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Quote of the Week

We're next headed away from hard, confined definitions of learning timeframes. We're trying to change from the old agricultural cycle—or whatever it is that semesters are currently based on, because nobody really knows—to cycles based on learning outcomes. That might mean a course could take two years and other courses could take three weeks. How can we allow students to individualize their learning in a structured institution? We're looking to use technology and analytics to help us move into a much less constrained time structure.

Diana Oblinger, of EDUCAUSE, interviewing Michael M. Crow, president of ASU. These are two of SCUP’s favorite prognosticators. Where do they think higher ed is going? Worth a look at ‘No More Excuses’: Michael M. Crow on Analytics. 

A solid majority of faculty members (58 percent) described themselves as filled more with fear than with excitement ... . Meanwhile, academic technology administrators —defined as “individuals with responsibility for some aspect of academic technology at their institutions”—were overwhelmingly enthused; 80 percent said the online boom excited more than frightened them.

A new study—quite timely in light of the University of Virginia presidency situation and its relationship to online learning—shows faculty more fearful of online learning than tech administrators. Here’s an Inside Higher Ed article about it and here’s the PDF of the study. Inside Higher Ed is having a free webcast about this report on July 10.

Faculty and tech administrators also disagree on assessment of online instruction:

Meanwhile, online courses tend to generate more data from which instructors and their overseers can glean quantitative insights on student engagement and the degree to which a professor has succeeded in meeting specific learning objectives.

Administrators seemed more confident that their institutions were indeed supplying their online instructors with good quality-assessment tools; more than 50 percent of administrators believed their institutions had such tools in place, compared to 25 percent of faculty members.

Question. What are the main obstacles standing in the way of an entirely a entirely affordable, accessible, high-quality, and open world of higher education? Are they technological, social, matters of government policy or the conduct and structure of institutions?

Answer. Tradition dies hard. Once you establish a hierarchy of what counts as the pinnacle of excellence (with Oxford and Cambridge in England, Harvard in the U.S., Tokyo University in Japan) it is hard for those who have proted within that system of hierarchy to admit that reputation is not always equal to excellence, that esteem does not necessarily lead to innovation. So institutional resistance, deeply nestled within the class system and reward systems, would top the list. There are also billions of dollars resting in the current system, so there is much resistance to major change.  

 ^{Go directly to the original of the resource described below.}

This is good for a basic understanding, but what we most wanted to share—in case you don’t click and go read it—is a concept that we just finally understood: Flipped Learning uses technology before and after class, to support the engagement of learners and faculty in the rare and valuable face to face moments we call “class time". There are other interesting concepts in this piece, as well:

This article from Planning for Higher Education's January 2010 issue, is the updated results of an ongoing environmental scanning process by Herman Miller. We've decided to share it with the larger higher education audience, so please do let your colleagues know that this is available here. The embed below, is from SCUP's publishing presence on Scribd. We'd like to call your attention to the authors' trend #7:

Advances in technology will drive ongoing changes in all aspects of college and university life and offer new opportunities to enhanced and broaden learning experiences. ... There is no service of activity conducted in higher education that will not be affected by advances in technology. t is time to conduct a comprehensive and holistic institutional review of this rapidly growing tool.

There will be a related conversation on SCUP's Linked in group of ~2,500 participants (newly named the Integrated & Well-Planning Campus) this week, beginning in the afternoon of Tuesday, June 21, led by SCUP board member Michael Hites of the University of Illinois Administration and Kelly Block, also of the University of Illinois. They are presenting a half-day workshop on Sunday, July 24 near Washington, DC, titled: Designing IT Governance to Facilitate Decision Making Across the Organization. It's the kind of workshop you want to attend when you consider the quote above about the impact of technology on everything and everyone.

