Residential education: Creating sandboxes for Student

DevelopmentPieter Kloppers

University of Stellenbosch

Student learning

• Students learn everywhere wherever they are.

More than a degree.

Skills in:

• Leadership;

• Communication;

• Teambuilding;

• Cross-functional teambuilding;

• Diversity; and,

• An international mindedness.

More than a degree.

Skills in:• Leadership; • Communication; • Teambuilding; • Cross-functional teambuilding; • Diversity; and,• An international mindedness.Add embrace change & entrepreneurial

Student Housing contribute to:

Students with the necessary:

• knowledge;

• skills;

• experience; and,

• confidence

to help create and support healthy communities.

University’s Dilemma

• How do we facilitate the learning if it happens on so many places at the same time?

Utilizing:

• Influence of structure on behavior, • Peer influence in student development, • A campus with a healthy student-lecturer

interaction outside of the classroom; a peer influence supportive of academic excellence and the use of intrinsic motivation of students,

• Systems theory; and• Utilizing dialogue as tool for student

development.

Influence of structure

Good Samaritan experiment

• The structure always wins

Peer Influence

• Single biggest influence on student development

A campus successful in teaching

Pascarella and Terenzini (How College Affects Students, 1991)

• frequent student-lecturer interaction;

• makes use of the intrinsic motivation of students; and,

• has a peer influence where on campus friendships are conducive to academic success

System theory

• What causes what to give us this result?

1 e-mail changes the behaviour of 10 000

Dialogue as tool for student development

• Do not think of building democracy as the building of a house, think of it as a conversation to be had.

Alignment conversation vs Meetings

Creating Sandboxes

Sandboxes

• A structure where all factors to be utilized come together

• Organizational or physical

• Clear what to do• Little time wasted on

introduction and explanation

Clusters of residences

• Better delivery of service

• Peer influence utilised

• More intimate university experience

• Intrinsic motivation of students utlised

• Make use of diversity

Living and learning communities for senior students

• Diverse in gender, race, study program

• A topic – such as a millennium goal

• A guide from university staff

• 12 Lounge seminars

• Publish in student newspaper

• Report

Lounge seminar – student lecturer interaction

• A way to leverage the expectations and goals of first year students

• Student development and learning cannot be switched on or off.

• Students only have a university experience

• Creating the structures to be deliberate and intentional about learning in university housing is an ongoing challenge.