Research and Knowledge Dissemination Statement: David Arendale

My research explores academic access in postsecondary education and develops evidence-based strategies to increase the success of underrepresented student populations in college. I focus on filling the gap between scholarship that analyzes academic performance problems and proposed solutions to increase student outcomes. Access programs often operate at the confluence of academic affairs, student affairs, and enrollment management. This busy intersection of interests and needs has generated considerable turbulence for these programs. My multidisciplinary academic preparation and work experiences in academic affairs, student affairs, and enrollment management afford me unique tools for this investigation.

My highest priority is building conversations that span the practitioner, researcher, and theoretician segments within the education and public policy communities. Too often these segments operate in intellectual silos, separated from one another. One element of my work disseminates best practices to the practitioners and policy makers through publications, training materials, conference presentations, training workshops, and use of new media delivery systems such as blog pages, web pages, and podcasting. Another element engages in conversation with theoreticians and researchers of the real-world needs of the practitioners and the students. This translation work among these communities is essential for moving forward with a more successful approach for improving student achievement.

We do not need to "reinvent the wheel" regarding best education practices. Instead, we must effectively communicate what already exists to others. I welcome your thoughts and comments about my work and would enjoy the opportunity to collaborate. Take care, David Arendale (arendale@umn.edu; http://Arendale.org)

Intersection of my Personal Faith with my Professional Life

For too much of my life, my faith as a Christ-follower was a stealth identity compared to professional life as an educator. However, I found intersections of my faith with my roles as a <researcher and knowledge disseminator>, <public service provider>, and <teacher>. Being a professional can be a solitary life. Much responsibility is on the educator for their work performance. Life as an educator was more of a lifestyle than a predictable job. The following Bible verse reminded me that I was responsible for my work, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” Colossians 3:23). Following is a description of those three parts of my life.

I was clear in my college classes and with my colleagues about being a Christ-follower rather than a Christian. An unfortunate growing trend is the word “Christian” having negative baggage affixed to it in the eyes of students and young adults. Too many think “Christians” are negative, overly judgmental about others, and a killjoy about life. Many think Christians automatically reject gay, bisexual, or transgender people. Some of my best colleagues and friends are gay. For purposes of this brief statement, I will not try to unpack those ideas other than to say I am a “Christ-follower”, literally someone who seeks to emulate the life of Jesus. Rather than focusing on others, I concern myself with my relationship with God. My issues are enough for me to deal with. The church that I attend welcomes everyone to worship and learn. I participate in the community outreach activities of our church to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and provide ministries for those in need. The first step toward long-lasting change in society is for people to have a changed heart and to become a Christ-follower. With change on the inside, they are more likely to behave differently towards others and work to achieve social justice for everyone. Inner freedom is the first step to a free society.

Intersection with <Research and Dissemination>

I have always been curious about things. As a youth, I disassembled items and then tried to put them back together again. Sometimes, I had a few parts left over at the end of the process. Many faculty members with graduate degrees in history spend most of their research on narrowly focused topics in history. It is common for them to focus on sharing what they learn through traditional print journals and books. While I was fascinated by many topics in history (especially the ancient Roman Empire and World War Two), I had little interest in pursuing this traditional path for historians.

My background helped to define my research interests. I was the first in my family to attend college, making me a “first-generation college student”. While my parents warmly supported my desire to attend college, they could offer me little advice or provide a role model to emulate. My parents did cultivate me to be goal-oriented, determined, hard-working, and disciplined. I found my undergraduate college experience challenging. As a result, I developed friendships with fellow students who shared my desire to earn high grades by studying together. My preferred ways of learning matched up well with the traditional classroom learning environment in the 1970s composed of lectures (some professors read from a script), no interactive classroom activities, no discussion sessions, and assigned readings without study guides. If there was a college learning center, I was not aware of it.

My personal experience as a first-generation college student led me to learn more about the challenges that similar students faced in college. I wanted to know more about support systems that could help similar students. This passion was partially influenced by a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs 31:8-9, “Open your mouth for the mute and for the rights of all who are destitute.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” While I had successfully navigated the college experience, I learned how half of the students who enroll in college never finish it. While a college education is not necessary for success in life, it provides many advantages and opportunities.

Along with this desire to research first-gen, historically underrepresented, and other marginalized students, I also wanted to share what I had learned with others. In addition to publishing through journal articles and books, I chose many other venues. To attract more readers, I posted my publications to online document repositories like my university library, Academia.edu, Researchgate.net, ERIC, and my <personal website>. My website has an extensive collection of my publications, draft reports, and more. I also disseminate my scholarship through <social media channels> such as podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

However, all this dissemination can be an isolated activity for me. The personal connection between my students and me was essential for much of my work. But, I needed a personal connection and collaboration with fellow educators and the general public with whom I wanted to share what I had learned. This desire provides a bridge to the final section of my faith statement, my passion for public service.

Research Projects

I employ an engaged scholarship model that collaborates with community agencies and professional groups to solve student success issues. These groups serve both as my research partners and as venues for the research studies. Engaged scholarship requires a dynamic research focus that changes through interactions between testing of hypothesizes and the needs expressed by potential consumers of the scholarship. This requires not only my observation, but also serving as an agent within the community.

Five inter-related research projects drive my research, with each providing a different context for understanding and improving secondary and postsecondary student success. It is probably unusual to have so many research projects, but my life experiences and natural curiosity has led me down these five paths.

Research Project 1: Academic Access, Developmental Education, Equity Programs, and Learning Assistance

·          Goal: Identify effective practices and approaches for postsecondary academic access programs, developmental education, and learning assistance to increase access, academic success, and persistence towards graduation. This includes bridge programs that include TRIO among other equity programs. Identification, validation, and dissemination of best practices is a goal for students who are first-generation college students, historically-underrepresented, economically-disadvantaged, and who possess little to no social capital to support success in secondary and postsecondary education.

·          Hypothesis:  Best practices of postsecondary developmental education, learning enrichment, and learning assistance increase access, academic success, and persistence towards graduation.

