Editorial

Leading Change for a More Civil Society

Charles P. Seeley

Justice College

The Leadership Center (Honduras)

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.1

One perspective on leadership views the leader as someone who is willing to step out of his or her comfort zone to help, someone “who sees something that needs to change and takes the first steps to influence that situation” (M. Wheatley, 2008, pp. 2-3). Leadership is active, not passive, and is demonstrated by taking action to improve a situation. It involves influencing and engaging others in the process of change, in the process of making some aspect of society, community, or organizational life better. The intent behind this special issue was to provide faculty with a forum to discuss and share their efforts to effect change through the application of disciplinary knowledge to improve some aspect of society (Boyer, 2016), somewhere in the world. Our hope was to have faculty discuss how they applied their disciplinary knowledge to initiate change in a community, an organization, a governmental entity or program, or an educational institution or program in the broader community beyond the university campus. This special issue of the Journal of Scholarly Engagement (JSE) includes three examples of faculty doing just that, applying their domain knowledge to improve some aspect of society.

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Guided Notes in Undergraduate Instruction

Mirari Elcoro

Framingham State University

Krystal Ghirardi-Broughton

Framingham State University

Laura Hebert

Framingham State University

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.3

This critical reflection of practice is based on the examination of three different modes of implementation of guided notes in undergraduate courses. Guided notes used to respond to student needs, and assessments focused on student perspectives on the use of guided notes were aimed at learning more deeply about diversity of backgrounds and experiences of students. The use of guided notes was adapted across several courses following a reflective approach guided by outcomes from assessment and pertinent literature. This reflection starts with an introduction to guided notes, and then it is followed by results from assessments of the effects of guided notes on student perspectives on learning and satisfaction, as well as on quiz scores for one of the courses. Guided notes were implemented consistently, partially, and voluntarily, across different groups. Students tended to rate guided notes positively, and in some cases negatively. In addition, guided notes may have significantly increased quiz grades in one course. Based on a critical view of the results and a review of pertinent literature, advantages and disadvantages of using guided notes are outlined. Some lessons learned, best practices for implementation, and assessment of the use of guided notes in undergraduate instruction are described.

Keywords: guided notes, note-taking, studying, undergraduate students.

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Effectively Navigating Leadership Transitions in a Higher Education Context

Kevin Gushiken

Lancaster Bible College, Capital Seminary

Hal Pettegrew

Lancaster Bible College, Capital Seminary

Richard Rhoads

Lancaster Bible College, Capital Seminary

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.4

Leadership transition in higher education is inevitable and critically important. This article seeks to describe a successful leadership transition that has occurred in a doctoral program director position of a religious graduate school, written by the outgoing director, the incoming director, and the director of the department in which this transition took place. Considerations of a leadership transition as articulated in the literature are examined. The authors offer key principles and recommendations for higher education institutions approaching or undergoing a leadership change with the aim to encourage a smooth and stable transition.

Keywords: leadership transition, succession plan, higher education, faculty, leadership, religious institutions, Christian colleges

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Community Engagement through Medical Missions 

Charles P. Seeley

Justice College

The Leadership Center (Honduras)

Yudy Canelas

Carolina Honduras Health Foundation (Honduras)

Peggy Hook

Carolina Honduras Health Foundation (Honduras)

Valerie Schubert

Foundation Casa de Luz (Honduras)

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.5

The idea for this article was planted in a conversation between the lead author and one of the co-authors in mid-2019, well before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic around the world. We began work on this article late in 2019; in hindsight, life then was much simpler given that COVID-19 has already changed the world in many ways. As a result, this article examines community engagement through medical missions in the world as it existed prior to the onslaught of COVID-19. The setting for this look into community engagement through medical missions in the country of Honduras.

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Making an Impact in Community Athletics: Teaching Sport Psychology to High School Coaches

Kristin Mauldin

California Baptist University

Ed Garrett

California Baptist University

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.6

The Coaches’ Clinic was created in order to 1) serve the community by teaching concepts and techniques in sport psychology to Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) high school coaches, and 2) to provide a training opportunity for students in the Master of Science Sport and Performance Psychology (MS SPP) program at California Baptist University. The Coaches’ Clinic was formed as a result of a collaboration with RUSD and served to support RUSD’s Three C’s Initiative (Community, Character, Conditioning).Three 3-hour workshops were conducted over three different seasons to cover all of the coaches’ offseasons. These workshops were evaluated by the attending coaches. The results of these evaluations are presented followed by a discussion of the benefits of these workshops as well as areas of improvement. Finally, reflection is given to the benefit to the MS SPP graduate students and faculty.

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Reflective Practice: Considering the Differences in Teacher Immediacy when a K-12 Teacher Transitions to Online Higher Education

Lisa A. Duryee

Grand Canyon University

doi: 10.9743/JSE.2020.3.2.7

Reflective practice allows for the exploration of ideas to gain new insight about something unexpected or unknown. As a former K-12 classroom teacher, I had the opportunity to transition to higher learning in an online platform, teaching adult learners. What was unexpected about this transition were the differences I noticed in immediacy between the two platforms and the types of student. Face-to-face interactions make for easy-to-build relationships, yet I did not anticipate the difficulty in achieving this type of connection in the online classroom. Using John Dewey’s educational insight as a reflective lens, I identified the following three potential reasons that could have contributed to the differences I encountered: the teacher, the learner, and the learning environment. An introspective look at each led to a conceptual exploration and a telling of my story to reflect on my experiences and how they shaped not only the problem posed, but also the ultimate outcome and discoveries along the way.

Keywords: John Dewey, k-12 education, classroom teacher, faculty, online education, teacher, learner, learning environment, online learning environment, k-12 classroom, teaching strategies, online higher education, classroom management, asynchronous learning, feedback, instructor feedback, online instructor

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