Exhilarated Learning and the Scholarship of Engagement: From Here (the University) to the Horizon (the Community)

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa

A scholarly discussion of “exhilarated learning” as a model for effective classroom environments, connecting three core dimensions—human connection, whole-body engagement, and linking content to context—to wider community–university engagement. The paper explains how welcoming relationships reduce tension and support learning, how embodiment and emotion shape engagement beyond dispassionate cognition, and how a big-picture focus helps learners integrate segmented learning with overarching purposes. It also examines relationships between SoTL and SoE.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Exhilarated Learning and the Scholarship of Engagement

Exhilarated Learning as an organizing principle

Human connection

Whole-body engagement

Content to context

Implications for SoTL and SoE

31 Exhilarated Learning and the Scholarship of Engagement: From Here (the University) to the Horizon (the Community) William Ben Strean University of Alberta In this paper, I explain the components of “exhilarated learning,” a model for effective classroom environments, and show how this model can be applied to the broader context of communityuniversity engagement. I describe the following three dimensions: human connection, whole body engagement, and linking content to context; and I explore how this model relates to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Scholarship of Engagement. Howinstrcaucntiohaend belesstsonpsracticfromehe ofScheffoleactirshep of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) inform the Scholarship of Engagement (SoE)? Let us consider three core aspects of optimal classroom learning environments (i.e. , human connection, whole body engagement, and consistent linkages between content and context), and explore how they maybe extended to developing community–university engagement. Exhilarated Learning While participating in two extensive reflective exercises on best pedagogical practices and innovations, the idea of “exhilarated learning” emerged as an organizing principle that captured the nucleus of three inter-related dimensions. Human connection: The first dimension In virtually any learning environment, students enter with some level of tension, anxiety, and/or resistance. If the stress response is activated, it can decrease the brain’s capabilities ability to learn and remember (Kaufeldt, 2010) . Nearly all university students have witnessed classrooms in which students are humiliated, put down, or made wrong. At a very basic level, students entering a classroom ask,“Does the professor mean me any harm?” When the instructor creates a welcoming environment and develops positive relationships with students, it puts students more at ease, and facilitates learning. One of the most fundamental principles in effective teaching is increasing teacher/student contact and connection (Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Lowman, 1995) . Largely under-emphasized in traditional teaching skills programs, this dimension acts on the inevitable wall and unwritten contract between teacher and students. On the students’ side, it creates comfort and predisposes learners to explore the content and to remain open to the possibility of suggested behavioural or conceptual changes. On the instructor’s side, it may enhance the teacher’s confidence, awareness, presence, authenticity, and commitment to results. Many classroom practices such as establishing ground rules, using icebreaker activities, and facilitating relationships between and among students can contribute to a sense of human connection and enhance learning. Whole-body engagement: The second dimension University education is often characterized as an experience that occurs above the neck. Stereotypes include passing information from the notes of the professor to the notes of the students, bypassing both of their minds. Most of our understanding of the mind and rationality are based on metaphors that are not supported by cognitive science. Take for example the enduring notion that rational thought is dispassionate. We know this to be false from studies in neuroscience (Damasio, 1994) . Those who have lost the capacity to be emotionally engaged in their lives cannot reason appropriately about moral issues. The traditional Western conception of the person with disembodied reason and an objective world must be replaced with the conception of an embodied person. Among the important implications for teaching and learning is the recognition of the centrality of emotion. All learning occurs in a mood and part of fostering student engagement includes attending to and managing the mood of the classroom. Including emotions, moods, and the importance of the whole body is a completely different paradigm from simple learning styles. Whole-body engagement leverages all t

FAQs

What are the three dimensions of “exhilarated learning” described in the paper?

The paper outlines human connection, whole-body engagement, and linking content to context as three inter-related dimensions that structure learning environments.

How does the paper explain the role of human connection in learning?

It argues that students enter with tension or resistance, and welcoming environments and positive teacher–student relationships put learners more at ease, facilitating learning and openness to change.

How does “content to context” address a common challenge in teaching?

It focuses on keeping learning parts connected to the whole by providing big-picture links, helping learners build schemata and integrate new information with prior knowledge and overall course purpose.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa