Higher Education Observer

This is my second writing assignment for the doctoral program I am starting in a couple of weeks. I would like to preface this essay with this observation:   there are positive learning experiences and positive “being taught” experiences.   I have been blessed with many wonderful teachers over my undergraduate years and two graduate programs.   Those were positive “being taught” experiences.   Sometimes, our learning experiences do not involve an actual teacher or facilitator.   My best learning experience falls into that category.             In the mid-1990s I began working in the technical college system.   When I began my career there, I had minimal knowledge of computer technology, and that only because I could type.   This was the time of transition to Windows products and also the beginning of the Internet really becoming a part of everyday life; it was also the beginning of online c...

I am beginning doctoral work at the University of Georgia in two weeks.  At 56, this is daunting, but the opportunity is too great to pass up and if I buckle down, I can be done in a little of three years and thus fulfill a lifetime dream.  So I am going to use this blog to post my writing for the program with the hope that it will help others. So far for our first class I have to read a book entitled Action Research and Reflective Practice, which cost my $140 USD and had to come from England (published by Routledge).  I also have two short personal essays due.  I am posting them here. I already know my dissertation area, in general.  We have a four-day retreat in a couple of weeks and then a summer class that is mostly online.  This works for me.  I hate driving to or through Atlanta, which is what killed me (almost literally) on my last foray into doctoral work at Georgia State. My Worst Learning Experience (first writing assignment) My f...

This is an article I wrote for the Proceedings of the Georgia Communication Association.  I don't think it's accessible elsewhere, and I believe it will help someone.  I have tried to synthesize the research on this subject. Abstract College instructors utilize a number of methods to engage students, gain affinity, and meet learning outcomes. One of these methods is self-disclosure. The research on self-disclosure in interpersonal settings is rich, and there are also a number of important, but sometimes inconclusive, studies about self-disclosure as a classroom strategy. Research has supported that positive and relevant self-disclosure adds to immediacy, student motivation, affective learning, and somewhat higher teacher evaluations. Research does not, however, support that self-disclosure is necessarily or consistently linked to learning gains. This paper reviews the literature and makes suggestions about best practices in using self-disclosure methods in the cla...