Program

June 25     (Thursday)

Time (all times are Central) Activity

ASYNCHRONOUS

 

Hall of Innovation (Recorded Poster Sessions)

Session information coming soon!


10:00 am

Welcome & Team Planning

10:30 am

Plenary Symposium #1

The Latest Advancements in Process Education

Facilitator: Dan Apple (Pacific Crest)

Over the past 2 years, several major breakthroughs have been discovered 1) noticing that Learning to Learn has expanded from learning performance to include many other performance areas; 2) this shift has resulted in consistent outcomes that include the development of a growth mindset, growth skills, and expanded growth capability; and 3) even with best efforts, self-growth capability was not being impacted including the 37 mentoring skills. Although some claim a self-growth mindset was developed, when challenged, it ends up that only a growth mindset was developed. This phenomenon will be explored from three perspectives: 1) how Process Education has moved in its defining essence and evolved principles; 2) the vast scholarship in Learning, Growth, Performance, Mentoring, Self-growth and Life Coaching; and 3) efforts to increase self-growth capability through 2 years of a professional learning community and the two self-growth institutes that had been held.

Evolving Framework of Process Education Wade Ellis (Educational Consultant)

Since the early 1990’s, the central role in teaching and learning of a challenging assessment culture with active learning was already clear and widely used by Process Educators. Next came the realization that learning was more than a process (i.e., the Learning Process Methodology) which was exemplified in Foundations of Learning. This expanded during the early 2000’s research into the idea that learning is performance with unlimited growth potential. Then in late 2000’s, with the increasing number, size, and impact of the implemented Learning to Learn Camps, a philosophical change occurred where learning skills shifted from a knowledge-producing focus to the development of learning skills as performance-based with unlimited growth potential usable across all life performance areas. The 2010’s started to produce a new understanding that growth could be realized more effectively by individuals if they became more skilled at facilitating their own growth. The book Learning to Learn: Becoming a Self-grower was this evolution of integrating learning with self-growth and the relationship between the two. The use of this curriculum with academically dismissed students and the many research projects around these experiences opened the door to even a greater transformation of Process Education itself and the implications for our society.

Vision/Mission of PE Scholars Community David Leasure (Prof. of First Term Experience, U of Maryland Global Campus)

Process Education is a living system for excellence in teaching, learning, and personal and group development. It is a system because it's not a set of isolated practices, rather, it is a system of integrated approaches within a framework of practice. It is living because its framework adapts and integrates research findings, and is in the care of the PE Scholars. As we face unprecedented challenges in education from shifting demographics, changing labor markets, shift to online as a necessity, and impacts from technology, it is an explicit PE Framework that will guide our innovations and make it easier for our community to participate. We will discuss the PE Framework (also a living system), how it best could define a step-wise process for research-driven innovation, what learning pathways it needs for the development of scholars, and to review the plans that we've made for supporting the growth of our PE Scholarship. Whether you are an aspiring or more seasoned researcher, come help us shape the framework and our approach

Vision/Mission of PE Scholars Community Ingrid Ulbrich (Educational Consultant)

The Academy’s Self-Growth Community is a home for strengthening each member’s learning, growth, and self-growth process throughout the year, through learning, coaching, and assessment around the Self-Growth Methodology, performance, self-assessment, and quality of life. As a place for joint support in, and learning about, self-growth, the SGC’s learning environment creates a foundation for the evolution of growth and self-growth. In this way, the SGC is a key component in the transformation of the Academy into a growth culture. That culture will be strengthened by people playing two key roles: performance mentor and life coach. The new discoveries continuously generated through SGC discussions are strengthening our knowledge and practice, and the development of further scholarship. The SGC in 2020-2021 will help all members continue their growth!

A Special Invitation… The Academy’s Self-Growth Community is a home for strengthening each member’s learning, growth, and self-growth process throughout the year, through learning, coaching, and assessment around the Self-Growth Methodology, performance, self-assessment, and quality of life.

The Self-Growth Community (SGC) is a place for joint support in, and learning about, self-growth. Self-growth development is easier in a community than alone! In the SGC, we all keep learning, keep thinking, keep practicing, and keep discovering, and we re-examine our practices to improve them and make them more meaningful for ourselves. After making a commitment to be a self-grower, life situations arise that challenge the steadfastness of self-growth. The SGC is another opportunity to work with the great people in the Academy, and to get to expand our professional connections to know and share our growth journeys with them.

