Faculty Spotlight: Dennis Lowe

Dr. Dennis Lowe is a 2U partner faculty member at Pepperdine University in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). He embodies GSEP’s mission to “Become a Catalyst for Inspiration and Change” when interacting with his students, colleagues, and the overall postsecondary education community. 

Dr. Lowe is an emerging thought-leader in online student engagement. His recent publications provide timely and pragmatic resources for online instructors who seek to foster student engagement and meaningful learning experiences.  Topics vary from using breakout rooms for student engagement, to ideas for leading discussions about COVID-19, and using movies to engage students in social justice.

1. Breakout groups can be an engaging experience for students or perceived as a waste of time. The steps described in this article can make your breakout groups more engaging and beneficial.

Improving Breakout Room Discussions in Online Teaching by Using Collaborative Documents

2. Class engagement is enhanced when students perceive course content as relevant to current events and their everyday lives. This article provides prompters to facilitate discussions of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic across a range of disciplines.
   Can We Talk About It?: Enhancing Student Engagement by Integrating Discussions of COVID-19
   
   

3. Instructors have been encouraged to enhance attention to diversity in their courses and facilitate discussions about racism and social justice. This article describes the use of movies as a launching pad for these discussions.
   Using Movies to Facilitate Discussions about Racism and Social Justice: Five Considerations

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