Supporting The Military Affiliated Learner

Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner: Communication Approaches to Military Pedagogy & Education challenges the academic community to 1) reevaluate how they support military-affiliated learners (MALs) and address how the military-civilian-academic divide causes disparities and barriers to MAL academic achievement and retention and 2) implement programs and develop strategies to facilitate equitable academic integration from application to graduation. With contributions from veterans, military spouses, and communication educators, the chapters explicate barriers that MALs face when trying to transition to, navigate, and succeed in higher education. This edited volume explores the impact of the diversity and nuances of MAL identities on their experiences in higher education; promotes military competence by providing opportunities for educators and support staff to learn about potential barriers and promote best practices for connecting with MALs and validating their lived experiences; examines how technology/computer-mediated communication may be used to facilitate community building and promote connectedness for MALs within face-to-face and digital spheres. This book is intended to be a resource guide for administrators, policymakers, and educators by providing tangible strategies, recommendations, and resources to promote the academic success of MALs navigating higher education.

An Instructor’s Guide to Teaching Military Students is a resource for online and on-ground educators in private and public learning institutions around the world. The content applies to faculty members in liberal arts and research-oriented institutions, and vocational trainers. Topics are related to the creation of lecture material and delivery of course content in computer and information science, engineering, and engineering technology, healthcare, business and finance, marketing communications and general education courses in the arts and social sciences. Suggestions on providing feedback that is sensitive to the unique culture and experiences of military students are provided as well. The last chapter includes the opinions of academic and military experts on what progress has been made in meeting the needs of this particular student population, as well as predictions about future changes that will facilitate the transition from service member to scholar. The term, “military learners” has been adapted for this text to include active-duty service members and their families, veterans, members of the U.S. National Guard, and reservists, as well as U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contractors. Language used that can be easily understood and applied by the novice instructor, or the seasoned professional. This handbook also provides useful suggestions on helping students translate their military training and experience into more active classroom participation.

The U.S. higher education system is changing demographically. With these complex changes also comes a greater diversity of people entering spaces that they could not previously access. This new dynamic is exciting; however, it also comes with challenges. New approaches must be developed to facilitate the acceptance of this greater diversity. Voicing Diverse Teaching Experiences, Approaches, and Perspectives in Higher Education extends the conversation on how to engage diverse and complex social identity groups in a system historically designed to be exclusive of their lived experiences. This book elevates the voices of people who have been absent in the academy and considers these experiences across various types of institutions, academic disciplines, and ranks. Covering topics such as critical race theory, diverse gender identities, and interpersonal needs, this book is an essential resource for higher education administrators, faculty and students of higher education, organizational leaders, academicians, pre-service teachers, and researchers.

With the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2008, more than 1.4 million service members and their families became eligible for higher education benefits, and veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan enrolled in colleges and universities in record numbers. The first wave of research about these new student veterans focused primarily on describing their characteristics and the transition from military service to civilian life and the college campus. This new edited collection presents findings from the second wave of research about student veterans, with a focus on data-driven evidence of academic success factors, including persistence, retention, degree completion, and employment after college. An invaluable resource for educators poised to enter the next phase of supporting military-connected college students.

