The Haven Magazine Spring 2018

drop in to a session of LHU
Music Professor Mahlon
Grass’s world music course
and you’re likely to hear
melodies from around the world. But
that’s not the only thing that has Grass’s
students excited about the course, it’s
the opportunity to meet and interact
with students from world music courses
in other countries that has created
unique learning connections.
Grass has developed partnerships with
universities in Ireland and Nova Scotia,
Canada which bring together world
music courses from each institution to
learn about music and culture together.
“When we work with classes in Ireland
or Canada, we’re able to look directly
at how that country’s compositions
were influenced by American culture,”
says Grass.
Irish students spend a week presenting
on their music and culture; LHU
students access those presentations
through the online D2L learning
platform and then do the same for
the Irish students. The online platform
integrates text, narrative, slides, and
audio and Dr. Grass is able to narrate
the content for both American and
Irish students. “It’s the next best thing
to live study abroad for many of our
students,” says Grass. “They have the
ability to interact with students from
other cultures and to learn from one
another in really meaningful ways.”
The proof that students are responding
is evident in more than the class signup
rate. Grass says student learning
outcomes have improved noticeably
since the collaborations began. “I see
technology as a way to connect with
visual learners. When I introduced the
technology components, the grade
point average for the course went up
10%.” Grass believes that’s because
students are using tools they identify
with in ways that allow for interesting
connections.”
“Students today want to interact. They
want to make connections. We see
that in their use of social media. The
standard lecture doesn’t work for this
generation of students and so it’s been
Professor Mahlon Grass has developed innovative ways to connect with music students around the world.
exciting for me to find ways to engage
with them,” he shares.
While he believes the high grade point
averages are proof the students are
connecting to the content, Grass says
he can’t take credit in the shift. “It’s
not because of me. It’s because they’re
engaged and interested in what they’re
learning—that has really made the
difference.”
allows them to interact directly with the
instructor. The lectures are augmented
with faculty and small group discussions
at each campus.
A majority of the learning is handson
at each location in a model that
Eisenhauer says embodies a studentcentered
approach to case-based
learning. He says, “Every campus
“Students today want to interact. They want to
make connections. We see that in their use of
social media. The standard lecture doesn’t work
for this generation of students and so it’s been
exciting for me to find ways to engage with them.”
-Mahlon Grass
since its start in 1996, the LHU
physician assistant program
has been a campus leader
in integrating technology into the
classroom. Much of the program’s use
of technology focuses on bringing
together the four campuses—LHU
main, Clearfield, Coudersport, and
Dixon University Center—that deliver
content to LHU’s PA program students.
According to PA Program Professor
and Chair Walt Eisenhauer, the content
delivery focuses on a hybrid distance
education model. Students from each
campus location view lectures remotely
with the use of video technology that
utilizes a physical diagnosis lab and a
cadaver lab, but the ability for students
to learn from instructors and specialty
care providers across the state does a
lot to increase students’ exposure to
valuable material.”
The video component of LHU’s PA
program mirrors current trends in health
care distribution across the country,
particularly in rural areas where many of
LHU’s PA program graduates eventually
set up practice. “Telemedicine is a
growing field. You see it in areas from
dermatology to emergency medicine,
and beyond,” says Eisenhauer.
He adds that it’s a way for patients to
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