Abstract:

A modern method of pedagogy strives to push the limits of traditional methods of curriculum delivery beyond traditional classes, by offering courses through a variety of models including live web base classes. Much has been written about the ‘You Tube Generation” (Snelson 2011), (Duff 2008), (Burke 2009), (Fleck, Beckman Sterns, Hussey, 2014), however instructors often rely on traditional methods of instruction despite this tech savvy generation’s keen interest in accessing information with a high degree of immediacy. This United States University of international consequence located in the region of Tamps Bay Florida, utilizes flexible learning strategies to instruct over 17,000 students from 61 countries throughout the world. Research shows (Senger, 2015) that students in live web based classes report higher rates of engagement than students in traditional classes.

The power of teaching advanced clinical interventional skills in a blended learning format relies on the educator’s ability to support multiple modes of communication. Despite the various learning styles of students, self-directed and collaborative learning formats allow educators the opportunity to facilitate an engaging course experience. This paper focuses on pushing the limits of traditional pedagogical approaches in education by combining visionary graduate social work education initiatives with traditional learning goals and outcomes by providing examples of web based teaching strategies in advanced clinical group counseling skills to engage and to instruct graduate social work students.

In a world of You Tube, Podcasting, Twitter, Blogs and Wiki, educators need to “up their game” to engage millennials who experience traditional pedagogy as archaic. Lectures, power point presentations, printed course materials and paper graded examinations, are an archaic method of instruction in the current world of pedagogy. This presentation will evidence that infusing active learning strategies with the use of technology including student developed videos results in higher levels of student engagement.

In this presentation, research methodology focuses on a 2016 AND 2017 study of approximately 200 students in 12 sections of a Leadership course at Saint Leo University. Research focus is on an assessment of student learning outcomes, student engagement, and in this specific course, whether students who took the course evidenced higher levels of intent to start a business venture upon course completion. All statistics were tabulated based on pre-course and post-course analytics.

Keywords:

Non Traditional Curriculum Delivery, e-learning.