Discussions

Your Name and Title: Dr. Shelbee NguyenVoges, Assistant 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 looks at the concerns of a traditional undergraduate student  entering into Higher education. Specifically, this session underscores a lack of awareness and understanding about global understanding and the interconnectedness between the student's daily life and the world around them.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): Millennial undergraduate students who first enter the higher education learning environment encounter a fairly powerful adjustment period. They uncover approaches to learning and education itself are quite different than their k-12 experiences and often require intentional instructional intervention to remedy gaps in expectations and readiness. According to survey data from the nonprofit organization, World Savvy (2013), only about half of students report having a basic understanding of the underlying issues impacting the world like climate change, migration and even technology.

Because the learner is a product of their ever-changing global and social environment, this becomes an exceedingly difficult task for instructors who are challenged to think of new and innovative ways to develop student centered approaches to building global competencies. The focus of inquiry takes a look at what about the global world concerns 21st century undergraduate learners who are just now entering into higher education as first-year students. Identifying what the challenges and obstacles are for first-year students when approaching the learning environment, puts educators closer to a student driven approach to preparation.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: