Your Name and Title: Dr. Shelbee NguyenVoges, Associate Professor of Education
School or Organization Name: Kennesaw State University
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Georgia, USA
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Higher education instructors, Professional development specialists, administrators, students in transition, academic developers
Short Session Description (one line): The focus of this session is concerned with how undergraduate students utilize knowledge about their community and the world around them as a foundation for learning both in the first-year experience, but also in classes beyond the first year and beyond college in general. Specifically, this session underscores how learning about the local and global interdependence of complex contemporary issues creates mindful and engaged global citizens.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like): Undergraduate first-year learners who enter the higher education learning environment encounter a fairly stark transition as they navigate the shifting threshold from pedagogy to andragogy. These students navigate both academic and social adjustment in a context that may be a sharp contrast to their k-12 experiences and may often need intentional instructional interventions to alleviate overwhelming stress, address logistical concerns, and create new networks of cultural and social capital. According to survey data from the American College Freshmen, only about a third of students report having a rudimentary understanding of the underlying issues impacting the world like climate change, social justice issues of race/class/gender, immigration, and the exponential evolution of information, knowledge, and technology.
The learner exists within an always-evolving global and social environment. The task of developing new and innovative strategies to build global citizens within student-centered approaches becomes quite difficult when each student makes sense of their owl local/global connection within individual frames. The focus of inquiry examines how first-year students learners, who are just now entering into higher education, make meaning about the global and local interdependence of contemporary issues in an effort to promote deep and transformative leaning.
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