Credit is intertwined with higher education around the world and this book introduces and analyses the long-term effects that this connection brings. Structured in three parts, the book is grounded in experience, practitioner research and detailed policy analysis. The greater availability of credit in higher education is closely tied to policies of widening access and this book addresses current issues including the consequences of Brexit, standards in higher education and the management of mobile student learning. The contributors to this book: -Explore the development and integration of credit within institutional policy -Outline the systems of student progression and achievement, including methods of assessment and measurement -Examine the official account of credit, widening access and curriculum in the UK -Analyse how credit can facilitate flexibility in curriculum design The book is relevant to anyone engaged in educational development, academic policy and learner support. The breadth of contributions from across the UK ensures the variation in policies is mapped and charts the implications for learners. “Rarely does a text come along which tackles challenging, technical aspects of higher education and presents them in an accessible and creative way. “ Maureen McLaughlin, Academic Registrar, Northumbria University, UK “This is a scholarly and timely analysis of the development of systems for recognising academic credit within the context of widening access to higher education.” Dr Marie Stowell, Director of Quality and Educational Development, University of Worcester, UK “This book is required reading for anyone interested in the future of higher education in a rapidly changing world.” Dr Andy W. Smith, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education "It is hard to find enough words of praise for this excellent collection of essays.” Herman de Leeuw, Executive Director and Founder, Groningen Declaration Network Wayne Turnbull was Head of Academic Policy and is now a historian at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. Harvey Woolf was Head of Academic Standards at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is a founder member of the Student Assessment and Classification Working Group.

Amidst the escalating demand for online education, the issue of inclusivity in digital learning environments has become increasingly prominent. The main challenge is to guarantee equitable access to effective educational experiences for learners with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and learning preferences. Traditional educational approaches prove inadequate in addressing the varied needs of students in the digital age, signaling an urgent need for a transformative shift. It's in this context thatUnlocking Learning Potential With Universal Design in Online Learning Environments emerges as a guide, poised to confront these challenges and pave the way for a more inclusive educational landscape. Unlocking Learning Potential With Universal Design in Online Learning Environments not only highlights challenges but provides its readers with a variety of solutions. Each chapter unveils real case studies, research findings, and best practices, from historical contexts and the evolution of UDL to addressing diverse learner needs in the digital age. The book also doesn't shy away from challenges, offering solutions for overcoming resistance and barriers. It concludes with a visionary outlook on the future of UDL in online education, compelling readers to reflect on their UDL journey and take a resounding call to action for inclusive online education. The book is the roadmap to a more equitable and engaging online education landscape.

This unique reference integrates knowledge culled from fifteen years of U.S. deployments to create an action plan for supporting military and veteran families during future conflicts. Its innovative ideas stretch beyond designated governmental agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, VA) to include participation from, and possible collaborations with, the business/corporate, academic, advocacy, and philanthropic sectors. Contributors identify ongoing and emerging issues affecting military and veteran families and recommend specific strategies toward expanding and enhancing current programs and policy. This proactive agenda also outlines new directions for mobilizing the research community, featuring strategies for addressing institutional challenges and improving access to critical data. Included in the coverage: Lessons learned inside the Pentagon. Merging reintegration streams for veterans and military families. The unique role of professional associations in assisting military families: a case study. Philanthropy for military and veteran families: challenges past, recommendations for tomorrow. Rules of engagement: media coverage of military families during war. Designing and implementing strategic research studies to support military families. A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families is of immediate usefulness to leaders, professionals, and future professionals in interdisciplinary academic, governmental, advocacy, and philanthropic areas of focus interested in the theoretical, practical, and real-life concerns and needs of military-affiliated families.

The Women of Explosive Ordnance Disposal: Cyborg, Techno-Bodies, Situated Knowledge, and Vibrant Materiality in Military Cultures addresses the disparities between policy discourse and the lived experiences of women in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal community who these policies seek to regulate through a rhetorical framework. During the Global War on Terrorism, the changing contexts of war brought the community to the forefront of combat preceding the 2016 policy repeal restricting women’s service in combat, which positioned these women at a poignant moment in history. Their positioning also sheds light on the challenges twenty-first century scholars face in analyzing shifting gender roles in the workplace with policies advocating for gender equality, which often buries continued gendered ideologies and discourse. This book takes a mixed methods approach of qualitative and quantitative data from surveys, available government documents, and other cultural artifacts to create a more triangulated analysis. While this book is rooted in rhetorical analysis, its dynamic nature demands using an interdisciplinary approach that pulls from discourse analysis, political, historical, and military scholarship, and other humanities-based feminist scholarship.