors can provide great value to learners with brief, targeted, 15-minute 1 on 1 meetings to review their work, respond to questions, and provide feedback. Faculty will also quickly realize where course materials (videos, exercises, prompts) need to be bolstered when they encounter common issues among students.

Generative AI is changing education as we speak. Embracing the power of AI to individualize general education curriculum could have a significant impact on retention and completion while also solving the public perception that general education is irrelevant. Imagine a reality where graduates are reporting that the most helpful courses in their degrees were the general education courses where they learned to practice the kinds of durable skills prized by today’s employers.

Dr. Erin Crisp, EdD, serves as the AVP for Learner Success and Workforce Pathways in the University of Tennessee System. Crisp has enjoyed a variety of roles in K-12 and postsecondary education related to teaching, academic innovation, and instructional design. Her ideas have been published in Inside Higher Ed, EDUCAUSE Review, Tech Trends, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Atlantic. Her spouse, three adult sons, and two dogs are a continuous source of joy second only to living in Knoxville, Tennessee where opportunities for hiking abound and the Volunteer spirit is strong.

Source link

July 21, 2025
Practical Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teaching in Today’s University – Faculty Focus

Working in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies has shown me firsthand that our students face a world full of messy, tangled problems. Climate shifts, health crises, social divides, and tech changes do not fit neatly into one subject area. They need tools from many fields to tackle these issues. This teaching helps students blend ideas, think deeply across fields, and work well with people from varied backgrounds. Drawing from my experience teaching across subjects at Zayed University in Dubai, UAE, I want to share real ways teachers can build and run cross-subject courses that truly help students handle today’s complex world.

True interdisciplinary teaching goes beyond just putting different topics side by side. At our college, we have learned that it means weaving ideas, theories, and methods from many fields to examine a shared theme or question. This takes careful planning, a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, and a focus on working together. The aim is not to water down each subject but to strengthen them by showing how different ways of thinking can shed more light on tricky issues. I will share clear steps for building cross-subject courses, sparking talks across fields, checking how well students are blending ideas, and getting past common hurdles I have faced in my own teaching.

Building Interdisciplinary Courses: Choosing Scope and Mixing Knowledge

Creating a solid interdisciplinary course starts with a clear scope and thoughtful mixing of knowledge. In our college, we aim for courses where students see connections and blend insights rather than just stacking content from different fields. Often, this means finding a central theme, problem, or question that ties everything together. For example, a course on city growth might pull from earth science, social studies, money matters, and city planning. Choose fields that each add something vital to understanding your main topic. O’Sullivan (2025) suggests a “U-shaped learning” model for teaching across fields, focusing on two main skills: blending knowledge and putting it to work. This model shows learning as a path from understanding single subjects to gaining a mixed view that works in the real world.

Once you have set your central theme and chosen your fields, think about how to structure the course for sound mixing. In our college, we have succeeded in organizing units around sub-themes where different lenses are applied or using project-based learning where students work on complex problems that need input from many fields. Yang et al. (2024) studied adding interdisciplinary learning in nursing classes using games. They found this significantly boosted nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, especially in talking with others, solving problems, and using what they learned. At our college, we map out how ideas from different fields will be introduced, how they relate, and how we will help students make these connections. This means readings from various fields, expert guest talks, or tasks that ask students to blend information from many sources.

Sparking Talks and Teamwork Across Fields

A sign of good interdisciplinary teaching is meaningful talk and teamwork among students from different backgrounds. In my classes, creating a space where students feel safe sharing ideas from their fields and respectfully engaging with different views is crucial. Teachers must be skilled guides, steering talks, handling conflicts, and helping students find common ground. Ways to boost cross-field talk include structured debates on complex issues, small group work with students from different fields, or case studies that need multiple viewpoints. The U-shaped learning model from O’Sullivan (2025) backs this kind of team learning since building people skills helps blend knowledge and put it to use.

