ABSTRACT
Student development education is another term for student affairs pedagogy. Pedagogy is more than the design of learning experiences. It is based on epistemology, or "ways of knowing". The dominant epistemology of teaching in Western education is positivism. Student affairs professionals have become quite skilled in assessment of learning outcomes in the past decade. Student affairs training programs range from the simple to the complex, from one-time programs to year-long curricula, as have been developed for residence hall systems. The educational priority is "for students to grow personally, interpersonally and intellectually through engagement in inclusive learning communities". The learning goals and outcomes describe in behavioral specifics what each student should be able to describe or do at the completion of the program. The program includes a narrative that describes what place each goal occupies in the total process and context.
