Transformative Learning
At the University of Central Oklahoma, we help students learn by providing them with transformative experiences across six core areas. These experiences help them to develop beyond-disciplinary skills and expand their perspectives of their relationships with self, others, community and environment. Transformative Learning is a holistic process that places students at the center of their own active and reflective learning experiences.
These six core areas are:
- Discipline Knowledge;
- Global and Cultural Competencies;
- Health and Wellness;
- Leadership;
- Research, Creative and Scholarly Activities; and,
- Service Learning and Civic Engagement.
UCO's Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR) provides a way for students to track their in and out of class experiences across the core areas, and our Center for Excellence in Transformative Teaching and Learning (CETTL) provides Transformative Learning resources to faculty and staff.
Central Six Core Areas
A UCO student will graduate with growth and experiences across the Central Six tenets of transformative Learning. They gain discipline knowledge in their major and minor fields of study, which is recorded on their academic transcripts. STLR measures and records a student's growth across the other five areas.
Discipline Knowledge
Discipline Knowledge includes content knowledge that students need in their chosen field of study to take charge of their own active learning, reflection and education motivation to ask questions, seek feedback and make use of all educational resources available to become scholars and professionals in their fields.
Global and Cultural Competencies
Global and cultural competencies seek to prepare students to communicate effectively in a complex world, to function in multiple and diverse environments and to adapt to the continuously changing global society through an attitude of awareness, consciousness and respect.
Health and Wellness
Health and wellness integrates the physical, spiritual, environmental, emotional, intellectual, financial, occupational and social well-being of students to help them live, learn and work effectively, living life with vitality and meaning so they may reach their goals as scholars, employees in the workplace, citizens in the metropolitan area and beyond.
Leadership
Leadership is a personal journey resulting in understanding and skill sets that students need to positively and ethically influence and mobilize others. We equip students with knowledge and skill to affect individuals, teams, organizations, the metropolitan community and society for the greater good.
Research, Creative and Scholarly Activities (RCSA)
Research, creative and scholarly activities involve student-centered learning mentored by faculty, staff or professionals to create knowledge, peer-reviewed presentations, publications, creative projects, exhibitions or performances to be recognized as legitimate scholarly or creative contributions to an area of study.
Service Learning and Civic Engagement
Service learning and civic engagement engages students in community volunteer and service activities using teaching and reflection to nurture civic responsibility, caring and community-mindedness in order to promote a commitment to public life, ethical and critical reasoning and deliberation, and working for the common good of everyone.