Team projects have proven powerful for interdisciplinary learning. When students from different fields work on a shared problem, they must talk across subject lines, work through various approaches, and blend their varied skills and knowledge. Yang et al. (2024) found that mixing social service with cross-field learning in nursing exposed students to diverse challenges, which boosted their communication and problem-solving skills. In our interdisciplinary courses, we structure projects, so students take roles based on their field expertise while ensuring everyone helps blend the knowledge. Clear guidelines for group work, ways to handle conflicts, and checking individual work and group results are essential for successful interdisciplinary projects.

Checking How Well Students Blend Ideas

Checking student learning in an interdisciplinary course brings special challenges, as the goal is to test knowledge of single subjects and the ability to blend and use information from many fields. In our college, old testing methods, like exams on facts from one field, do not work well. Instead, we use assessments that show students’ ability to think critically, analyze deeply, and use mixed knowledge on complex problems. Examples include projects, research papers that blend sources from many fields, talks on solutions to real-world problems that use diverse views, or creating things (like policy briefs, design models, and media projects) that show mixed understanding. Yang et al. (2024) used number measures (tests before and after) and quality analysis of students’ thought journals to check course effectiveness and learning outcomes across fields.

Reflection also helps check interdisciplinary learning in our college. We ask students to think about their learning process, their challenges in mixing different views, and how their understanding has changed. This shows how they are developing cross-field skills. O’Sullivan (2025) notes that learning across fields involves building inner skills. Reflection tasks can help students develop these skills by pushing them to think deeply about their learning and the value of different field approaches. When creating assessments, our faculty ensure the scoring rubrics clearly state expectations and give students chances to show their skills meaningfully.

Wrapping Up

Crossing the space between fields through good interdisciplinary teaching is essential for preparing students to handle today’s complex world. By carefully designing courses that focus on mixing knowledge, sparking rich talk and teamwork, and using fitting assessment methods, teachers can create life-changing learning experiences. The insights from research on interdisciplinary learning models (O’Sullivan, 2025) and the proven benefits of mixed approaches in fields like nursing (Yang et al., 2024) offer valuable guidance. While interdisciplinary teaching brings unique challenges, the rewards of boosting students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills are tremendous. In our College of Interdisciplinary Studies, we have seen how these practical methods create a complete learning setting, giving power to the next wave of thinkers and leaders who will tackle our world’s most pressing challenges.

Dr. Zeina Hojeij is a Professor at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Zayed University, where she has served since 2013, specializing in educational leadership and administration. With a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, USA, and extensive experience in academic administration, she has held several key leadership positions, including Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Academic Director for the General Education Program. A certified UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) Reviewer and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Prof. Hojeij combines her expertise in curriculum development with a strong research portfolio, having secured over 2 million AED in research grants over the past 10 years. Her research focuses on educational technology, leadership development, and teaching innovation. She has taught and coordinated undergraduate and graduate courses in Education and interdisciplinary education while maintaining a ten-year commitment to teacher mentoring with the Al Jalila Foundation. She holds multiple professional certifications, including Blackboard Certified Associate, Accredited Facilitator, Certified Online Instructor, and CELTA & CELTYL certifications. Her dedication to educational innovation is further evidenced by her recent Harvard Business School Online Design Thinking and Innovation certification. Fluent in English, Arabic, and French, Prof. Hojeij brings a global perspective to her work in advancing educational excellence, regularly presenting at international conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

References

O’Sullivan, G. (2025). U-shaped learning: A new model for transdisciplinary education. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(182). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04478-8

Yang, B.-H., Lo, K.-W., Li, Y.-S., & Chao, K.-Y. (2024). Effects of integration interdisciplinary learning on student learning outcomes and healthcare-giving competence: A mixed methods study. BMC Nursing, 23(583). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02260-w

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July 18, 2025
Practical Strategies for Interdisciplinary Teaching in Today’s University – Faculty Focus

Working in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies has shown me firsthand that our students face a world full of messy, tangled problems. Climate shifts, health crises, social divides, and tech changes do not fit neatly into one subject area. They need tools from many fields to tackle these issues. This teaching helps students blend ideas, think deeply across fields, and work well with people from varied backgrounds. Drawing from my experience teaching across subjects at Zayed University in Dubai, UAE, I want to share real ways teachers can build and run cross-subject courses that truly help students handle today’s complex world.

True interdisciplinary teaching goes beyond just putting different topics side by side. At our college, we have learned that it means weaving ideas, theories, and methods from many fields to examine a shared theme or question. This takes careful planning, a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, and a focus on working together. The aim is not to water down each subject but to strengthen them by showing how different ways of thinking can shed more light on tricky issues. I will share clear steps for building cross-subject courses, sparking talks across fields, checking how well students are blending ideas, and getting past common hurdles I have faced in my own teaching.

Building Interdisciplinary Courses: Choosing Scope and Mixing Knowledge

Creating a solid interdisciplinary course starts with a clear scope and thoughtful mixing of knowledge. In our college, we aim for courses where students see connections and blend insights rather than just stacking content from different fields. Often, this means finding a central theme, problem, or question that ties everything together. For example, a course on city growth might pull from earth science, social studies, money matters, and city planning. Choose fields that each add something vital to understanding your main topic. O’Sullivan (2025) suggests a “U-shaped learning” model for teaching across fields, focusing on two main skills: blending knowledge and putting it to work. This model shows learning as a path from understanding single subjects to gaining a mixed view that works in the real world.

Once you have set your central theme and chosen your fields, think about how to structure the course for sound mixing. In our college, we have succeeded in organizing units around sub-themes where different lenses are applied or using project-based learning where students work on complex problems that need input from many fields. Yang et al. (2024) studied adding interdisciplinary learning in nursing classes using games. They found this significantly boosted nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, especially in talking with others, solving problems, and using what they learned. At our college, we map out how ideas from different fields will be introduced, how they relate, and how we will help students make these connections. This means readings from various fields, expert guest talks, or tasks that ask students to blend information from many sources.

Sparking Talks and Teamwork Across Fields

A sign of good interdisciplinary teaching is meaningful talk and teamwork among students from different backgrounds. In my classes, creating a space where students feel safe sharing ideas from their fields and respectfully engaging with different views is crucial. Teachers must be skilled guides, steering talks, handling conflicts, and helping students find common ground. Ways to boost cross-field talk include structured debates on complex issues, small group work with students from different fields, or case studies that need multiple viewpoints. The U-shaped learning model from O’Sullivan (2025) backs this kind of team learning since building people skills helps blend knowledge and put it to use.

Team projects have proven powerful for interdisciplinary learning. When students from different fields work on a shared problem, they must talk across subject lines, work through various approaches, and blend their varied skills and knowledge. Yang et al. (2024) found that mixing social service with cross-field learning in nursing exposed students to diverse challenges, which boosted their communication and problem-solving skills. In our interdisciplinary courses, we structure projects, so students take roles based on their field expertise while ensuring everyone helps blend the knowledge. Clear guidelines for group work, ways to handle conflicts, and checking individual work and group results are essential for successful interdisciplinary projects.

Checking How Well Students Blend Ideas

Checking student learning in an interdisciplinary course brings special challenges, as the goal is to test knowledge of single subjects and the ability to blend and use information from many fields. In our college, old testing methods, like exams on facts from one field, do not work well. Instead, we use assessments that show students’ ability to think critically, analyze deeply, and use mixed knowledge on complex problems. Examples include projects, research papers that blend sources from many fields, talks on solutions to real-world problems that use diverse views, or creating things (like policy briefs, design models, and media projects) that show mixed understanding. Yang et al. (2024) used number measures (tests before and after) and quality analysis of students’ thought journals to check course effectiveness and learning outcomes across fields.

Reflection also helps check interdisciplinary learning in our college. We ask students to think about their learning process, their challenges in mixing different views, and how their understanding has changed. This shows how they are developing cross-field skills. O’Sullivan (2025) notes that learning across fields involves building inner skills. Reflection tasks can help students develop these skills by pushing them to think deeply about their learning and the value of different field approaches. When creating assessments, our faculty ensure the scoring rubrics clearly state expectations and give students chances to show their skills meaningfully.