The learning environment in the SGC creates a foundation for the evolution of growth and self-growth. In the Community, learning is the selected performance area to increase opportunities for growth and self-growth. Participation in the SGC deepens learning about growth and self-growth. Areas of exploration this year included the Self-Growth Methodology (see the new IJPE), performance and performance mentoring, life coaching, and quality of life. But the real focus is developing learning skills, growth skills, and mentoring skills. The 40 learning skills identified as Growth Skills are used to strengthen learning skills, and the 37 learning skills identified as Mentoring Skills strengthen growth skills, by mentoring others or oneself. Several activities explored the connections between these skills and how to strengthen their development. We seek to create a create a Quality Self-Growth Environment in the SGC, as an upgrade from the Quality Learning Environment. This is an area the mentors will be studying during the Self-Growth Institute taking place immediately before this conference. Through Community learning activities, participants are invited to reflect on their whole life, encompassing their Academy, work, and personal roles.

The SGC is a key component in the transformation of the Academy into a growth culture. The Academy’s key values are Community, Growth, Diversity, and Performance. The SGC is a safe, quality environment for learning, exploring, and being open and vulnerable. In the SGC, growth principles and practices are embedded in all activities. It invites all members to participate, and values the multiple perspectives brought by people at different stages of their growth and life journeys. And it challenges each person to step out of their comfort zone and seek growth in all areas. Participation in the SGC elevates mindfulness of growth and self-growth so that it stays at the forefront for all aspects of our lives. The assessment tools offered are designed to support growth, self-growth, and continuous performance development, and improve performance productivity (i.e., efficiency) to create the time for using the assessment system.

Self-growth, and a community of self-growers, need to employ two key roles: performance mentor and life coach. (See Ingrid’s reflection in the May 2020 Academy Newsletter for more on these roles.) Each member of the SGC has a life coach, a resource outside of the community meeting time, who can also play the role of performance mentor. We’ll be working more this year on helping those folks recognize when each role is most appropriate to play with their mentee/client, and how to elevate growth experiences into self-growth experiences for them.

The new discoveries continuously generated through SGC discussions are strengthening our knowledge and practice, and the development of further scholarship. The discovery process is a fun and energizing aspect of the SGC, and creates opportunities for anyone to adopt an area of interest and run with it. The research of discoveries generates new ideas and strategies that are applied within the Community, and to further develop future self-growth experiences such as the Self-Growth Institute and updated strategies for Learning to Learn. The list of ideas and questions is larger than can be answered by the current Community members, so there is ample opportunity for researchers to get involved in exploring areas that catch their interest.

The SGC in 2020-2021 will help all members continue their growth! We welcome all Academy members to participate in continuing to learn, to grow, and to develop self-growth!

12:00 am

Break

12:15 pm

Keynote #1

Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization

Speaker: Wendy Duncan (California Health Sciences University)

In a deliberately developmental organization (DDO), employees are encouraged to grow and improve their performance through the establishment of a growth-oriented culture (home), policies and procedures that bring growth to the forefront (groove), and work assignments that force individuals out of their comfort zones (edge). The policies and procedures described by many DDOs are uncomfortable for the average person, but the employees have a choice: endure the discomfort or leave the organization. This is not a choice for voluntary organizations such as the Academy of Process Educators. To become a DDO, the Academy must pay much closer attention to how home, groove, and edge are established. The home must feel safe and nurturing. The groove practices must be collaboratively designed and mutually adopted. And the edge – the work assignments – must be individual tasks aligned with clear and high standards of excellence and freely embraced by individuals, not teams. What might this look like in practice?

1:00 pm

Break

1:15 pm

Break-out Session 1

Research Papers Session

Facilitator: Al Rowe (Kirkwood Community College)


Conceptual Understanding Required to Implement a Learning to Learn Experience Cynthia Woodbridge (Georgia Gwinnett College)

Implementation of Learning to Learn experiences uses a set of impactful PE practices and principles and these practices/principles are required for effective implementation of Learning to Learn experiences. This paper delineates and clarifies some of the most important aspects of Process Education required for effective implementation. These include understanding of fundamental risk factors to be addressed and what characteristics the collegiate learner must develop. A concept map is presented as a visual representation to show the relationship between philosophy, practices, design, and implementation strategies that are effective in combatting the cultural barriers and risk factors required to successfully teach Learning to Learn and produce self-growers.

Initiating and Implementing a Learning to Learn Program Ingrid Ulbrich (Educational Consultant)

Agents of change who seek to create Learning to Learn programs at institutions of higher education face many barriers. However, some institutions have overcome many of their barriers and established successful and enduring Learning to Learn programs. This research collected and analyzed case studies of established, in-progress, and developing Learning to Learn programs to identify opportunities and barriers (both general and contextual) across diverse institutions. The case studies were synthesized into a road map for change advocates and change agents to use at their institutions to develop and implement future Learning to Learn programs or strengthen existing programs.

