TEACHING FOR TRANSFORMATION: A CASE STUDY INVESTIGATION ON THE IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE PEDAGOGY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES OF INSTRUCTORS

Abstract

After exploring the Transformative Experience pedagogy, six university professors representing five different disciplines articulated how their conceptualization of student transformation shifted. The study explored their responses to the transformative pedagogy and its effect on individual assessment and implementation practices, based on their initial level of engagement in transformative teaching practices. Semi-structured interviews, and field observations, were combined with student content knowledge tests and transformative experience questionnaires to explore the implementation experiences and changes in teaching practice of faculty participants. The study suggests when professors implement Transformative Experience pedagogy, students engage deeply in the course content by connecting it to their everyday lives, thus propelling students forward on a continuum of transformation. Professors who modeled transformative vocabulary and who implemented the pedagogy through the use of student journals in small group and large group discussions reported notable changes in their students' learning experiences.