Wrapping Up

Crossing the space between fields through good interdisciplinary teaching is essential for preparing students to handle today’s complex world. By carefully designing courses that focus on mixing knowledge, sparking rich talk and teamwork, and using fitting assessment methods, teachers can create life-changing learning experiences. The insights from research on interdisciplinary learning models (O’Sullivan, 2025) and the proven benefits of mixed approaches in fields like nursing (Yang et al., 2024) offer valuable guidance. While interdisciplinary teaching brings unique challenges, the rewards of boosting students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills are tremendous. In our College of Interdisciplinary Studies, we have seen how these practical methods create a complete learning setting, giving power to the next wave of thinkers and leaders who will tackle our world’s most pressing challenges.

Dr. Zeina Hojeij is a Professor at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Zayed University, where she has served since 2013, specializing in educational leadership and administration. With a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, USA, and extensive experience in academic administration, she has held several key leadership positions, including Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Academic Director for the General Education Program. A certified UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) Reviewer and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Prof. Hojeij combines her expertise in curriculum development with a strong research portfolio, having secured over 2 million AED in research grants over the past 10 years. Her research focuses on educational technology, leadership development, and teaching innovation. She has taught and coordinated undergraduate and graduate courses in Education and interdisciplinary education while maintaining a ten-year commitment to teacher mentoring with the Al Jalila Foundation. She holds multiple professional certifications, including Blackboard Certified Associate, Accredited Facilitator, Certified Online Instructor, and CELTA & CELTYL certifications. Her dedication to educational innovation is further evidenced by her recent Harvard Business School Online Design Thinking and Innovation certification. Fluent in English, Arabic, and French, Prof. Hojeij brings a global perspective to her work in advancing educational excellence, regularly presenting at international conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

References

O’Sullivan, G. (2025). U-shaped learning: A new model for transdisciplinary education. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(182). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04478-8

Yang, B.-H., Lo, K.-W., Li, Y.-S., & Chao, K.-Y. (2024). Effects of integration interdisciplinary learning on student learning outcomes and healthcare-giving competence: A mixed methods study. BMC Nursing, 23(583). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02260-w

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July 18, 2025
The Art of Collaboration: Designing Assignments That Work – Faculty Focus
Inclusivity and feelings of psychological safety in the classroom should not be reserved solely for K-12 learning environments. Students in higher education also deserve nurturing spaces that focus on utilizing their personalized strengths and needs to foster increased academic and social development. A costly misconception is that pedagogical approaches in higher education must be lecture-based and teacher-led. Instead, it is an educator’s responsibility to design cooperative learning structures that facilitate comfort and collaboration regardless of grade level. These practical techniques will develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities by creating intentional opportunities to enhance social and communication skills. The fundamental question becomes: How can educators plan for and deliver instructional content that is relatable and meaningful?

According to a recent survey by Salesforce (2022), just 12% of college students felt a strong sense of belonging in their institutions. Feelings of disconnection from their peers and institutions persisted after students returned to campus from remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this dismal response to education, we must promote inclusive and respectful learning environments that foster engagement, motivation, and active discourse.

Purposeful Application to Teamwork

A practical and successful strategy is to design performance tasks using cooperative learning structures deliberately. Aside from promoting positive interdependence and individual accountability, students participate equally through simultaneous interactions. These actionable, collaborative strategies help educators navigate their role as facilitators, guiding and responding rather than lecturing and directing.

In an undergraduate education course, I establish a positive tone by holding morning meetings at the start of every class. The intention is to incorporate short, structured routines that foster community, address social-emotional needs, and transition students to the day’s lesson. Purposefully, I provide opportunities for students to connect and practice the social skills necessary to participate in rigorous critical thinking and problem-solving tasks. The goal is to elicit positive peer interactions and foster a sense of belonging and trust where students consider multiple perspectives and actively engage in an inclusive and receptive learning environment.

