In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a synchronistic set of events and relationships generated a new kind of experiential learning in communities across Mississippi. Educators based at the University of Mississippi, community-based educators, social justice advocates, and funders collaborated to provide the resources and opportunities for…

Since the first Circle of Trust retreat was offered in 2005, the Center for Courage & Renewal (CCR) and other individual facilitators across the United States, Canada, and Australia have continued to offer many cross-professional retreats, as they have proven extremely popular. They are designed for people from any profession who want to deepen…

Working with adult learners presents a unique set of interpersonal boundary questions. In this chapter, the authors discuss the characteristics of working with adult learners that have led them to explore questions about boundaries between them and their students. They then identify how they might define, set, maintain, adjust, and work close to…

Faculty development units have been in existence in North American universities and colleges for more than forty years. The early faculty development units were typically led by a committee or a part-time director who focused on presenting teaching tips in short workshops. Over the years, the role of these centers gradually evolved as they became…

The concept of development is a value-loaded term. In whatever context it is used--child development or economic development, for example--the term "development" implies something more than simply change. It implies moving toward an approved goal, toward something that is valued. So to understand educational development there is a need to explore…

This article discusses how the author used an integrated course design model to create new learning activities in her course on federal taxation. The shoebox case--a simulation where students are given realistic documents to use in preparing a tax return--gave her students an opportunity to construct new knowledge. This activity supported the…

The authors are both teachers in the Economics Department at Fairfield University, where they share responsibility for the introductory and intermediate economics courses. Student's comment illustrates that they were apparently not reaching their students in ways that achieved their goals: developing students' abilities to understand economic…

In his book "Creating Significant Learning Experiences" (2003), Dee Fink challenges professors to create a deep vision for the courses they teach. Educators often have a vision for what their courses could be, but often lack a model for instituting change. Fink's book provides that model. In this article, the author describes how this model helped…

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to course redesign that enhanced student learning across all six categories in Dee Fink's taxonomy. A meta-analysis of the results provides evidence that integrated course design produces significant learning. In this article, the authors tell four connected stories: (1) how Fink's book,…

Just as the popular television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" targets the demolition and reconstruction of a home so that it better meets the needs of its owners, Fink's approach to integrated course design (ICD; 2003) provides higher education faculty with the tools to deconstruct and do a major remodel of their college courses. Teaching…

Can one appropriately teach with the spirit in a secular classroom? This chapter addresses the question by exploring how the concepts of serendipity and stewardship encourage a form of spirituality that is inclusive and appropriate for the university setting. Serendipity and stewardship work hand in hand. Stewardship resists the temptation of…

This autoethnographic chapter explores the thoughts, feelings, desires, and ethical struggles of the author when he rode along with a patrol officer and saw a dead body. Drawing on communication ethics, the author problematizes his ethics, faith, identity, and personal desires. He learns it is important for researchers to consider their personal…

Wholeness brings to mind the soul/spirit and, quite naturally, a discussion of what constitutes spirituality. In general, the definition of spirituality is associated with an attitude or way of life that may or may not be connected to Christian, Buddhist, Hindi, Jewish, or Muslim religions. Whether the approach to the topic is religious or…

Throughout a ten-year friendship and professional relationship emerging from a shared graduate school experience, the authors have consistently acknowledged their spiritual beliefs as the fiber of their existence and purpose. Even though there are many occurrences in their personal lives from which they could each "testify" about the grace of God,…

Spiritualism can exist in a secular educational institution. In this autoethnography, the author shares the spiritual challenge she had with students in her initial years of teaching as an assistant professor. She discusses her spiritual pedagogical approach, which she integrates into her teaching strategies to touch the minds, hearts, and spirits…