A new report, The Future of Undergraduate Education, raises concerns about the condition of higher education in the U.S. While the focus is only U.S. institutions, there are likely implications for higher education around the world.
Particular issues addressed in the report include; improving graduation rates, the need to garner public funding, and improving quality. Particularly related to quality and graduation rates, the report advocates improving the quality and relevance of teaching for the "17 million diverse students in many types of programs" that should be helping them learn and develop the "skills and dispositions that will help them succeed in the 21st century U.S." The recommendations are directed primarily at the curriculum and teaching although there is recognition that learning takes place in extra and cocurricular settings.
In addition, the report "asserts that the long-standing debate over the value of a liberal arts education versus a more 'applied' program is a 'false choice.'" In the ideal learning environment, in and out of class experiences would be valued and classroom content would include strong liberal arts and discipline-based mastery of knowledge. The result - students would see that the "ability to work and learn with others, and to disagree and debate respectfully, as a skill essential for a high quality of life and a future of economic success and effective democratic citizenship."
A professor at Knox College, Laura L. Behling, advocates a "whole college - whole student" view that encourages students to relate learning across disciplines as well as across experiences. Based on Martha Nussbaum's "Education for Citizenship in an Era of Global Connection," Behling probed students about their: 1) capacity for living a critically examined life; 2) understanding of other human beings, and; 3) critical imagination. She found that asking students to explore these capacities demonstrated "that there is more to students than just who they are in my class and that all of their courses are presenting them with opportunities for success and challenge." And I would add, that all of their EXPERIENCES could be explored for even greater impact.
Particular issues addressed in the report include; improving graduation rates, the need to garner public funding, and improving quality. Particularly related to quality and graduation rates, the report advocates improving the quality and relevance of teaching for the "17 million diverse students in many types of programs" that should be helping them learn and develop the "skills and dispositions that will help them succeed in the 21st century U.S." The recommendations are directed primarily at the curriculum and teaching although there is recognition that learning takes place in extra and cocurricular settings.
In addition, the report "asserts that the long-standing debate over the value of a liberal arts education versus a more 'applied' program is a 'false choice.'" In the ideal learning environment, in and out of class experiences would be valued and classroom content would include strong liberal arts and discipline-based mastery of knowledge. The result - students would see that the "ability to work and learn with others, and to disagree and debate respectfully, as a skill essential for a high quality of life and a future of economic success and effective democratic citizenship."
A professor at Knox College, Laura L. Behling, advocates a "whole college - whole student" view that encourages students to relate learning across disciplines as well as across experiences. Based on Martha Nussbaum's "Education for Citizenship in an Era of Global Connection," Behling probed students about their: 1) capacity for living a critically examined life; 2) understanding of other human beings, and; 3) critical imagination. She found that asking students to explore these capacities demonstrated "that there is more to students than just who they are in my class and that all of their courses are presenting them with opportunities for success and challenge." And I would add, that all of their EXPERIENCES could be explored for even greater impact.
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