Student-Faculty Partnerships for Co-Constructing Learning

Making College “Worth It” – Season 1, Episode 12

In this episode of “Making College Worth It,” hosts Nolan Schultheis and Jessie Moore delve into student-faculty partnerships in higher education. They interview Olivia Choplin, an associate professor at Elon University, and Emily Ford, a 2020 Elon alumna, who collaborated on redesigning a study abroad course to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Olivia and Emily discuss the challenges and successes of their partnership, emphasizing the importance of student input in course design to reduce grading anxiety and improve learning experiences. The episode highlights how these types of collaborations are essential moving forward in higher education.

View a transcript of this episode.

Meet our Guests

Olivia Choplin, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of French and Associate Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at Elon University. She coordinated the World Languages and Cultures Departmental pre-, during-, and post-study abroad sequence for three years. She regularly collaborates with the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center on faculty development programming for study away courses and recently co-led her first short-term study abroad course in France. 

Emily Ford is an alumna of Elon University and Elon’s Teaching Fellows program. Graduating in 2020 with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish, Emily began her research, conducted in partnership with Dr. Olivia Choplin, during her junior year. This research delved into the realm of student-faculty partnerships related to global learning experiences. Their work culminated in the publication of the article “Student-Faculty Partnerships as Intercultural Encounters: Co-constructing the Pathways to Global Learning” which was just published by Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad.  

Currently, Emily serves as the Community Engagement Specialist at the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center where she channels her passion into outreach initiatives centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Episode Credits

This episode is co-hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning, and Nolan Schultheis, a second-year student at Elon University, studying Psychology with an interest in law. Nolan Schultheis also edited the episode. Making College “Worth It” is produced by Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning.

Episode art was created by Nolan Schultheis and Jennie Goforth.

Funky Percussions is by Denys Kyshchuk (@audiocoffeemusic) – https://www.audiocoffee.net/. Soft Beat is by ComaStudio.

Explore Center Resources Related to this Episode

Choplin, Olivier, and Eric Ford. 2024. “Student-Faculty Partnerships as Intercultural Encounters: Co-constructing the Pathways to Global Learning.” Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 36 (1): 531-562. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v36i1.794.

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