·          The individual publications, media projects, and other related materials are available at https://z.umn.edu/project-1

Research Project 2: History Curriculum and Simulations

·          Goal: Create an engaging curriculum through use of history simulations to help students directly experience the roles and historical context of significant events. New perspectives are developed when students are placed into roles who make decisions and receive consequences for their actions.

·          Hypothesis:  Instructors can implement activities and approaches within their classes to increase student academic success and engagement.

·          The individual publications, media projects, and other related materials are available at https://z.umn.edu/project-2

Research Project 3: Learning Technologies

·          Goal: Identify learning technologies that can engage students, provide alternative ways of demonstrating attainment of learning objectives, and increase student achievement and motivation.

·          Hypothesis:  Some emerging learning technologies effectively increase achievement, engagement, and motivation for learning.

·          The individual publications, media projects, and other related materials are available at https://z.umn.edu/project-3

Research Project 4: Postsecondary Peer Cooperative Learning Programs

·          Goal: The project focuses on the academic, personal, and professional development of students involved with postsecondary peer academic support groups. I focus both on the student participants as well as the student paraprofessionals that facilitate these groups regarding outcomes.

·          Hypothesis:  Students benefit academically, personally, and professionally due to their involvement in these academic support programs. The participating students and the students that serve as small group facilitators.

·          The individual publications, media projects, and other related materials are available at https://z.umn.edu/project-4

Research Project 5: Universal Design for Learning to Improve Access and Success of Students in First-Year Courses

·          Goal: Develop research-based practices that classroom instructors can implement to widen access for students in their first-year courses employing principles from Universal Design for Learning. Instructors can implement no-cost and low-cost activities and approaches within their courses. It is essential for instructors to embed these practices within their courses since other campus resources are limited to support student academic success and persistence towards graduation.

·          Hypothesis:  Instructors can implement activities and approaches within their classes to increase student academic success and persistence towards graduation.

·          The individual publications, media projects, and other related materials are available at https://z.umn.edu/project-5

Dissemination of My Scholarship

I use a variety of venues to share my scholarship with others: journal or book publishers, self-publishing, conference keynotes and presentations, workshops and webinars, online document depositories, websites, social media (YouTube, podcasting, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), and experimenting with audiobooks and eBooks.

Most of my publications have been published through journals or book publishers related to my five research projects. While it is difficult to estimate the number of readers, Google Scholar has tracked publications that have cited one or more of my publications in their publication. As of May 1, 2022, this number has nearly reached 2,800. In recent years, approximately 100 publications cite my scholarship. Of these citations, nearly twenty percent are by authors or publishers outside the U.S.

My publications are posted to online document depositories. These include the University of Minnesota Digital Conservatory, Academia.edu, Researchgate.org, the Department of Education ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), and my personal website (arendale.org). My website has nearly 10,000 visitors annually with educators from more than 50 countries. According to Google, some of my scholarship posted online appear high in searches. For example, my definition for “best education practices” appeared #6 in a list of 11.9 billion web pages. My curriculum for history simulations appeared #24 in a list of 2.8 billion web pages.

I have been fortunate that the institutions for which I was worked have been generous with travel budgets for presenting at conferences. So far, I have been a keynote speaker, conference presenters, workshop leaders, and webinar facilitator over 400 times for conferences in Australia, Mexico, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. For example, I facilitated workshops to train educators to implement the Supplemental Instruction student retention program. These workshops included faculty and staff from 400 colleges in the U.S. and other countries.

Social media has also been a venue for disseminating scholarship. I use blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, podcasting, and Twitter to provide links to my publications, discuss the research findings, and build a community to engage in scholarly conversations. I currently host five podcasts. The oldest one started in 2005 as a joint project with students in my global history course. The combined number of downloads of the episodes for all my podcasts is approximately two million. I host seven podcast channels where I post YouTube videos and share content created by others. I use this approach to scholarship dissemination since I have learned that educators in particular and the general public learn though different modalities. Reliance upon only publishing scholarship in a journal can lock out many educators from ever reading it. Far too many journals do not make their contents available through online searches. The costs of journal subscriptions are ever increasing. I am experimenting with audiobooks and eBooks. I plan to disseminate my scholarship through those venues without cost. I have already taken the first step by using podcasts to share. It is a complicated process to share through social media, but an important one to make knowledge more widely available on a global basis. I read the reports through my website, Academia.edu and Google Citations for the global readership. I do not take pride in those reports. It is humbling to know the scope of readership. It encourages me to be careful with what I produce and to keep up the work. It has encouraged me to become more involved with joint writing ventures with colleagues of color. That involvement is described below.

Engaged Scholarship with Community Partners

I deeply embrace public engagement as part of my responsibility as a University faculty member to collaborate with the community in creating and disseminating new scholarship. The new model of public engagement empowers the community to shape our research agenda and thus in turn enabling scholarship to more quickly test and implement new evidence-based practices that are responsive to real-time needs. The community is more than just a learning laboratory in which I study, it is an active partner that helps to guide and inspire me.

My longest working relationship is with the Association of Minnesota Community and Technical College Counselors which is composed of members throughout the 40 institutions within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. A practical product for the association has been the creation of research-based training materials for improving student persistence on their campuses. Since arriving in 2002, I have worked with the Twin Cities TRiO Association which has afforded a venue to test and refine training materials for student study group leaders in the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program that is being pilot tested at the University and other institutions in Minnesota.

Long-Term Research and Dissemination

It is clear that solutions to important issues of access and student success will require a multidisciplinary approach with sustained effort. I have cultivated working relationships with national leaders to explore deeper ties of traditional academic access approaches with culture, cognition, and motivation. These connections are essential to continue and expand my investigations and collaborations with others. Following are three collaborations that involve teams of different races working together to solve vexing issues in education.

The Educational Opportunity Association created the Best Education Practices Clearinghouse in 2010. https://besteducationpractices.org I worked with a team to create the Clearinghouse and recruit an external panel of experts to evaluate submissions to it. It contains evidence-based practices that increase secondary and postsecondary access and college student graduation rates. The work of the Clearinghouse is (a) identification of potential practices, (b) validation that such practices actually contribute to higher student outcomes through research and evaluation studies, and (c) dissemination of the practices through Web-delivered information (documents, training materials, video, podcasts, and webinars) and national training workshops. On a monthly basis, nearly 1,000 educators visit the website from more than 50 countries. We also host webinars and the video recordings of them are available through the website.

In 2015, a writing group that I had been involved for nearly a quarter-century decided to formalize our writing projects. We had previously worked under the National Association for Developmental Education to create best practices for peer learning programs, developmental-level courses, tutoring programs, and the teaching/learning process. Our new name is the Alliance for Postsecondary Academic Support Programs. We will be publishing our work with the National College Learning Centers Association.

In the fall of 2020, I recruited a group of college educators who were people of color to create a research and writing group. I had come to the conclusion that I needed to create multi-racial writing groups for upcoming publications and research projects. Our focus is the intersection of race and social justice with learning assistance and developmental education. The group is named Colleagues of Color for Social Justice. www.socialjustice.work This national group swelled to more than 50 members. We are currently working on a dozen publications and media projects. So far, we have completed an antiracism glossary for education and life and a guide to policies and practices for antiracist peer study groups.

Summary

My research explores academic access in postsecondary education and develops evidence-based strategies to increase the success of underrepresented student populations in college. Using an engaged scholarship approach requires testing and implementation of the scholarly findings with community partners. This provides an essential grounding for the scholarship and positions it for more effective dissemination and influence. This research seeks to illuminate more fully this area which exists at the crossroads of major forces within postsecondary education.

Public Service and Community Engagement Statement: David Arendale

Engaged service to the community is an integral part of my research, personal faith, and an extension of who I am as a connected member of society. Many of my service activities are directed related to increasing access and success of students in postsecondary education, especially those that are historically underrepresented. Part of my passion for serving students who are the first student in their families to attend college is that I am a first-generation college attendee and graduate. My parents were warmly supportive of my attending college. They did not have the financial resources to pay my board and tuition. Also, they could not provide mentoring for the rigors of college as neither of them had graduated from high school. As with many young people during the Great Depression, the model was to attend high school until 16, get a job, and then get married. I could not have asked for a better pair of parents who cultivated a love of learning and reading. Just as with my classroom experiences, community engagement is a critical grounding element of my research. It also becomes a venue to disseminate my research findings.

I employ an engaged scholarship model that collaborates with community agencies and professional groups to solve issues related to student success. We work together to identify problems, test interventions, evaluate the results, and disseminate the best practices to the education community. These groups serve both as my research partners and locations for the research studies. The engaged scholarship requires a dynamic focus that changes through interactions between the testing of hypotheses and needs expressed by potential consumers of the scholarship. This requires not only my observation but also serving as an active agent within the community.

Intersection of my Personal Faith with my Professional Life

For too much of my life, my faith as a Christ-follower was a stealth identity compared to professional life as an educator. However, I found intersections of my faith with my roles as a <researcher and knowledge disseminator>, <public service provider>, and <teacher>. Being a professional can be a solitary life. Much responsibility is on the educator for their work performance. Life as an educator was more of a lifestyle than a predictable job. The following Bible verse reminded me that I was responsible for my work, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” Colossians 3:23). Following is a description of those three parts of my life.

I was clear in my college classes and with my colleagues about being a Christ-follower rather than a Christian. An unfortunate growing trend is the word “Christian” having negative baggage affixed to it in the eyes of students and young adults. Too many think “Christians” are negative, overly judgmental about others, and a killjoy about life. Many think Christians automatically reject gay, bisexual, or transgender people. Some of my best colleagues and friends are gay. For purposes of this brief statement, I will not try to unpack those ideas other than to say I am a “Christ-follower”, literally someone who seeks to emulate the life of Jesus. Rather than focusing on others, I concern myself with my relationship with God. My issues are enough for me to deal with. The church that I attend welcomes everyone to worship and learn. I participate in the community outreach activities of our church to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and provide ministries for those in need. The first step toward long-lasting change in society is for people to have a changed heart and to become a Christ-follower. With change on the inside, they are more likely to behave differently towards others and work to achieve social justice for everyone. Inner freedom is the first step to a free society.

Intersection with Public Service and Engagement

Some higher education educators live a relatively solitary life of teaching their classes, conducting research, publishing through journals and books, and attending the occasional professional conference to present a paper on their research and listen to their colleagues. That lifestyle was not satisfactory for me. I pursued a community-engaged scholarship. Public service and engagement were essential. I needed to connect with other educators and the general public to engage in dialogue and collaborate on research. Working as research partners with colleagues and people in the community was essential. The Bible provided explicit admonitions to engage with the community and seek social justice for them. Two examples from the Old Testament include the Book of Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless and plead the widow's cause” and the Book of Jeremiah 22:3, “Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed.” In the New Testament from the Book of James 2:26, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” Being a Christ-follower was accompanied by the expectation to engage in social action actively.

My role has been to take the lessons discovered by my research teams and by others in the community and then translate them so that others can act and improve the condition of others. I don’t invent best practices in education. But, I have a good knack for conducting research and learning from others and then effectively sharing that information with others through various venues.

For nearly a quarter-century, I have worked with like-minded educators who have identified best practices in teaching developmental-level courses, tutoring programs, and student-led peer study groups. I am responsible for heading up a team of fifty that produced a guide to best practices for study group programs, <website>. A significant expansion of that guide is antiracism policies and practices. This area has been overlooked previously. I have been a frequent conference presenter. This has also allowed me to converse with colleagues and learn from them.

Throughout my career, I have followed the work of TRIO and other equity organizations focused on historically-underrepresented and marginalized students in secondary and postsecondary education. For over a decade, I have led a team from the Educational Opportunity Association (EOA) to identify best practices for serving these students and created a <website> to disseminate those practices. EOA represented TRIO and GEAR UP federally-funded programs in the Midwest.

While I have focused on first-gen students for decades, I neglected to more deeply consider the plight of people of color and how their lives have been negatively impacted by racism, discrimination, and poverty. In the past couple of years, I have reexamined my life and the privileges that came quickly to me as a white male. I am on a growth curve to more deeply understand how issues of race and poverty intersect with student learning and the academic support systems that were designed to help them achieve higher grades and graduate at higher rates. To help me understand these issues, I joined a nationwide research and writing group named Colleagues of Color for Social Justice. I am a fellow learner and author. Our first two publications are Antiracism Policies and Practices for Student Study Groups and Antiracism Glossary for Education and Life. These are available through our <CCSJ website>.

Jesus spent much of his time with the oppressed and the marginalized people in society. I think that Predominately White Christian Churches have often ignored the day-to-day experiences of people of color in America. There is much to be ashamed of and much to take action with. I found new energy working with my colleagues of color to help solve the serious issues that make it difficult for students to achieve their dreams. I used to be afraid to engage in race and social justice matters. Especially with people of color. I have discovered that they have warmly embraced me in conversation to help me learn and take action with them as we jointly tackle the problems. I feel like for the first time, I am working out my Christ-follower faith within the context of this diverse and hurting world.

Services to Academic Communities

Service to Pratt Community College and Highland Community Colleges in Kansas

As a faculty member at Pratt Community College, I was co-chair of the enrollment management task force and the campus computer planning task force. At Highland Community College, I served on the North Central Accreditation Steering Committee and was chairperson of the learning resource center committee. I was co-director for the campus holistic student retention program. That program won a prestigious award from the Noel-Levitz organization for its outstanding retention program. I served the faculty as chairperson and chief negotiator on behalf of the Faculty Association during contract and salary bargaining talks.

Service to the University of Missouri-Kansas City

As a student affairs division staff member, I served as a member of the following committees and task forces: enrollment management, model campus living project, services to students with disabilities, orientation program, graduate teaching assistant training program, and staff development.

Service to Academic Departments at the University of Minnesota

I was actively involved with three academic units at UMN, the General College, the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning (PsTL), and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. My roles with PsTL included: being an elected member of the Executive Committee that advises the department head on policy matters, curriculum transformation, and strategic planning. Other committees included: revenue generation and new academic programming task force, graduate advisory council, web portal development team, and the executive council of the department. A major role was co-chair of the Graduate Certificate Development Team. With the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, my major responsibility was serving on the tenure review committee.

Service to Colleges at the University of Minnesota

Service to the General College included serving as a representative to the social concerns committee, admissions and advancement committee, and search committees for the assistant dean and the director of student affairs.

Within the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), I served in a variety of venues: search committees for the director of TRIO Student Support Services, CEHD awards committee, chairperson of the CEHD curriculum council, CEHD iPad implementation team, CEHD committee on technology, taskforce on CEHD on-line, and co-director of the Jandris Center.

Within the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), I have served as a trainer for professional staff, parents, and students in the Upward Bound TRiO program. I served as representative to the CEHD Committee on Instructional Technology which developed recommendations for policies and expenditures designed to increase effectiveness for office staff, faculty members, and an enriched learning environment for students. I have served a variety of roles for the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy including Faculty Advisor for Outreach Activities, Advisory Board Member, and columnist for the Center’s newsletter. I was appointed to the College’s Curriculum Council as a representative of my academic department for graduate curriculum issues and later served as the chairperson of the Council.

Service to the University of Minnesota

Due to my previous experience as National Director of the Center for Supplemental Instruction (SI) based at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, I co-led the team that developed the SMART Learning Commons. I adapted the SI program for use at UMN to serve students in biology, chemistry, and mathematics courses to increase their academic achievement and graduation rates. The campus name for this approach is Peer Assisted Learning (PAL). My roles with PAL included: (a) training all PAL student paraprofessional facilitators, (b) developing PAL training materials; (c) serving on the PAL management team, (d) create new courses for professional development of the PAL facilitators, and (e) conducting research studies of the PAL program. In addition to teaching the professional development course for several years, I continued to be a consultant to the PAL program administrator and met on a frequent basis.

Additional service roles for UMN included: chairperson of the Senate Committee on Information Technologies, mentor for the Teaching in an Active Learning Classroom Faculty Learning Community, faculty advisor for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars UMN Chapter, appointed representative to the UMN Public Engagement Network, member of the Steering Committee for Transition of Course Management System for the UMN System, and staff trainer for the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

Service to the Profession

I have long provided service to the profession of college access at the state, national, and international levels. I was recognized for this service through selection as a Founding Fellow of the profession in 2000 by the American Council of Developmental Education Associations (ACDEA). This followed nearly two decades of elected service at the state and national level, including election as president of the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE). Service projects include the following.

Global-Level

In 2020, I was recruited to serve as a board member on the Academic Council that guides the Mentor Academy. The academy is developing curriculum for an international training program for training student mentors. I have helped with field testing of the curriculum and served as an advisor.

National-Level

In 2010, I was selected by the Educational Opportunity Association to create a system to identify, validate, and disseminate best education practices for historically-underrepresented secondary and postsecondary students that are typically served by federally-funded GEAR UP and TRIO programs. https://besteducationpractices.org It was named the National Best Practices Clearinghouse. I led a team to recruit educators to submit education practices that would be evaluated by an external panel of experts regarding suitability to be made available through the website which I created and through webinars for the nationwide community of educators. I continue this work.

In 2015, a writing group that I had been involved for nearly a quarter-century decided to formalize our writing projects. We had previously worked under the National Association for Developmental Education to create best practices for peer learning programs, developmental-level courses, tutoring programs, and the teaching/learning process. Our new name is the Alliance for Postsecondary Academic Support Programs. We will be publishing our work with the National College Learning Centers Association.

In the fall of 2020, I recruited a group of college educators who were people of color to create a research and writing group. I had come to the conclusion that I needed to create multi-racial writing groups for upcoming publications and research projects. Our focus is the intersection of race and social justice with learning assistance and developmental education. This national group swelled to more than 50 members. It is named Colleagues of Color for Social Justice. www.socialjustice.work We are currently working on a dozen publications and media projects. So far, we have completed an antiracism glossary for education and life and a guide to policies and practices for antiracist peer study groups.

