More than 80 percent of college faculty use some form of social media in their teaching, with online video by far the most popular application, according to a new survey from the Babson Survey Research Group and Pearson. The results were presented early this month during Cite 2011, Pearson’s 12th annual higher education technology conference.
Academically Adrift is provoking plenty of discussion throughout American higher education, and with good reason. While there are valid concerns about the methodology, instrumentation and overreaching inferences of Richard Arum’s and Josipa Roksa’s research study, many of their conclusions are important ones that have been confirmed by others.
Community colleges are notorious for embracing pedagogical fads—what faculty members sometimes refer to derisively as “the flavor of the month.”
A decade ago that “flavor” was critical thinking. We attended workshops and seminars, listened to keynotes and consultants, all so we could help students learn to think critically. Then the fervor died down as the next fad swept in.
On the one hand, a forceful budget of bad news at a time rife with negatives about higher education. On the other, the stubborn hope that we will do better. Those who believe higher education can do a better job—and I am one—will acknowledge the force of Academically Adrift as wake-up call. Although that call is not new, the rhetorical effects of this book are powerful.
College professors have long bemoaned the fact that they view the product or outcome of higher education differently from their students. Ask a professor what the goal of a college education is, and the answer you’re likely to hear is wisdom, knowledge, insight, understanding, or some variant of these. Ask the same question of a student (or that student’s parents), and you’re likely to hear an answer like a diploma, a job, or lots of money. That difference in perspective is certainly not new and, although some generations of college students are more idealistic or socially engaged than others, it’s certainly not surprising that American families tend to make college decisions in terms of return on investment; that’s how they make most of their other decisions, too, at least when the question involves how they should spend their money.
Obviously the headlines Academically Adrift has generated concern the findings themselves, the rather depressing portrayal of undergraduate student learning and experience. Even though some might debate aspects of the work (e.g. issues regarding the CLA), few if any would say that the overall portrayal is inaccurate.
I am standing in the door of my office at the end of the semester, looking at the piles of paper stacked on the desk, on the filing cabinets, and on the floor. I realize that I need to make some changes to support an e-learning environment and be more ecologically responsible. With student learning outcomes in mind, I try to envision what this new learning space would look like and what it would mean for me and my students.
It wouldn’t be the end of the year without a few top 10 lists, so this year we’ve put together one of our own: the top 10 most popular articles on Faculty Focus.
Throughout 2010, Faculty Focus published more than 250 articles. The articles covered a wide range of topics — from online teaching to philosophy of teaching. In a two-part series, which will run today and tomorrow, we’re revealing the top 10 most popular articles for 2010.
As an accreditation evaluator for the Northwest Commission of Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), Scott L. Howell, PhD goes out a couple of times each year to review the testing practices and assessment characteristics of higher education institutions that are under the NWCCU’s purview.