Modeling Growth Capability Betty Hurd (Madison College)

While Growth Mindset is the belief that individuals can improve, growth capability is an individual’s ability to increase and enrich one’s quality of life. Developmental psychologists study growth (gain) and decline (loss) in intellectual, physical, and socio-affective development. Growth development is the process of developing a person’s transferable learning skills (especially those identified as growth skills), to enhance quality of life by strengthening all life’s activities, especially performances. Growth capability is measured as a percentage change in a person’s quality of life. This paper highlights 15 contributing components to growth capability. Each component is analyzed, described, conditions for making it grow, significance defined, contribution clarified, how it supports the journey to their ideal self and how it helps a person maximize time in their ideal zone of development. This work is foundational to building a theoretical mathematical model of growth capability where these 14 components are variables in the system.

Symposium: Simulation in Higher Education

Facilitator(s): Stephanie Gonzalez (St. Louis College of Pharmacy)

Simulation has become an important pedagogical tool in higher education during the past twenty years. Through this methodology, student participants simulate their own environments via adoption of complex roles and/or are provided with a game structure within which to “play” through an aspect of reality relevant to their coursework. Simulation as pedagogy has long had a place in certain fields of higher education, though its practice has recently expanded to include the liberal arts and social sciences. Its appeal has partly been fueled by the unique ability to wed “soft skills” (e.g. public speaking, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and group work) to more traditional content and conceptual learning. As students become “characters” or “players,” they also take command of their learning in a flipped classroom format and are emotionally invested in their own educational outcomes. In this symposium, three faculty panelists from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy discuss their development and practice of classroom simulation games in a unique educational environment. We incorporate problems unique to the strategy, including but not limited to assessment, student discomfort, time-allocation, and attitudinal bias. Participants new to simulation and/or experienced simulation practitioners are welcome; we hope for a lively and engaging discussion.

Simulated History: “Selling the Liberal Arts in a STEM World” Stephanie Gonzales (St. Louis College of Pharmacy)

Students who enroll in health-based professions are often reluctant to acknowledge the importance of a liberal arts education as an integral component of their professional development. To remedy the problem of disengagement, apathy, and perceived “relevance,” I adopted Reacting to the Past, a simulation game format developed in 2002 by Mark C. Carnes at Barnard College. Reacting includes a series of games that use role play to cast students as participating players in critical historical moments of decision-making. Based upon three years of assessment data, this presentation covers some of the more positive results of this methodology amongst aspiring health professionals as well as some of its limitations as a tool for inspiring students to embrace the importance of history.

"Can you help me?”: Using simulation to bring patient-centered care to life Elizabeth Rattine-Flaherty (St. Louis College of Pharmacy)

Educating student pharmacists and other healthcare professionals about effective communication techniques is essential to establishing a patient-centered approach to care. However, research has shown that many healthcare practitioners struggle to communicate with their patients in ways that build trust, motivate and encourage patient involvement, and resolve patient questions and concerns. One challenge to teaching communication skills is translating didactic conceptual learning into more active, problem-based learning opportunities. By practicing the necessary skills associated with a patient-centered approach to care (e.g., active listening techniques, empathic inquiry, open-ended lines of questioning) with "simulated patient" actors, students have the opportunity to put their conceptual knowledge to the test and learn through doing, leading to more emotionally impactful outcomes.

Using Simulations to Teach the Social Determinants of Health Danielle Giffort (St. Louis College of Pharmacy)

Simulation is a popular tool in instructors’ active learning toolkits, placed alongside go-to activities like think-pair-share, jigsaws, and fishbowls. Education scholars praise simulation for encouraging participation, developing critical thought, synthesizing ideas, and applying abstract and complex concepts. Sociologists in particular have taken up such interactive activities to help students experience directly real-world phenomenon but in the safety of a simulation. In particular, sociologists have used simulated games to help students recognize how structural factors shape individual behaviors and experiences--perhaps one of the most difficult concepts for students to grasp. Sociopoloy, a modified version of Monopoly used to teach students about class inequality, is one such example. In this presentation, I will describe the use of the collaborative board game, Pandemic, as a new technique for teaching students about the social causes and consequences of illness. Pandemic mimics a real-world public health crisis. Players take on the role of professionals--like scientists, medics, and operations experts--to find cures for diseases while making sure that those same diseases don’t spread and ravage the entire world. The game is complex but also simple (it takes less than 60 minutes to play). The game, however, implicitly relies on using a medical model to stop the outbreak. But this weakness offers an opportunity for students to apply what they have learned about the social determinants of health to fill in the gaps and develop a more comprehensive solution for stopping the spread of disease and developing strategies for preventing further outbreaks.



June 26     (Friday)

Time (all times are Central) Activity

ASYNCHRONOUS

 

Research Program for the Academic Recovery Course

Facilitator(s): Wade Ellis (West Valley College, emeritus)

Session information coming soon!


10:00 am

Welcome & Team Planning

10:30 am

Plenary Symposium #2

Understanding the Relationship Among Learning to Learn, Growth and Self-Growth Development

Facilitator: Betty Hurd (Madison Area Technical College)

This plenary session will focus on the emerging role of the Self-Growth Methodology that has recently become a major focus in Process Education scholarship and research. We will hear from three participants in the Self-Growth community as they describe their interests and focus on Self-Growth as a key component in the quest for successful lifelong learning. Our colleagues will describe how the journey of every human toward self-actualization follows a pathway that can enable individuals to grow in exponential ways. In turn each of our panelists will also review current research and on-going examination of its impact on teaching and learning. Finally, the panel will share ideas about how these discoveries connect with and extend the work of Academy members as we seek to promote the Self-Growth philosophy among our members and students.

Expanding Learning to Learn into Developing Growth Capability and Self-Growth Capability Daniel Apple (Educational Consultant)

An important outcome of this session is to help participants: 1) understand what is Learning to Learn and how it relates to growth capability; 2) what role the facilitator plays in increasing growth capability; and 3) how growth experiences can be turned into self-growth experiences (targeting the 12 components of self-growth capability versus the 14 components of growth capability).

Implementing the Self-Growth Methodology Chaya Jain (Virginia State University)

Synthesizing almost three decades of Process Education (PE) research and discoveries involving on self-growth, this presentation includes a holistic synopsis of its multiple facets. It includes the outcomes of the Learning-to-Learn (L2L) Camps and college recovery courses and practitioners’ assessment of 40 growth learning skills from the 2019 Classification of Learning Skills. In addition to sharing the key concepts of self-growth methodology, this discussion focuses salient PE resources for a discerning participant to continue his/her quest that obligates a lifelong pursuit. In particular, the presentation distinguishes the holistic dimensions of self-growth methodology. It begins with identification of the ten components of motivation followed by three fundamental characteristics of a self-grower; the dynamic of self-growth explaining the six influences of performance, and six conceptual stages of self-growth methodology and corresponding learning and mentoring skills. Further, it highlights how the 40 abbreviated learning skills are not only complemented by PE’s 36 mentoring skills, but also necessitate sustained guidance such as life coaching. The aim of this presentation is two-fold: to help elevate anyone’s quest for self-growth irrespective of age, profession and gender; and share resources to help continue the pursuit.

Self-Growth and Quality of Life Framework Mohamed El-Sayed (Eastern Michigan University)

Applying the concepts of self-growth and achieving desired quality of life could be made relatively straightforward by identifying desired performances in one’s life and systematically targeting them for improvement. For continuous success in realizing these targeted performances and aspired quality of life, the set of needed characteristics and enablers for these performances must be identified. Subsequently, the proper process of planning, development, measurement, and refinement to achieve these characteristics and enablers could be pursued. Conversely, without the clear understanding and appropriate skills for identifying the correct characteristics and enablers, the planning, development, measurement, and improvement efforts may not be successful. The steps for identifying performance and quality characteristics, criteria, and targets will be presented along with a comprehensive framework. Several self-growth examples will then be discussed to demonstrate and facilitate the identification, specification, development, measurement, and improvement of targeted performances and quality of life.

12:00 am

Break

12:15 pm

Keynote #2

State of the Academy

Speaker: Joann Horton (President, Academy of Process Educators)

Since its inception in 2007, The Academy of Process Educators has had the vision of being a recognized leader driving transformational change in academia, guided by the principles of Process Education. This vision was actualized through a growing community of practice that engaged in PE practice, modeled best practices, and participated in research that expanded the application of Process Education Principles. The Academy is challenged to grow and change as it moves into the 21st Century. To meet the challenge of transformative change, the Board adopted the 2019-2020 goal of becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO). That began our journey of exploring how to make DDO principles work for a non-profit organization. Several steps were taken to move us forward, including the designation of an internal expert, readings, and workshops. However, the core of this year's work is developing a new strategic plan that reflects our planned actions in becoming a deliberately developmental organization. Our new strategic plan for 2020-2025 maps the transformative process to elevate the Academy to the next level as individuals and an organization. We built on our values and unique strengths to create a holistic, planned process that reflects the perspectives of our multiple stakeholders. Are you ready to be a part of an ongoing, challenging journey in Process Education?

