The Adams Center for Teaching and Learning operates under the assumption that most learning occurs outside the classroom. This approach rests heavily on Lev Vygotsky’s Social Learning Theory and Jean Lave’s Situated Learning Theory. According to Lave, “social interaction is a critical component of situated learning . . . learners become involved in a ‘community of practice’ which embodies certain beliefs and behaviors to be acquired" (http://tip.psychology.org/lave.html).

Social Learning Theory is an integral component in the analysis of social networks such as Facebook and MySpace where new types of communities are being established with new sets of social norms and experiential expectations. The proliferation of these networks generates questions about the effects of computer-mediated social interaction in terms of its psychological, interpersonal, social and cultural impacts. The exploration of these questions is particularly relevant to Abilene Christian and other religiously-affiliated liberal arts universities where faculty members are not merely instructors, but are also mentors who seek to model Christian discipleship in every area of their lives.  

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