The purpose of this qualitative descriptive design study was to understand how graduate-level students enrolled in online classes at a small Christian university in the Midwest described their social presence experience as operationalized in the various components of Whiteside's social presence model (affective association, community cohesion,…

The first years of teaching are extremely challenging as novices simultaneously teach and learn to teach. Research suggests relationships play a meaningful role in helping novices access support and feel supported as they navigate "problems of practice," enduring issues that teachers must manage to effectively teach and facilitate their…

The purpose of this study was to understand the development of teacher preparation at small denominational colleges. Hope College, a college in the Midwest, was used as an illustrative case study to examine this question. A qualitative organizational analysis using case study methodology was used for this research and followed an interpretive…

Interviews were conducted with 15 faculty members across three Christian U.S. university campuses in seeking to identify the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of faculty who had been identified by institutional leaders in the area of calling and vocation as prioritizing the development of a sense of vocational calling in their students' lives.…

Purpose: This brief report demonstrates how collaborative podcast series project to teach cultural content in English language classroom is design and implemented. This paper aims not only to facilitate speaking practice but also to build students' cultural awareness, exercise creativity, promote critical thinking and foster learning…

This paper proposes an original synthesis of teleological aims and priorities of Christian colleges and universities. Based on historical trends and trajectories, I provide a typology of ages based on the purpose of college education and the subsequent views of human personhood: the age of faith, the age of reason, the age of industrialization,…

Every university has many ways to make changes, and institutional transformation is one of the strategic choices to achieve excellence. However, the transformation of higher education is still dynamically defined and open. The practice also has many models and differences. This article examines the scientific paradigm shift to rethink the practice…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how seminary and institute students describe their spiritual and learning experiences when studying scripture in a digital format in Alberta, Canada. Cognitive flexibility theory provided the theoretical framework and lens whereby the researcher explored the phenomenon and was used…

The 21st century is a new era full of hope and challenges, and 21st century skills are crucial to today's globalized world (Goradia, 2018; Bellanca & Brant, 2010; Worapun et al., 2022). More and more educational organizations have started to realize the importance of applying 21st century skills to contemporary education. In this changing…

The purpose of this basic descriptive study was to understand how Chinese seminarians described online education as a means of spiritual formation based on their learning experiences at seminaries in the United States and Canada. Employing a qualitative research design, this study utilized a constructivist philosophical orientation to construct…

The discrepancies in college enrollment based on a student's socioeconomic background challenges the upward mobility of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Jesuit colleges and universities, guided by Catholic Social Teaching and their own focus on social justice, are uniquely positioned to facilitate the social mobility of the…

With the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium in 2018, Roman Catholic ecclesiastical higher education institutions had a quality evaluation process imposed on them, developed by the Holy See's Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO). It is yet a case of 'lex…

Problem: Several studies have examined the prediction of calling in college students, but no known study has focused primarily on the development of vocational calling among the vulnerable population of first-generation college students who have a higher drop-out rate than their peers. Examining the composition of vocational calling in…

This article presents findings from an exemplary case that highlighted some opportunities and challenges one evangelical institution faced when trying to promote interfaith learning and development in its students, despite the absence of formal interfaith practices on campus. The case study, which included an evangelical institution with little to…

Studies show self-concept highly correlates with mental well-being. Few show self-concept change over time, including the effect of therapeutic interventions and gender differences. Studying how therapy connects with self-concept improvement can lead to improved mental well-being. Over six weeks, 452 college students' self-concept, self-esteem,…