The National Center for Developmental Education recruited me to serve as an advisory board member for programs and services. Several times I served as a faculty member for the Center’s Kellogg Institute for the Certification of Adult and Developmental Educators. Each summer the institute conducts a month-long training workshop for current and emerging leaders of the profession.

My most extensive leadership was provided to the members of the National Association for Developmental Education (now named the National Organization for Student Success). I was elected president of the association and served the membership through a variety of other roles: Commission on Professional Standards and Evaluation, ad hoc strategic plan committee, chair of the Emeritus Council, co-chair of the national conference, first content editor of the association website, professional liaison committee, and co-chair of Supplemental Instruction special interest group.

The American Council for Developmental Education Associations is composed of five national associations that represent the field of college access. This group selected me as chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) Taskforce to investigate the strategic repositioning of all the major professional associations, including the creation of a new national organization to subsume the existing ones. As a result of the BRC report, town hall meetings, and national presentations over a three-year time period, the two largest organizations have moved into discussions to create a new organization. I was selected as chair of a working group investigating this opportunity. During the summer 2007, I convened a group of former national presidents and leaders to analyze the opportunity. The product of our labor was a 60-page report that provides a model for a 21st-century approach to college access that employs an expanded and transformed mission, vision, and language. I served as editor and major contributor to this report.

I have served on the editorial board for the major publications in this professional field: CRDEUL Annual Monograph Series, Education Sciences, Journal of College Reading and Learning, Journal of Developmental Education, Journal of Peer Learning, Journal of Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, Journal of Teaching and Learning, and The Learning Assistance Review. I have reviewed manuscripts for seven other professional publications.

State-Level

Kansas. I served with several technology-related organizations: Higher Education Board of the Kansas Association for Educational Communication and Technology, and the Vice-Chair of the Kansas Association of Community College’s Committee on Television. I was the chair of the Northeast Kansas Human Resources Association and Secretary/Treasurer of the Kansas Learning and Support Services Association.

Missouri. I served a variety of roles for the Midwest Regional Association for Developmental Education including newsletter editor, conference chair, and president.

Minnesota. There are several community and state organizations that I have been involved since arriving at the University. My longest working relationship is with the Association of Minnesota Community and Technical College Counselors which is composed of faculty counselors at the 40 institutions within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. I have served as a consultant for their Student Retention Taskforce. We meet six times annually to discuss research-based practices for improving student persistence on their campuses. My roles with their group have included: (a) presenting keynote talks and co-managing their state conference, (b) conducting periodic training workshops on student retention, (c) assisting development of training materials, and (d) identifying the contribution of personal counseling services to improved student outcomes through research studies.

Another community group with which I have worked since arriving in Minnesota has been with the Twin Cities TRiO Association. This group is composed of the federally funded TRiO programs that are located in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. I conduct annual training workshops for their student paraprofessional staff. These individuals provide tutoring support for their grant-eligible students that are often first-generation college, economically disadvantaged, and historically underrepresented in postsecondary education. This venue has afforded early field testing of the PAL training materials mentioned in the earlier section of my service to the University community.

Service to the Local Community

For the past decade, I have served as a mentor to a young man who comes from a disadvantaged background through the Kinship Youth Development Program. We often met weekly to take in community events, share a meal, and more importantly engage in conversation. Regardless of my residence in Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota, I have been heavily involved with a local church through service as a small group discussion leader, Sunday School discussion leader, a greeter for church services, community service activities, and other roles.

Summing It All Up

My involvement with the previously described service activities has been based upon my long involvement with the profession and the organizations that represent this field. As a faculty member, I embrace the three worlds that I operate within: teaching, research, and service. Each one is essential for the proper functioning of the other two. My service activities are essential for grounding of my research in real-world problems and to provoke new ideas for inclusion in my teaching.

Teaching Statement: David Arendale

Most formal teaching statements contain the pedagogy employed, learning objectives, details of individual classes taught, evaluations of teaching, and more. I prepared one of those statements for my promotion to associate professor. Rather than updating that document, I am using instead a blog posting that I created for my retirement. It is more of a reflection than a statement. In any case, you will get to know me better with this document. The rest of this document is the original blog posting from May 2019.

It seems like only yesterday I taught my first history class at Pratt Community College in southcentral Kansas. It has been four decades since that first class session and I still remember specific students and class activities. Three years ago, I began phased retirement from the University of Minnesota. I have been working on this reflection since then. While certainly not the best story, it is my story. I hope you enjoy it and think about your own journey.

Influence to Become a Teacher

I always wanted to be a college history teacher. I think I was influenced by Mr. Ralph Dennis who was one of my high school teachers. I liked his approach to teaching which engaged us in the content while holding a pleasant environment for the learning. When I enrolled at Emporia State University as an undergraduate, the academic adviser told me to pick another future career since there were no job openings for college history teachers. I ignored the advice and completed twin undergraduate majors in history and philosophy and a Master’s degree in history. I had my college teaching job before I finished my graduate degree.

In addition to my high school teachers, I was influenced by a Bible verse. In the book of Ephesians, Paul is talking about various spiritual gifts that God gives to each of us. When I read “teaching” as one of the gifts, I thought that applied to me. In the following verse, Paul explained that the gifts were “to equip the saints for the work…” While the context is focused on the church, I perceived it more broadly. My mission was to teach students so that they could make a difference in their world.

Intersection of my Personal Faith with my Professional Life

For too much of my life, my faith as a Christ-follower was a stealth identity compared to my professional life as an educator. However, I found intersections of my faith with my roles as a <researcher and knowledge disseminator>, <public service provider>, and <teacher>. Being a professional can be a solitary life. Much responsibility is on the educator for their work performance. Life as an educator was more of a lifestyle than a predictable job. The following Bible verse reminded me that I was responsible for my work, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” Colossians 3:23). Following is a description of those three parts of my life.

