Faculty engagement, successful student learning and social integration Dissertation

Faculty engagement, successful student learning and social integration - Dissertation Example According to Umbach and Wawrzynski (n.d., p. 21), teachers play the single most important role in the tendency of students to learn. New materials of teaching and learning have emerged as a result of the revolution in communication technologies. Consequently, the teaching and learning environment has been altogether renewed in a way that was not possible to achieve in the past. The fundamental challenge for the contemporary schools and colleges is to modify its environment so that new technologies can be accommodated and promoted at their best. Faculty engagement is one of the most critical elements in the modern pedagogy and learning that is influenced by technology. Different teachers join this profession because of different motivational structures that vary according to the tasks they are assigned (Blackburn, 1995). â€Å"Few institutions other than colleges and universities permit their members the latitude so much a past of the professor’s life† (Cahn, 1986, p. 3) . This latitude has been accommodated by the tradition-bound academy nature while the gradual change that has occurred in nearly every aspect of the campus life makes this latitude a tolerable piece of the landscape of academia. In a global democracy, higher education must give serious thought to structuring student learning and development in such a way to promote cross-cultural understanding and civic-mindedness. In strong democracies, people have to be able to listen to each other, to understand the places and interests of others in the community, and to achieve compromises and solve problems when conflicts occur. (Hurd, 2006, p. 4). Problem statement: Institutions require an enabling environment in order to change for good. Enabling environments constitute several factors that include but are not limited to reliable networks, universal access for students, increased opportunities with respect to consulting and training as well as a faculty ethos that tolerates falters and values experimentation. Learning spaces can both constrain and encourage students’ attitudes. A whole range of learning attitudes is displayed by the teachers and students particularly when the learning environment is developed with a view to optimize the interaction between the two both outside and within the classroom or when the atmosphere presents education as a â€Å"serious work† to the students and teachers (Hunley and Schaller, 2009). Lack of such preconditions makes the entrepreneurial activity for the self-starters quite cumbersome. Even the existence of such preconditions does not do much to ease the process of transformation. The first-wave of entrepreneurs mark the initial phase of transformation. These adopters tend to find adequate expertise or resources in order to implement their personal strategies for the incorporation of technology as a means of learning. The second wave that indeed concerns us the most is the perception of faculty of the new environment of learning as an opportunity rather than a threat. These teachers are generally wary of the advanced technology but are strongly committed to a high quality of learning. This divides the faculty into two groups, each of which is highly committed to quality learning but differ in their tendency to embrace the new technologies as well as their technical capabilities. Administrators make a big mistake by basing their

Text Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Text - Essay Example Four Stages of Development There are four stages involved in the development of tourism. They four stages of development majorly rely on advocacy, cautionary, adaptancy and knowledge. The four stages focus around the basis of changes that has occurred and are still occurring in the filed of tourism and the education of tourism as a subject. The stages were closely related as elements of each stage were found in the other stages thus their core role was to build on the principles found within each other (Airey, 2008). The Industrial stage This stage took place between the 1960s and 1970s. The stage was known to be professional but the knowledge which was possessed regarding the field was limited. This was because they did not have sufficient evidences to support the different educational theories that scholars were coming with. The stage was aimed at addressing the various issues that were being experienced in the tourism field as scholars had discovered that it was highly needed in t he development of the economy and also reserve different animal and plant species that were in the verge of being extinct. The stage also empowered students with the knowledge needed towards the development of their career and also equipped individuals tasked with the mandate of taking of the different tourism sectors with skills and expertise needed to carry out their task efficiently. Moreover, the stage also concentrated in providing information that was needed in the development of the different tourism programmes that would be offered by the scholars at different levels for individuals who were interested in pursuing the field as a career (Airey, 2008). The fragmented stage The stage was between 1980s and 1990s and it widely focused in harmonizing the curriculum that had been created in the industrial stage with the industry and learner needs which were growing rapidly during the century. It was majorly influenced by the development of new knowledge in the industry therefore cr eating a need to incorporate new programmes and information into the curriculum. Before its introduction, there were conflicts between the liberals of the subject and those who favored wanted a liberal approach in the tourism sector. Therefore, the need to create a new curriculum that would address and harmonize the issues of all the major players in the industry arose and was addressed by the fragmented stage (Airey, 2008). The Benchmark Stage According to Airey 2008, this was a stage where all the issues highlighted by the fragmented stage were addressed after consultations with the different key players and scholars in the industry. The new curriculum was approved by the quality assurance agency for higher education. However, despite the credibility of the new statement being proven, there were still questions regarding tourism as a course by different critics in the industry. The stage addressed various issues affecting the industry and offered various solutions that could be us ed in addressing the issues. Key among them was the ethical issue in tourism which advocated for a sustainable tourism in all major corners of the globe. In addition, business and management was introduced and stressed upon in the field during the stage as the filed was widely being accepted and incorporated into the systems by nations around the world thus there arose a need to manage the industry effectively. The Mature Stage It was a