Transcript Document

More Degrees, Higher Quality
Learning:
How Do We Get Both?
SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference:
Collaborating Across Boundaries in Challenging Times
August 10, 2012
Carol Geary Schneider
Overview
What High Quality Means – and Why It Matters
The Mounting Evidence of a Quality Shortfall
The Best Policy Priorities – for Completion AND
Quality
– High Effort, High Impact Practices
– Purposeful, Practice-Rich Pathways
Using New Tools to Design Purposeful Pathways
Quality and Student
Learning – Two
National Priorities
Underserved Student Success – Dramatically
Expanding Access and Completion
– Markers of Progress on Completion:
Enrollment, Persistence, Transfer, Timely
Degree Completion – Credit Hours
Quality and Student
Learning – Two National
Priorities (cont).
American Capability – Global Positioning for the
U.S. and American Learners
– Markers of Progress:
Students’ Demonstrated Achievement of
Learning Outcomes Needed for Success
Our Challenge
Merging the Two Priorities
Creating a Guiding Commitment to Inclusion
AND Achievement
Completion with Demonstrated Achievement
– Mapping Purposeful Pathways for Completion and
Quality
Quality Continued: What
Knowledge and Skills are
Needed for Success?
Preparation for a Fast-Paced Economy – and for
Multiple Jobs Over Time
Preparation for Knowledgeable Citizenship
Preparation to Make a Life – of Meaning and
Purpose
Focusing ONLY on the
Economy – Here’s
What Employers Say
“How Should Colleges Prepare Students to
Succeed in Today’s Economy?” (2007)
“How Should Colleges Assess And Improve
Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the
Accountability Challenge” (2008)
“Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College
Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn
(2010)
*For full reports on these surveys and related employer findings, see
www.aacu.org/leap.
College Learning for
the 21st Century Economy
 Employers are demanding more – much more
They want and seek many more universityeducated workers
They also seek much higher and broader
levels of learning in those they employ,
retain, and promote
Employers Are Raising the Bar
 91% of employers say that they are “asking employees
to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader
set of skills than in the past”
 88% of employers say that “the challenges their
employees face are more complex than they were in the
past.”
 88% of employers agree that “to succeed in their
companies, employees needs higher levels of learning
and knowledge than they did in the past.”
Source: “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the
Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)
The Growing Demand for Higher Order Skills
Source: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index
Economic Pressures:
Innovation and Measured
Risk-Taking
 In a globalized knowledge economy, the
capacity to drive INNOVATION is the key
strategic advantage
To Drive Innovation,
Employers Seek Employees
Who Can “Think Outside
the Box”
Nearly 2/3s of Employers
Think that Today’s Graduates
Need Both Broad Learning
AND In-Depth Learning
Preparation for a Specific Job or
Field is NOT Enough
The Four Things
Employers Want
Breadth as Well as Depth – Big Picture Thinking a
Well as Learning Related to Jobs
High Level Skills – Of Many Kinds Necessary to
Innovation
A Proactive Sense of Responsibility – Whether
and Why, Not Just How
Adaptive and Applied Learning – The Ability to
Get Things Done
Employers Do Not Want
People Who Are “Locked
Into Mental Cubicles” –
Because They Can’t Adapt
to Challenges and Change
So if these are the Goals,
How Are Students Doing?
The Preponderance of the
Evidence Shows that the
U.S. has a Quality Problem,
Not Just a Completion
Problem
2008 Employer Survey Findings[1]
Employers Grade Student Learning in
College
Global
knowledge
Self-direction
Writing
Critical thinking
Adaptability
Self-knowledge
Oral
communication
Quantitative
reasoning
Social
responsibility
Intercultural
Skills
Ethical
Judgement
Teamwork
Very well
prepared
(8-10 ratings)*
Not well
prepared
(1-5 ratings)*
Mean Rating*
18%
46%
5.7
23%
26%
22%
24%
28%
42%
37%
31%
30%
26%
5.9
6.1
6.3
6.3
6.5
30%
23%
6.6
32%
23%
6.7
35%
21%
6.7
38%
19%
6.9
38%
19%
6.9
39%
17%
7.0
* ratings on 10-point scale: 10 = recent college graduates are extremely well prepared on each quality to succeed in entry level
positions or be promoted/advance within the company
[1] Note: these findings are taken from a survey of employers commissioned by AAC&U and conducted by Peter A. Hart
Associates in November and December 2007. For a full report on the survey and its complete findings, see www.aacu.org/leap.
Underachievement
Numerous studies should that that too many
students are not “doing their best” and make
very limited gains in college.
 Arum/Roksa study: Academically Adrift
 Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges (2006)
 Blaich/Wabash Longitudinal Studies
 ACT/ETS Studies – 10% of seniors are
“proficient” in key skills
 Faculty Members’ Own Reports
Making Progress? What We Know
About the Achievement of Liberal Education
Outcomes by Ashley Finley (AAC&U, 2012)
From “Making Progress?”
“…for six of the eleven learning
outcomes measured by the Wabash
study, the majority of students showed
either ‘no growth or a decline’ over
four years.” – page 8
From “Making Progress?”
ETS Proficiency Profile
Seniors
Critical Thinking
8% Proficient
72% Not Proficient
Writing
9% Proficient
64% Not Proficient
ACT CAAP Test – Seniors
Scores declined slightly from 2004 to 2010 on measures of
Math, Critical Thinking, and Writing
Why is There a Quality
Problem?
A Mini-Case: Introduction to Micro-Economics:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Large evening lecture – one 3-hour meeting
No sections
No homework
No mathematics
Two multiple choice mid-terms
One multiple choice final exam
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, June 18, 2012
The Best Policy Priorities –
for Completion AND
Quality
High Impact, High Effort Educational
Practices
Purposeful, Practice-Rich Educational
Pathways
High Impact Practices
 First-Year Seminars and Experiences
 Common Intellectual Experiences
 Learning Communities
 Writing-Intensive Courses
 Collaborative Assignments and Projects
 “Science as Science Is Done”/Undergraduate Research
 Diversity/Global Learning
 Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
 Internships
 Capstone Courses and Projects
High Impact Practices
Correlate with Increased Completion
Correlate with Higher Levels of Learning
Outcomes
Five High-Impact Practices: Research
on Learning Outcomes, Completion,
and Quality
Jayne E. Brownell Lynn E. Swaner
(AAC&U, 2010)
Why Do the HIPs
Work?
Create Engaged and Supportive Community
Involve Students in Purposeful Learning
Connect Learning with Larger Questions
and Real-World Settings
Require Higher Order Inquiry, Exploration and
Problem-Solving
Engage Diversity as a Resource for Learning
In Tackling
Underachievement,
Intentionality is Central and
Students’ Engaged Practice is
the Key to Developing and
Demonstrating Essential
Learning Outcomes
Using New Tools to Design
Purposeful Pathways
Touchstones for
Quality
Mapping Essential Competencies Across Programs
of Study – the DQP
High Impact Practices – Ensuring Students’
Practice of Essential Competencies
Portable Portfolios – Students Working on Key
Competencies Across Multiple Levels and Sites
Integrating Practices That work for Persistence
INTO Programs of Study
There is a Lot of New
Evidence About Practices
that Work to Support
Completion AND Quality
Our Responsibility is to
Put the New Evidence to
Work in Purposeful
Designs for More
Educationally Productive
Programs and Policies