Most agree that universities are changing rapidly to meet increasingly competitive markets. On some campuses … registration is being shaped to draw in a wider selection of students. At other institutions … funding is more fairly distributed … to attract capable students across all socioeconomic circles. Have you seen it happen? 
Unfortunately, less is being done though … to rejuvenate classes once learners arrive. How so?
While curriculum approaches are central to student retention and institutional success … teaching and assessment tactics get marginalized in organizational change. Just recently I read of two separate settings where large foundations were granted to upgrade education. In both cases buildings were being constructed … and faculty hired … before curriculum approaches were even considered. The negative results are evident.
Faculty complain of students who sleep or text through their lectures. Growing US college drop out rates that show just over half of students who enter college hold a degree six years later. Arcane approaches in higher education lead daily … to American universities that lack ingenuity and fall behind. Have you noticed?
Increasingly students complain about the day to day practices in these institutions … and it’s likely a good thing they do. What’s being done to correct the problem? Online for profit schools jumped into the fray … with convenience and fast-food-style student supports. Increasingly … faculty and students complain that bucks grew bigger and learning shrinks for business … as online curriculum squeezes into one-size-fits-all buckets for delivery though.
What’s missing?
Learning is rejuvenated through innovative curriculum that draws in the multiple intelligences that students and faculty already bring to class. When learners investigate genuine problems in their fields … and when faculty teach … learn and assess… with the brain in mind … achievement spikes. Rejuvenated curriculum approaches are central to those institutions who will return passion … purpose and persistence to higher education.
How would you raise motivation and achievement … to increase dividends for entire university communities as well as for the business world?
In many universities, a big part of the problem is that the system is medieval in two senses.
First, the faculty are the lords of the manner. Despite student ratings of all kinds tenured faculty members essentially are answerable to themselves and colleagues. The university is designed more to make it good for faculty than for students of staff. And there is very little a student can do about an adverse decision (grade) except appeal to the person who gave it.
The second area is instruction. Martin Luther would have little trouble recognizing today's lecture halls. Take away the AV and they're pretty much same as the places he taught. Lecture remains the dominant means of instruction and almost all instruction is deductive, which is more convenient for teachers, but less effective for students.
Posted by: Wally Bock | April 6, 2008 7:15 PM | Permalink to Comment