I was clear in my college classes and with my colleagues about being a Christ-follower rather than a Christian. An unfortunate growing trend is the word “Christian” having negative baggage affixed to it in the eyes of students and young adults. Too many think “Christians” are negative, overly judgmental about others, and a killjoy about life. Many think Christians automatically reject gay, bisexual, or transgender people. Some of my best colleagues and friends are gay. For purposes of this brief statement, I will not try to unpack those ideas other than to say I am a “Christ-follower”, literally someone who seeks to emulate the life of Jesus. Rather than focusing on others, I concern myself with my relationship with God. My issues are enough for me to deal with. The church that I attend welcomes everyone to worship and learn. I participate in the community outreach activities of our church to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and provide ministries for those in need. The first step toward long-lasting change in society is for people to have a changed heart and to become a Christ-follower. With change on the inside, they are more likely to behave differently towards others and work to achieve social justice for everyone. Inner freedom is the first step to a free society.

Intersection with Teaching

As described earlier, I have always felt that my future career would be as a teacher. Equipping others for service became my motto. I considered history an excellent preparation for life. My students were focused on the forces that propel history and change rather than attempting to have them memorize people, places, and times. I wanted my students to see the underlying forces that were causing change. If they focused on those forces, they could see the same forces in their lives after my class was over. Perhaps they could make wise choices as a result.

I taught a variety of social science courses during my teaching career. My favorite was teaching an introductory global history course. Students said they enjoyed the class since it gave them background information on cultures over the past hundred years. Students reported they enjoyed the class since it gave them background information on cultures that they would interact with throughout their work and personal lives. At the University of Minnesota, I was fortunate to have many recent immigrant students enroll in the class, and everyone had an opportunity to interact with one another. The students loved the conversations with those new immigrants and the perspectives that they shared.

Our classroom became an experimental laboratory to explore different learning pedagogies, learning technologies, and more. It was a natural progression to use the classroom experiences for research studies and dissemination of best practices to make it more inclusive and accessible for first-gen students, historically underrepresented students, and those with disabilities.

I am passionate about making the class more inclusive because I can identify with many of my students. I am a first-generation college student. I was fortunate that my preferred learning style matched well with the lecture-only presentation style of my undergraduate college experience. That style of classroom presentation would not be appropriate anymore. When I think about who Jesus hung out with, it was not the religious leaders of society. Instead, it was marginalized and poor in society. An explicit Bible admonition is provided in the Book of Zechariah 7:9-10, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

I followed that model by adapting my classroom approach and activities to meet the needs of the first-gen, historically underrepresented, and marginalized students who do not have the social capital that many other students have. This is reflected in the next section of my faith statement, the intersection with my research and knowledge dissemination.

Getting to Know My Students

My favorite time of the semester is day one. Freshly scrubbed faces, the smell of toothpaste, and their attentiveness described the students. When I began the class, I was aware of their concentration. You could literally feel their eyes. I think they were trying to figure me out. It may be a little over dramatic to say they were looking into my soul to see what kind of person and teacher I was. I will miss the interaction with them.

A friend advised me to get closer to the students to understand their personal as well as academic lives. Leon Hsu, a colleague of mine, had an activity where students could earn a few points of extra credit if they came to his office for a few minutes of questions. It is such a great way to learn more about them and connect names with faces. I adopted that activity as well. The quiet students in the class opened up to me during these short chats. I asked them about their cultural heritage, the best activities from other classes, and suggestions to make my class better. They were not shy about providing concrete things to change and those to preserve. Their honesty was refreshing and often humbling. I learned that the question is not if they have a part-time job, rather it was how many part-time jobs they were stitching together to pay for high tuition and textbook prices. Students often referred to tuition costs as the “second tuition”. Ouch. Their lives were more complicated than I ever realized. As a single person with no children, I live a pretty simple life. When they are having difficulty with assignments and exams, it was more often about managing the multiple demands on their lives rather than a lack of interest in the course. Their experience is so different than my residential college experience nearly a half-century earlier.

Understanding my Role with the Bigger Picture

It has been more difficult than I thought to retire from college teaching. It is not the actually teaching, but rather the interaction with the students. Regardless of how much older I became, my first-year students were always 18 years young. It gives a false sense of being younger. A favorite episode of the Twilight Zone TV show was “Changing of the guard”. It is about a single literature professor who was “retired” from his position at a private boy’s school after 51 years. The school board decided a younger teacher was needed to better relate to the young men. The professor took it hard and walked over to a nearby statue of the great educator Horace Mann. The professor looked at the statue and his most famous quotation, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” While at the statue, the professor heard the school bell ringing. He walked to the school and then into his old classroom. As he sat at his desk, the ghosts of some of his previous students appeared. Each took a moment to explain to the professor how something from his class had made a difference later in their lives, often just before their premature death. After a few minutes, they disappeared leaving the professor with confirmation that his life had made a difference with many others. This episode resonated with me. While most of my colleagues in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction continue to have interactions with their graduate students throughout their careers, it is seldom that I cross paths with my former first-year students. I wonder what impact I made on my students. [Click on this link for YouTube video clip of the student ghosts, https://youtu.be/Ce6HlKSODwE ; Click on this link for a longer discussion of this episode, http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-changing-of-guard_20.html ]

For the past decade, I make it a point to listen to a song by .38 Special named “Teacher, Teacher” at the beginning of the academic term. One of the stanzas is “Teacher, teacher, can you teach me? Can you tell me all I need to know? Teacher, teacher, can you reach me? Or will I fall when you let me go?” [Web link to YouTube video, https://youtu.be/SL46rSUXW1k ; Web link to song lyrics, https://genius.com/38-special-teacher-teacher-lyrics ] It reminds me to make my class relevant for my students. I asked students to listen to the song lyrics and then write out their job descriptions for me in the class. Their answers were very interesting. A frequent item was for them to be treated with respect.