To enrich their classroom experience, I align cooperative learning structures with the lesson outcomes, ensuring that 21st-century, real-world content tasks are purposeful and authentic. Motivated by intentional opportunities for collaboration, students actively process information in favorable conditions that are both supportive and stimulating.

Unlike group work, cooperative learning activities are highly structured, with defined roles, steps, and time limits. With transparent directions, every student knows exactly what to do. Another key difference is that these structures promote built-in accountability and equal participation, requiring everyone to contribute through regular interaction and processing.

When considering a teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge, eliciting student feedback is paramount. Responding to end of course surveys, student reflections highlight the importance of the affective domain through several emerging pivotal themes. Students emphasized the significance of engaging, inclusive, and supportive learning environments. This aligns with findings from the literature, which posits that allowing students to apply course content in innovative and engaging ways fosters a deeper understanding and a heightened sense of ownership in learning (Singha & Singha, 2024). Given these findings, creating a classroom community through collaboration increases motivation and encourages students to develop their critical thinking skills and analyze problems more effectively.

Some students conveyed appreciation for interactive, relational, and consistently structured learning experiences. One student communicated, “I felt heard, valued, and important in this class… everyone truly has the opportunity to openly share without judgment.” These emotional and interpersonal experiences support long-term learning and boost goal-directed behaviors.

Another key theme was the acknowledgment of active, collaborative, and applied learning activities. One student articulated the need for relatable, real-world, authentic tasks, stating, “My favorite activity was creating videos to connect with the assignments in class.” This reflection highlights the notion that students in higher education value opportunities that enable them to transition from passive consumers of information to active participants in the learning process (Ribeiro-Silva et al., 2022). Moreover, recent research supports the implementation of faculty professional development programs focused on active learning instruction and engaging students in college classrooms (Park & Xu, 2024).

Implications for Faculty

To design assignments that work and adopt a reflective framework in your own instruction, consider implementing the following practices:
1. Set Clear Learning Objectives: Ensure students understand what they are expected to accomplish during collaboration. Cooperative learning is most effective when aligned with specific outcomes, especially those that require higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, and application). Identify what students should know, do, or be able to explain by the end of the activity.
1. Design Purposeful and Flexible Groups: Keep it interesting and diversify student groups. Avoid simple tasks that can be done individually—design work that fosters interdependence and leverages diverse perspectives. Create tasks that are complex enough to require collaboration (e.g., solving a case study, evaluating evidence, or designing a project).
1. Structure Group Roles and Expectations: Assign roles based on instructional content to ensure equal participation and engagement among group members. Structured roles promote engagement and accountability. Rotate roles to ensure individual accountability and contribution.
1. Monitor and Support Groups in Real Time: Circulate during group work, check for understanding, and intervene as needed to guide discussion or clarify misconceptions. Guide communication, active listening, respectful disagreement, and group decision-making. Active monitoring shows students their work matters and allows faculty to model and scaffold skills often.
1. Encourage Metacognition: Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their group work experiences and the processes involved. Reflection reinforces academic content and collaboration skills.
By implementing collaborative techniques, faculty can motivate students to apply content knowledge that will prepare their future success in relatable, real-world contexts and encourage the development and maintenance of the interpersonal skills necessary for lifelong learning. Furthermore, by refining our pedagogical practices, we can foster a more robust society with confident, culturally competent, and self-aware leaders of tomorrow.

Final Reflections

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona quoted the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” University settings often overlook effective pedagogical approaches that incorporate collaboration, limiting opportunities for meaningful learning experiences that enhance understanding, sustain motivation, and spark intellectual curiosity. By designing, facilitating, monitoring, and evaluating inclusive learning spaces, we can contribute to a sense of belonging and bring joy back into the classroom.

Dr. Ana Figueroa is an assistant professor of education at the University of Tampa and the Lead Instructor of the Education Foundations and Human Exceptionalities courses in the undergraduate program. Her research interests include differentiated instruction, progress monitoring, teacher mindset, and highly effective instructional strategies. She champions equitable instruction for all learners.

