About two weeks ago, I wrote about my six-hour meeting with the BSU Future of Education Task Force. One of the primary outputs of this meeting was a list of ten challenge statements. There's no secret recipe involved, so here they are, in no particular order:
- How might Ball State University foster learning in college?
- How might BSU help students embrace serendipity and uncertainty?
- How might BSU assist/encourage faculty to modernize their teaching?
- How might BSU provide more opportunities for experiential or immersive learning?
- How might Ball State University make the educational experience more relevant and interesting for students?
- How might BSU increase classroom engagement and interaction?
- How might BSU give students more choice so they can personalize their education?
- How might Ball State University get faculty to accept the opportunity costs of change?
- How might BSU align awards and incentives to change teaching and assessment?
- How might BSU increase awareness of resources to help faculty improve their teaching?
So, dear reader, how might we?
How might BSU increase classroom engagement and interaction?
ReplyDeleteAdd a question about these aspects of instruction to the student course evaluations that are filled out on-line at the end of every semester. This ties desired behavior to merit pay. I'm a big believer in the carrot and stick principle of modifying instructor's behavior.
How might BSU assist/encourage faculty to modernize their teaching?
ReplyDelete"Modernize" seems like a vague term. Does this mean changing course content or course delivery style (e.g., incorporating web-based content or other technolgies such as web-based discussions)?
The creative teaching grant program could be expanded to have 2 tiers: larger grants for major innovations and smaller grants for modernization.
Alternatively, one could incorporate "modernness" in the rubric for assessing teaching for merit pay purposes.
Again, my standard answer to these "how" questions is to set up carrots and/or sticks to incentivize instructors to behave in desired manners.
How might BSU increase awareness of resources to help faculty improve their teaching?
ReplyDeleteI thought that was part of the mission of ITAS, see: http://cms.bsu.edu/About/AdministrativeOffices/ITAS/WhatWeDo/Teaching.aspx
This is a bit of my own interpretation, but our "modernization" theme was based on the desire to leverage technological and pedagogic advancement. To be clear, no one advocates technology for technology's sake, but rather the pragmatic application of technology to support learning, following modern advancements in the science of teaching and learning.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this challenge statement emerged from the general dissatisfaction with the "industrial model", which we used to reference both institutional structure and pedagogic frameworks. For example, we have students going through a sort of assembly line, shuffling between rooms as the bell rings rather than when learning objectives are met. Similarly, we want to "modernize" to genuine inquiry rather than fact transmission.
Thanks for sharing your ideas here! I'll be sure to incorporate them into the prototyping process. I especially like the idea of making more strategic use of creative teaching grants, since the infrastructure for these is already in place.
How might BSU give students more choice so they can personalize their education?
ReplyDeleteWe already offer a BGS degree which allows students to not fit into the "cookie-cutter" of fulfilling the requirments of a major. The BGS allows student to pick one 36-credit area of emphasis or two 18-hour areas of emphasis / minors. The BGS allows maximum flexibility for the student. It seems awareness of the BGS degree as an option for students is lower than it should be.