My Professional Development over the Years

I have been a fortunate teacher who has been surrounded by recognized teaching experts throughout my career. They have generously spent time with me to help improve my teaching. I do not compare myself with others who are far more skilled than I. It may seem trite, but I work to be the best teacher I could be. As an introvert, I naturally reflect on my previous work. The great basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden, was successful for many reasons. One of them was that in preparing for an upcoming game, he did not analyze the opponent which is the standard procedure. Instead, he worked with his team to carefully study the previous game and improve on the mistakes. Mr. Wooden believed that if a team continually improved itself, they would be ready for the next team. Click on this link for more information about Mr. Wooden, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden

I am my own harshest critic and work to address my deficiencies. I am also a big Star Wars fan. Yoda was the Jedi master who was training young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force and how to defeat the enemy. Some of my favorite quotes are: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering”, “If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are…a different game you should play”, and “The greatest teacher, failure is”. When I look back, the most powerful one is “No! Try Not! Do or do not, there is no try.” Considering my modest background, more has been accomplished than I ever could have predicted. “Trying” provides an excuse for failure. Instead, commitment to “do” is a vision for success. [Yoda YouTube movie clip, https://youtu.be/XZbVLvT7qBU ]

Being an Introvert and a Public Teacher

Teaching is a curious occupation for me as I am an introvert. I am uncomfortable at large gatherings due to feeling overwhelmed. For some reason, I am comfortable in the classroom with the students. I think people make assumptions about others who live their lives in the public eye that they are equally good at meeting others. I never knew how to express my feelings until I listened to “Limelight” by Rush. The lyrics for the band are written by the drummer. The band performs for enormous numbers of screaming fans and they think they have a relationship with the band members. While two members of the band interact with fans after the concert, the drummer stays in his room. He is uncomfortable with fans walking up to him to talk if he is recognized in the public. This confuses some that he is aloof. On the contrary, he is acting normally for an introvert. In the first verse he wrote, “Living on a lighted stage - Approaches the unreal - For those who think and feel - In touch with some reality - Beyond the gilded cage.” I finally got it about me. I live a very public life, but I crave private time to refresh. [Link to YouTube video, https://youtu.be/ZiRuj2_czzw ; Link to lyrics, https://genius.com/Rush-limelight-lyrics ]

Reflecting on my Past and Future

I am a fortunate person since when I began four decades ago I have never been unemployed. I have only experienced a total of five job interviews and was selected for four jobs. The benefits are great and still am mystified why I am paid to do something that I love. Sometimes when I give public talks I thank the taxpayers for providing such a wonderful job and acknowledge the trust that parents and other family members have expressed in me with teaching their child or grandchild.

When I look back on four decades of teaching, I try to figure out how I finished up here at the University of Minnesota. I began working at two tiny Kansas community colleges and somehow finished up here. I enjoyed telling my students that I would probably not been admitted to this selective admissions, research intensive, university. Life is composed of innumerable decisions and occurrences. Some that we make and others made by other forces. I tend to go with divine influence. But, two other models of influence are possible. At the end of the Forrest Gump movie a feather falls out of a book that Forrest was holding as his son boarded a school bus for the first time. As the feather floats into the sky, Forrest talks about his life and how it has been guided from one adventure to another. https://youtu.be/peijTiCjCDU Another movie that I like is “The Adjustment Bureau”. It is about a central character and how his life had been shaped by others. There was a central plan for Matt Damon’s life, he just did not see the individual actions that guided him. It is a good film about the smallest parts of our lives and how they influence the future. I highly recommend the film.

Where do I go now that the paid professional job finally comes to an end? I have lots of interests and plans, but I just look at the future one day at a time. Shakespeare wrote a line for Hamlet, who said he was bound for “an undiscovered country whose bourne no travelers return.” Hamlet was looking to his demise with a mystery ahead since no one has come back from there to tell the rest of us. (Except for Jesus Christ who was executed, rose from the dead, and was seen by more than 500 people afterward). I borrow Shakespeare’s line and reinterpret it that the undiscovered country is the future. I am excited for the journey to continue with new adventures to experience. May your future path be as pleasant as mine has been and will continue to be.

Calvin and Hobbes: An Ending and New Beginning

In 2014, the following was written and posted by Samuraitiger19 on Reddit. It answers the questions of what happened to Calvin and Hobbes after the comic strip ceased publication. This author provides a loving and respectful end for Calvin and launches him into the next adventure. The rest of this blog post is Samuraitiger19’s story.

"Calvin? Calvin, sweetheart?"

In the darkness Calvin heard the sound of Susie, his wife of fifty-three years. Calvin struggled to open his eyes. God, he was so tired and it took so much strength. Slowly, light replaced the darkness, and soon vision followed. At the foot of his bed stood his wife. Calvin wet his dry lips and spoke hoarsely, "Did... did you.... find him?"

"Yes dear," Susie said smiling sadly, "He was in the attic."

Susie reached into her big purse and brought out a soft, old, orange tiger doll. Calvin could not help but laugh. It had been so long. Too long.

"I washed him for you," Susie said, her voice cracking a little as she laid the stuffed tiger next to her husband.

"Thank you, Susie." Calvin said.

A few moments passed as Calvin just laid on his hospital bed, his head turned to the side, staring at the old toy with nostalgia.

"Dear," Calvin said finally. "Would you mind leaving me alone with Hobbes for a while? I would like to catch up with him."

"All right," Susie said. "I'll get something to eat in the cafeteria. I'll be back soon."

Susie kissed her huband on the forehead and turned to leave. With sudden but gentle strength Calvin stopped her. Lovingly he pulled his wife in and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips. "I love you," he said.

"And I love you," said Susie.

Susie turned and left. Calvin saw tears streaming from her face as she went out the door.

Calvin then turned to face his oldest and dearest friend. "Hello Hobbes. It's been a long time hasn't it old pal?"

Hobbes was no longer a stuffed doll but the big furry old tiger Calvin had always remembered. "It sure has, Calvin." said Hobbes.

"You... haven't changed a bit." Calvin smiled.

"You've changed a lot." Hobbes said sadly.

Calvin laughed, "Really? I haven't noticed at all."

There was a long pause. The sound of a clock ticking away the seconds rang throughout the sterile hospital room.

"So... you married Susie Derkins." Hobbes said, finally smiling. "I knew you always like her."

"Shut up!" Calvin said, his smile bigger than ever.