References

Kagan, Spencer, and Miguel Kagan. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, 2021.

Namahoe, K. (2022, April 15). Secretary Cardona’s 6 Pathways Forward in Education. ascd.org. December 29, 2024, https://ascd.org/blogs/secretary-cardonas-6-pathways-forward-in-education

Park, Elizabeth S., and Di Xu. “The Effect of Active Learning Professional Development Training on College Students’ Academic Outcomes.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 17, no. 1 (December 20, 2024): 43–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2022.2151954.

Ribeiro-Silva, Elsa, Catarina Amorim, José Luis Aparicio-Herguedas, and Paula Batista. “Trends of Active Learning in Higher Education and Students’ Well-Being: A Literature Review.” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (April 18, 2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.844236.

“Salesforce,” October 6, 2022. https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/higher-education-statistics-trends-2022/.

Singha, Ranjit, and Surjit Singha. “Educational Innovation Transforming Higher Education for Workforce Readiness.” Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development, January 29, 2024, 37–55. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0517-1.ch003.
Source link
July 16, 2025
The Art of Collaboration: Designing Assignments That Work – Faculty Focus
Inclusivity and feelings of psychological safety in the classroom should not be reserved solely for K-12 learning environments. Students in higher education also deserve nurturing spaces that focus on utilizing their personalized strengths and needs to foster increased academic and social development. A costly misconception is that pedagogical approaches in higher education must be lecture-based and teacher-led. Instead, it is an educator’s responsibility to design cooperative learning structures that facilitate comfort and collaboration regardless of grade level. These practical techniques will develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities by creating intentional opportunities to enhance social and communication skills. The fundamental question becomes: How can educators plan for and deliver instructional content that is relatable and meaningful?

According to a recent survey by Salesforce (2022), just 12% of college students felt a strong sense of belonging in their institutions. Feelings of disconnection from their peers and institutions persisted after students returned to campus from remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address this dismal response to education, we must promote inclusive and respectful learning environments that foster engagement, motivation, and active discourse.

Purposeful Application to Teamwork

A practical and successful strategy is to design performance tasks using cooperative learning structures deliberately. Aside from promoting positive interdependence and individual accountability, students participate equally through simultaneous interactions. These actionable, collaborative strategies help educators navigate their role as facilitators, guiding and responding rather than lecturing and directing.

In an undergraduate education course, I establish a positive tone by holding morning meetings at the start of every class. The intention is to incorporate short, structured routines that foster community, address social-emotional needs, and transition students to the day’s lesson. Purposefully, I provide opportunities for students to connect and practice the social skills necessary to participate in rigorous critical thinking and problem-solving tasks. The goal is to elicit positive peer interactions and foster a sense of belonging and trust where students consider multiple perspectives and actively engage in an inclusive and receptive learning environment.

To enrich their classroom experience, I align cooperative learning structures with the lesson outcomes, ensuring that 21st-century, real-world content tasks are purposeful and authentic. Motivated by intentional opportunities for collaboration, students actively process information in favorable conditions that are both supportive and stimulating.

Unlike group work, cooperative learning activities are highly structured, with defined roles, steps, and time limits. With transparent directions, every student knows exactly what to do. Another key difference is that these structures promote built-in accountability and equal participation, requiring everyone to contribute through regular interaction and processing.

When considering a teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge, eliciting student feedback is paramount. Responding to end of course surveys, student reflections highlight the importance of the affective domain through several emerging pivotal themes. Students emphasized the significance of engaging, inclusive, and supportive learning environments. This aligns with findings from the literature, which posits that allowing students to apply course content in innovative and engaging ways fosters a deeper understanding and a heightened sense of ownership in learning (Singha & Singha, 2024). Given these findings, creating a classroom community through collaboration increases motivation and encourages students to develop their critical thinking skills and analyze problems more effectively.

