ABSTRACT: Derek Bok, former president of Harvard, in a recent book
"Underachieving Colleges: a Candid Look at How Much Students Learn
and Why They Should Be Learning More" is critical of higher
education's evident lack of attention to the enhancement of student
learning. Nevertheless strategies for enhancing student learning have
been a regular feature of James Rhem's "National Teaching and
Learning Forum" (NTLF) <http://www.ntlf.com/>. See especially the
articles in the December 2005 issue, available to subscribers online
and to non-subscribers who sign up for a FREE 60-Day online
subscription at <http://ntlf.com/forms/signup/signup.htm>.
In his POD post of 13 Dec 2005 titled "Chronicle Article on 'The
Critical Role of Trustees in Enhancing Student Learning'," Dick Reddy
(2005) wrote [bracketed by lines "RRRRR. . . ."; my inserts at ". . .
[insert]. . ."]:
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Today's Daily Report from the Chronicle of Higher Education has an
essay by Derek Bok. . .[2005a]. . . entitled "The Critical Role of
Trustees in Enhancing Student Learning." As one could guess, it is
critical of faculties and of administrations for not championing
student learning as fully as he believes they should.
What's more, we are likely to hear more of this in the immediate
future because Bok has a book . . . .[Bok (2005b)]. . . . coming out
in January entitled "Our Underachieving Colleges: a Candid Look at
How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More" . . .
.[see also other critiques of higher education by Bok (1990, 1994)]
. . .
So the issue of enhancing student learning will be public for at
least the next couple of months and may provide opportunities for
those involved in faculty development (which, at least in the
Chronicle article, isn't directly referenced).
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
In my opinion, the issue of enhancing student learning - see e.g.,
"From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate
Education" [Barr & Tagg (1995)] - has been and will be public for
decades rather than months, and provides opportunities for faculty
and administrators (as well as "those involved in faculty
development") to think more about what they might do to enhance
undergraduate learning in their classrooms.
And to know whether or not student learning IS being enhanced by
various reform methods of teaching, one must be able to *directly
assess* students *higher-order* learning (not just rote
memorization), a topic rarely addressed in higher education - but see
Hersh (2005) and Shavelson & Huang (2003).
The December 2005 edition of the National Teaching and Learning Forum
NTLF 15(1) <http://www.ntlf.com/> contains three articles that
concern strategies that might be expected to enhance undergraduate
learning:
"Super-Active Learning Techniques (Or, How to turn your student into
a teacher)" [Savion (2005)];
"Conversations In Political Science" [Lomperis (2005)];
"Perceiving Education's Temporal Temperaments: Educating in Fractal
Patterns XIV (part B - Age, Order, Duration, Frequency, Rate and
Magnitude) [Nuhfer (2005)];
Modesty forbids my mentioning also:
"The Physics Education Reform Effort: A Possible Model for Higher
Education?" [Hake (2005)]
REFERENCES
Barr, R.B. & J. Tagg. 1995. "From Teaching to Learning: A New
Paradigm for Undergraduate Education," Change 27(6); 13-25,
November/December. Reprinted in D. Dezure, Learning from Change:
Landmarks in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from Change
1969-1999. American Association for Higher Education, pp. 198-200.
Also online at <http://tinyurl.com/8g6r4>.
Bok, D. 1990. "Universities and the Future of America." Duke
University Press. Amazon.com information is at
<http://tinyurl.com/7ljxe>.
Bok, D. 1994. "Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization
of Higher Education." Princeton University Press. Amazon.com
information is at <http://tinyurl.com/dgeyh>.
Bok, D. 2005a. "The Critical Role of Trustees in Enhancing Student
Learning," Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 December, online to
subscribers at <http://chronicle.com/chronicle/>. See also Bok (2005c).
Bok, D. 2005b. "Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How
Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More." Princeton
University Press. Amazon.com information is at
<http://tinyurl.com/bnn8c>.
Hake, R.R. 2005. "The Physics Education Reform Effort: A Possible
Model for Higher Education?" NTLF 15(1), December, online to
subscribers at <http://www.ntlf.com/>.
Hersh, R.H. 2005. "What Does College Teach? It's time to put an end
to 'faith-based' acceptance of higher education's quality," Atlantic
Monthly 296(4): 140-143, November; freely online to
(a) subscribers of the Atlantic Monthly at <http://tinyurl.com/dwss8>, and
(b) (with hot-linked academic references) to educators at
<http://tinyurl.com/9nqon> (scroll to the APPENDIX).
Lomperis, T. 2005. "Conversations In Political Science," NTLF 15(1),
December, online to subscribers at <http://www.ntlf.com/>.
Savion, L. 2005. "Super-Active Learning Techniques (Or, How to turn
your student into a teacher)," NTLF 15(1), December, online to
subscribers at <http://www.ntlf.com/>.
Shavelson, R.J. & L. Huang. 2003. "Responding Responsibly To the
Frenzy to Assess Learning in Higher Education," Change Magazine,
January/February; online at <http://tinyurl.com/7foof>.
Nuhfer, E.B. 2005. "Perceiving Education's Temporal Temperaments:
Educating in Fractal Patterns XIV (part B - Age, Order, Duration,
Frequency, Rate and Magnitude), NTLF 15(1), December, online to
subscribers at <http://www.ntlf.com/>.
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