"Tell me everything I missed. I'd love to hear what you've been up to!" Hobbes said, excited.

And so Calvin told him everything. He told him about how he and Susie fell in love in high school and had married after graduating from college, about his three kids and four grandkids, how he turned Spaceman Spiff into one of the most popular sci-fi novels of the decade, and so on. After he told Hobbes all this there was another pregnant pause.

"You know... I visited you in the attic a bunch of times." Calvin said.

"I know."

"But I couldn't see you. All I saw was a stuffed animal." Calvin voice was breaking and tears of regret started welling up in his eyes.

"You grew up old buddy." said Hobbes.

Calvin broke down and sobbed, hugging his best friend. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry I broke my promise! I promised I wouldn't grow up and that we'd be together forever!!"

Hobbes stroke the Calvin's hair, or what little was left of it. "But you didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"We were always together... in our dreams."

"We were?"

"We were."

"Hobbes?"

"Yeah, old buddy?"

"I'm so glad I got to see you like this... one last time..."

"Me too, Calvin. Me too."

"Sweetheart?" Susie voice came from outside the door.

"Yes dear?" Calvin replied.

"Can I come in?" Susie asked.

"Just a minute."

Calvin turned to face Hobbes one last time. "Goodbye Hobbes. Thanks... for everything..."

"No, thank you Calvin." Hobbes said.

Calvin turned back to the door and said, "You can come in now."

Susie came in and said, "Look who's come to visit you."

Calvin's children and grandchildren followed Susie into Calvin's room. The youngest grandchild ran past the rest of them and hugged Calvin in a hard, excited hug. "Grandpa!!" screamed the child in delight.

"Francis!" cried Calvin's daughter, "Be gentle with your grandfather."

Calvin's daughter turned to her dad. "I'm sorry, Daddy. Francis never seems to behave these days. He just runs around making a mess and coming up with strange stories."

Calvin laughed and said, "Well now! That sound just like me when I was his age."

Calvin and his family chatted some more until a nurse said, "Sorry, but visiting hours are almost up."

Calvin's beloved family said good bye and promised to visit tommorrow. As they turned to leave Calvin said, "Francis. Come here for a second."

Francis came over to his grandfather's side, "What is it Gramps?"

Calvin reached over to the stuffed tiger on his bedside and and held him out shakily to his grandson, who looked exactly as he did so many years ago. "This is Hobbes. He was my best friend when I was your age. I want you to have him."

"He's just a stuffed tiger." Francis said, eyebrows raised.

Calvin laughed, "Well, let me tell you a secret."

Francis leaned closer to Clavin. Calvin whispered, "If you catch him in a tiger trap using a tuna sandwich as bait he will turn into a real tiger."

Francis gasped in delighted awe. Calvin continued, "Not only that he will be your best friend forever."

"Wow! Thanks grandpa!" Francis said, hugging his grandpa tightly again.

"Francis! We need to go now!" Calvin's daughter called.

"Okay!" Francis shouted back.

"Take good care of him." Calvin said.

"I will." Francis said before running off after the rest of the family.

Calvin laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. The time to go was close. He could feel it in his soul. Calvin tried to remember a quote he read in a book once. It said something about death being the next great adventure or something like that. He eyelids grew heavy and his breathing slowed. As he went deeper into his final sleep he heard Hobbes, as if he was right next to him at his bedside. "I'll take care of him, Calvin..."

Calvin took his first step toward one more adventure and breathed his last with a grin on his face.

EDIT: Wow... just wow... I am speechless here guys. I did not expect such a reaction to my story or prompt. I am not worthy of your praise or your gold. I am truly humbled. Thanks so much! I'm truly glad so my story touched so many people.

A number of other Reddit authors posted their stories of Calvin and Hobbes. You might enjoy reading them. Just scroll down the many comments to find them, https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/25gtsw/eu_in_the_final_minutes_of_his_life_calvin_has/

Updated Peer Bibliography Directory and Individual Topics

From UnSplash

Today I uploaded the revised and expanded directory of peer study group programs. It expanded by over 100 entries in the past year. In addition, the topical bibliographies were updated and new categories were added for online programs, social media use, the technology employed during study sessions, and mention of facilitators or participants engaging in reflection during study sessions or outside of sessions by the facilitators as part of their personal and professional development. Among the options for downloading is one to download the EndNote data file of the entire database upon which all these bibliographies are based. All of this work is covered by a nonprofit copyright notice. You are encouraged to use these documents to support your program and be a resource for writing your own publications about peer learning programs. Simply go to the main menu tab for “resources” and then select “peer bibliography” from the drop-down menu.

Peer Assisted Learning Talks Posted

The following items come from several presentations I have made over the years about PAL approaches for academic support.

• Lessons learning from major postsecondary peer learning programs.

• Overview of research about impact upon student facilitators of PAL programs.

• Vocational identity emergence by PAL facilitators.

• Leader identity emergence by PAL facilitators.

• Professional identity emergence by PAL facilitators.

Free download program manual for TRIO, GEAR UP, and other equity programs

As you kick off another academic term, I thought you might find useful a directory of academic approaches, curriculum, and programs designed to support academic achievement for students and especially those that are first-generation college, economically-disadvantaged, and historically-underrepresented. Half a dozen of the education practices focus on tutoring and student study groups. This directory is updated and distributed annually by a clearinghouse that I manage. Click on this link to download the PDF manual, https://z.umn.edu/eoabp2019

Created by TRIO and GEAR UP professionals after successful use in their programs, the manual contains nearly 600 pages of practical approaches, curriculum, and resources you can use. These resources have gone through an external peer review system and designated as promising or validated based on the data analysis. The largest collection of practices are for academic support, tutoring, and peer study groups. The topics in the directory include: academic advising, academic support, administrative forms, assessment, career exploration, coaching students college tours, curriculum, disability services global studies, orientation program, policies and procedures The best practice clearinghouse website is available at http://besteducationpractices.org

Contact me for more information. David Arendale, Associate Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (cell) 612-812-0032; arendale@umn.edu http://arendale.org