Some students conveyed appreciation for interactive, relational, and consistently structured learning experiences. One student communicated, “I felt heard, valued, and important in this class… everyone truly has the opportunity to openly share without judgment.” These emotional and interpersonal experiences support long-term learning and boost goal-directed behaviors.

Another key theme was the acknowledgment of active, collaborative, and applied learning activities. One student articulated the need for relatable, real-world, authentic tasks, stating, “My favorite activity was creating videos to connect with the assignments in class.” This reflection highlights the notion that students in higher education value opportunities that enable them to transition from passive consumers of information to active participants in the learning process (Ribeiro-Silva et al., 2022). Moreover, recent research supports the implementation of faculty professional development programs focused on active learning instruction and engaging students in college classrooms (Park & Xu, 2024).

Implications for Faculty

To design assignments that work and adopt a reflective framework in your own instruction, consider implementing the following practices:
1. Set Clear Learning Objectives: Ensure students understand what they are expected to accomplish during collaboration. Cooperative learning is most effective when aligned with specific outcomes, especially those that require higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, and application). Identify what students should know, do, or be able to explain by the end of the activity.
1. Design Purposeful and Flexible Groups: Keep it interesting and diversify student groups. Avoid simple tasks that can be done individually—design work that fosters interdependence and leverages diverse perspectives. Create tasks that are complex enough to require collaboration (e.g., solving a case study, evaluating evidence, or designing a project).
1. Structure Group Roles and Expectations: Assign roles based on instructional content to ensure equal participation and engagement among group members. Structured roles promote engagement and accountability. Rotate roles to ensure individual accountability and contribution.
1. Monitor and Support Groups in Real Time: Circulate during group work, check for understanding, and intervene as needed to guide discussion or clarify misconceptions. Guide communication, active listening, respectful disagreement, and group decision-making. Active monitoring shows students their work matters and allows faculty to model and scaffold skills often.
1. Encourage Metacognition: Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their group work experiences and the processes involved. Reflection reinforces academic content and collaboration skills.
By implementing collaborative techniques, faculty can motivate students to apply content knowledge that will prepare their future success in relatable, real-world contexts and encourage the development and maintenance of the interpersonal skills necessary for lifelong learning. Furthermore, by refining our pedagogical practices, we can foster a more robust society with confident, culturally competent, and self-aware leaders of tomorrow.

Final Reflections

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona quoted the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” University settings often overlook effective pedagogical approaches that incorporate collaboration, limiting opportunities for meaningful learning experiences that enhance understanding, sustain motivation, and spark intellectual curiosity. By designing, facilitating, monitoring, and evaluating inclusive learning spaces, we can contribute to a sense of belonging and bring joy back into the classroom.

Dr. Ana Figueroa is an assistant professor of education at the University of Tampa and the Lead Instructor of the Education Foundations and Human Exceptionalities courses in the undergraduate program. Her research interests include differentiated instruction, progress monitoring, teacher mindset, and highly effective instructional strategies. She champions equitable instruction for all learners.

References

Kagan, Spencer, and Miguel Kagan. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing, 2021.

Namahoe, K. (2022, April 15). Secretary Cardona’s 6 Pathways Forward in Education. ascd.org. December 29, 2024, https://ascd.org/blogs/secretary-cardonas-6-pathways-forward-in-education

Park, Elizabeth S., and Di Xu. “The Effect of Active Learning Professional Development Training on College Students’ Academic Outcomes.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 17, no. 1 (December 20, 2024): 43–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2022.2151954.

Ribeiro-Silva, Elsa, Catarina Amorim, José Luis Aparicio-Herguedas, and Paula Batista. “Trends of Active Learning in Higher Education and Students’ Well-Being: A Literature Review.” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (April 18, 2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.844236.

“Salesforce,” October 6, 2022. https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/higher-education-statistics-trends-2022/.

Singha, Ranjit, and Surjit Singha. “Educational Innovation Transforming Higher Education for Workforce Readiness.” Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development, January 29, 2024, 37–55. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0517-1.ch003.
Source link
July 16, 2025