People who plan need to find relevant and credible information streams. SCUP provides those streams. From @SCUPNews, the society's daily environmental scanning tweet stream and the weekly SCUP Email News • to publications like Planning for Higher Education and Trends to Watch In Higher Education • to networks on LinkedIn and Facebook • to the society's annual, international conference and idea marketplace (July 23-27, ~DC)

We've titled this post "Are Students Brains Changing Faster Than Higher Ed Can?" It's actually an untitled item from the Learning section of 2010's Trends to Watch and takes the form of an observation with related thoughts.

"Trends" is written by SCUP's director of education and planning, Phyllis T.H. Grummon, who will facilitate SCUP's Pacific Region's June 10 Trends in Higher Education Symposium the Claremont Colleges.

Learning

Observation

Changes in the learning environment, sometimes very subtle, can affect the performance of students in classrooms.

• Exposure to the letters “A” or “F” at the start of an examination seems to have an affect on how well students score. Subjects receiving an analogies test with the label “Test Bank ID: A” scored significantly better than students with “Test Bank: F”, with a “Test Bank ID: J” scoring in the middle.
• A study of high school students found that the gender of the images of scientists affected test scores for females. When all male examples were used, girls’ test scores were lower. They increased when textbook pictures were either all female or equally divided. 
• Recent research reports that a variety of skills are enhanced by playing action video games, including better visual selective attention and better focus.

Our Thoughts

Technology is also introducing changes in the environment. Our interaction with it appears to be influencing how our brains are wired. The power to increase learning comes with the reality of our evolving nervous system The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, (2010) Carr, N., W. W. Norton).

• Math software developed by the University of California-Irvine, based on neuroscience research, significantly increased the passing rate on a state examination in 64 of the lowest performing elementary schools in the state.
• Devices that track eye movements while reading on a screen can now be combined with software that infers a reader’s progress and provides help when eyes pause on words or names.
• Informal learning through television, video games, and the Internet has increased students’ abilities with visual-spatial reasoning.

We've been hearing a lot of good things about this recent article from SCUP's journal, Planning for Higher Education, and requests to be able to read it. So we've brought it outside password protection for a wider audience. SCUP hopes you find this integrated planning look at things to be both useful and inspiring.

Tell us, below, if you find this kind of information resource valuable, or not. It is the parts of SCUP's daily Twitter feed of its environmental scanning, sorted into geographically pertinent items, by region.

"Slip-Sliding Away: An Anxious Public Talks About Today's Economy And The American Dream," is a report from Public Agenda which finds that the number one financial concern of economically-stressed Americans who also have children is college affordability. Also high on Americans' priorities, stressed financially or not: Social security and retirement benefits and job training.

If this isn't an indication of high demand for higher education, we don't know what is:

When it comes to what would be "very effective" in helping people become economically secure, the public puts its faith in higher education and job training, along with preserving programs like Social Security and Medicare. These are the top three solutions among both those who are struggling and those who aren't.

"Making higher education more affordable" led the list overall (63 percent) and among those who say they're struggling (65 percent). Preserving Social Security and Medicare was next at 58 percent (62 percent among the struggling) and expanding job-training programs came in third at 54 percent (56 percent for the struggling).

Neither cutting taxes for the middle class (48 percent) nor reducing the federal deficit (40 percent) get majority support, and other options rate even lower. ...

One reason for the faith in education may be the public's perception of who's struggling the most in the current economy. Three-quarters of Americans say that people without college degrees are struggling a lot these days, compared to just half who say college graduates are struggling.

What next for architects? What are the big issues to be faced in the next decade? In Architectural Record, Clifford A. Pearson, assembles recognized experts to share their expectations.

Among them is SCUPer Bob Berkebile of BNIM (Kansas City, MO) from SCUP's North Central Region, who has made valuable contributions to sessions at SCUP's international and regional conferences. Bob has worked diligently through professional organizations such as SCUP, AIA, and USGBC.

• William F. Baker on Structures
• James P. Barrett on BIM
• Robert Murray on the Economy
• Bob Berkebile on LEED
• Paul Nakazawa on Big Firms
• Rickey Burdett on Cities
• Sheila Kennedy on Materials
• June Williamson on Suburbia
• Alexandra Lang on Criticism
• George Baird on Theory