Elon University will add a Teaching and Learning minor to its course catalog next fall for students interested in public education but not necessarily in teaching as a profession.
The 20 credit hours required aim to train students to teach outside the classroom — ideas ranging from teaching adults how to build mobile applications to accommodating special needs in an office setting.
The minor is designed to teach non-education majors how to translate educational principles to society. Through a combination of internships and real-world teaching experience, students in the minor may meet at least one Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR).
The course offerings for the minor are currently composed of courses within the School of Education and the Department of Psychology, but in the future the minor may add options that fulfill upper-level General Studies (GST) requirements.
According to Richard Mihans, associate professor of education and chair of the department of education, the minor is tailored to the educational needs of interested students in a world that may be moving away from the traditional classroom.
“We’re very open to making this work best with the professional goals that students have,” Mihans said. “We’re small enough in order to be really in tune with what students needs are and address those rather quickly.”
Mihans said students leaving Elon for places like Teach for America and the Peace Corp are being asked to be educators for the first time, and he said that without any formal training, the job can be difficult.
When more than 70 percent of Elon University students are studying abroad or taking courses online, it’s important for the School of Education to re-examine its goals and offerings to reflect the changing educational and workplace environment, Mihans said.
Non-education majors are being asked to assume the role of educators in the workplace, a role those without teaching experience may be hesitant or even afraid of filling.
A July 2013 Pew Research study found that teachers surveyed at the high school level are using more digital tools to teach inside the classroom. The study went on to state that technology is being used by teaching majors and non-teaching majors alike to educate their peers in the college setting, as well as later on in the workplace.
Mihans recalled a non-education major and recent graduate who was asked to teach adults how to use computer applications in a job at Google. The student in question didn’t know where to start, and Mihans said the minor could have gone a long way to help.
“We’re seeing this as a very viable option for a lot of students,” he said. “We want to get feedback to continually revise the minor to meet student goals and needs. We want to have more and more options that really work for students.”