1:00 pm

Break

1:15 pm

Break-out Session 2

Psychology of Growth and Self-Growth

Facilitator(s): Cy Leise (Bellevue University, emeritus)

Extensive facilitation using the CLS 2019 has led to the identification of 40 growth skills and 36 mentoring skills to support growth capability and self-growth capability. Further analysis led to the grouping of these skills around nine psychological perspectives that clarify how they can be used. This learning workshop will help each participant gain insight about these distinctive psychological perspectives and how they align with growth skills to increase quality of life and with self-growth (mentoring) skills to enhance self-growth capability, which is the ability to independently increase all areas of growth capability. For example, one of the nine psychological perspective is “self-discovery,” which includes growth skills such as Introspecting and mentoring skills such as Being Self-Honest—ways that self discoveries can be increased in unlimited ways. The workshop will conclude with sharing by participants of strategies for using these psychology perspectives with their students.

SHARED SESSION: Developing Tips for Performance Mentoring

Facilitator(s): Tris Utschig (Kennesaw State University) and Auston Van Slyke (GE Renewable Energy)

This workshop will advance understanding of how mentors can use the performance development methodology to systematically enhance performance of a mentee through reading, writing to think, and learning. The theory of performance illustrates that performance itself can be analyzed, understood, and developed with the performance development methodology (PDM). Within the process of performance development, performance descriptions and performance criteria are developed and systematically applied to enhance performance. In this workshop we will use the case study of developing performance for a wind energy technician in three integrated performances. Participant teams will develop specific, no-brainer strategies for how to coach the wind technician mentee through several different steps of the PDM to increase their performance in one of the three integrated performances. These no-brainer action plans will provide the basis for similar action plans that participants can use with students or other mentor-mentee situations in their own context.

Being Brave Enough to Chart Your Own Year-Long Growth Plan (If you are following me or anyone else too closely, you aren't a true self grower.)

Facilitator(s): David Kaplan (York College)

In this workshop attendees will engage in the following process to create a one-year self-growth plan. Each participant will identify a year-long project to engage through which they will grow. The workshop host will offer as a model a growth project in which he has been engaged this past academic year. First, each participant will identify 1 or 2 areas in which they want to grow, articulating why they want to improve along these avenues. Next, each participant will determine the impediments to their growing in these areas and what activities they will need to engage in to remove these impediments. The penultimate step will be for each participant to present to the group their one-year growth plan, why they chose it, its potential roadblocks, what steps they will take to address these roadblocks. Senior process education members will be present at the workshop at this stage to see whether mentors beyond the group are needed, and if yes, identify and assign them before the conference ends. The follow-up steps will be to report to workshop attendees on their progress at six months and one year.


June 27     (Saturday)

Time (all times are Central) Activity

ASYNCHRONOUS

 

Conference Assessment


9:00 am

Academy Business Meeting (Joann Horton, Academy President)

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Plenary Session #3

The 7 Powers of Storytelling

Speaker: Rick Stone (Speaker, Author, Artist)

In this interactive, experiential session Richard will introduce you to The 7 Powers of Story, showing you how to harness these powers in your personal and professional growth. Or, as Richard refers to it, to develop your SI, your Story Intelligence. The Powers are:

  1. The Power to Transport
  2. The Power to Communicate
  3. The Power to Enable Learning
  4. The Power to Create Meaning
  5. The Power to Transform
  6. The Power to Unite
  7. The Power to Envision Possibilities

Richard will share with participants practical tools for developing their SI based on his soon-to-be-released book. If you have doubts about your capacity to harness storytelling, you will leave with a new-found confidence in your SI. If you have been using story in various facets of your work through the years, you'll learn new tools and gain new insights into this fundamental tool for living and growing.

12:00 am

Break

12:15 pm

Report Outs/Awards/Team Reflections  (Matt Watts)

Post-Conference Sessions (July, August, Sept)

Date & Time Activity

TBD

Learner Storytelling: Stories of Academic and Life Turnarounds     Facilitator(s): Joyce Adams (Hinds Community College)

Session information coming soon!

TBD

Improving Learning with 7 Dimensions of Knowledge     Facilitator(s): David Leasure (Educational Consultant)

Session information coming soon!

TBD

Developing Inspired Learners, by Design     Facilitator(s): Will Ofstad (California Health Sciences University)

Session information coming soon!

TBD

How to Make Learning Objectives Useful: Write Performance Criteria!   &n  Facilitator(s): Tris Utschigem> (Kennesaw State University)

Session information coming soon!