Welcome to the seventh volume of the International Journal of Process Education. The Editorial Board continues our endeavor to create a community of practice encompassing scholars and educators dedicated to transforming higher education. The scholarship presented in this volume examines a wide range of issues faced within higher education. From exploring pedagogical practices in the classroom, student learning, self-growth and risk factors that may hinder both of these, describing a curriculum design process, to examining Process Education through a philosophical lens, this edition of the IJPE contains research from authors who have come together from different disciplines, organizational types and from all over the globe.

• From the Editorial Board

  In our first article, Between You and Me: A Comparison of Proximity Ethics and Process Education, Hintze, Romann-Aas, and Aas introduce us to the fundamental concepts of proximity ethics. The authors delineate the extent to which this ethical model could be used by a Process Educator while explaining how this model corroborates some of the core principles and practices of Process Education.

  Apple and Ellis explore five areas of a learner’s performance enumerating 13 interrelated and interdependent components within these areas in their article Learning How to Learn: Improving the Performance of Learning. The authors note how improving one of these components within the learning process will help to improve other components.

  Examining how leadership is internalized by students, faculty and Process Education practitioners is the focus of our third article, Internalizing Principles of Transformational Global Leadership in a Graduate Education Course. Kaya, Kaplan, Mutisya, and Beyerlein discuss the process that these stakeholders utilized and the key elements that led to graduate student knowledge construction and the emergence of a professional commitment to principles of global leadership. The authors provide key learning objects, a concept map for transformational leadership and a profile of a transformational global leader, which resulted from their examination of this course’s outcomes.

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• Between You and Me: A Comparison of Proximity Ethics and Process Education

  by Denna Hintze, Knut Are Romann-Aas, and Hanne Kristin Aas

  Abstract

  The ethics of proximity defines the locus of ethical choices and action as situated in the relationships we have with one another. While this model is most frequently applied to relationships of physical or emotional caring such as occur between a healthcare professional and a patient, the relationship between educator and student is also ideally one of caring. It is the authors’ contention that the fundamental concepts of proximity ethics as set forward by Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, and Knud Løgstrup provide an ethical model that is not only amenable to use by a Process Educator, but also serves to legitimize and corroborate some of the core principles and practices of Process Education.

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• Learning How to Learn: Improving the Performance of Learning

  by Daniel K. Apple and Wade Ellis, Jr.

  Abstract

  The act of learning is usually thought of as something done preparatory to a performance; a student learns and then can perform on the basis of what has been learned. This article frames the act of learning as a performance in its own right, allowing the Theory of Performance to be used as schema for naming and exploring the various dimensions of the learning performance that can be improved. This paper’s exploration is conducted with the future improvement of the learning performance very much in mind — learning how to learn.

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• Internalizing Principles of Transformational Global Leadership in a Graduate Education Course

  by Adem Kaya, Metin Kaplan, Philliph M. Mutisya, and Steve Beyerlein

  Abstract

  This paper explores the internalization of global leadership principles by three different stakeholders in an educational leadership course at North Carolina A&T State University. Stakeholders include a dozen students enrolled in the course, the course instructor who immigrated to the United States from Kenya as a college student, and a half-dozen faculty familiar with Process Education from across the country who joined the class in three online outreach sessions. Growth of leadership knowledge, skills, and perspectives in response to pre-class readings and various leadership-oriented learning objects can be traced through journal entries, synchronous and asynchronous online entries, and a culminating self-growth essay. Analysis of fourteen transformative aspects of education and a methodology for creating a quality learning environment coupled with regular implementation of self-assessment practices were found to be key elements in graduate student knowledge construction and emergence of professional commitment to principles of global leadership. Substantive improvements to two learning objects resulted from stakeholder feedback associated with the online sessions—a concept map for transformational leadership and a profile of a transformational global leader.

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• What is Self-Growth?

  by Chaya R. Jain, Daniel K. Apple, and Wade Ellis, Jr.

  Abstract

  The concept of self-growth for personal development and growth, whether achieved as formal or informal processes at an individual level or throughout an institution’s culture, forms the basic foundation of one’s way of being. Since each individual is different with divergent life goals, the concept of self-growth can be liberating yet challenging. This article discusses basic concepts, techniques, and behaviors to help achieve a strong desire and increase the capacity for self-growth by individualizing one’s concerted efforts and practices.

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• Knowledge, Abilities, Responsibilities: The Design of a Three-Dimensional CurriculumFramework for Modern Pharmacy Education

  by Wendy C. Duncan and Brenda L. Gleason

  Abstract

  Our post-modern world is extraordinarily complex: if our graduates are to be able to thrive in this world they must be empowered to evince professional competence, steward the practical and theoretical knowledge fundamental to their work, and choose the right actions in complex contexts. This manuscript describes an approach to designing a curriculum framework intended to facilitate the achievement of these aims based on three methodologies: 1) an analytic process that identifies the tasks and underlying knowledge, skills, and attitudes required in the performance of professional duties; 2) a clinical learning methodology that creates intentional connections between theoretical and practical knowledge, and; 3) a curricular assessment process that assesses the integration of cognitive, social, and affective abilities into professional work and learning activities, and drives the design of learning activities. The resultant “three-dimensional” (3D) curriculum integrates complex abilities with the development of professional competence on the road to expertise.

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• Learning-to-Learn Camps: Their History and Development

  by Daniel K. Apple, Wade Ellis, Jr., and Denna Hintze

  Abstract

  For most Process Educators, there is an “always already” quality to the concept of learning to learn; it is an idea we tend to take for granted as we realize its potential in our classrooms by incorporating things like learning skills into our teaching. We understand that learning itself consists of myriad skills that can be improved, leading to improved learning for our students. Pacific Crest’s work with learning to learn, especially as it led to the creation of the Learning-to-Learn Camps, is offered here from a historical perspective. This record also serves as a testament to one of the core concepts of Process Education: that every learner can learn to learn better, regardless of current level of achievement; one’s potential is not limited by current ability.

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• A Multi-year Evaluation of the Flipped Format in a General Chemistry Course

  by Colleen Taylor

  Abstract

  A flipped classroom model was implemented for three general chemistry courses between the years 2011 and 2013 and final grades were compared to those earned in the equivalent standard lecture course with the same instructor taught in the semesters of 2009, 2010 (two sections), and 2013. A comparison was also made using a control course, a traditional class with a different instructor with the same course materials as the flipped classroom, for the fall semester of 2012. Retention in the flipped classroom was 24% higher relative to the traditional format for the same instructor. Comparison of student grades in the flipped class with those in the control group having a different instructor provided compelling albeit less conclusive data. Survey data administered for the flipped and the control class of 2012 suggests that one of the major contributing factors to student success was the ability to affect the time students spend outside of the classroom.

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• Identifying At-Risk Factors That Affect College Student Success

  by Joann Horton

  Abstract

  All too often, both traditional and non-traditional students face a variety of barriers to learning that put them at risk of failure in achieving their goals. This article explores twenty key factors that impact student learning and success in college as identified in research and practice. Understanding these key risk factors provides a basis for educators to develop student learning skills to enable students to become proficient in addressing their risk factors and to achieve academic success. This paper is intended not only to assist educators in identifying critical risk factors that students face, but also to propose addressing them through a holistic learning process that serves as a solid foundation for lifelong learning and growth.

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