business side of he

The Public Is Giving Up on Higher Ed — from chronicle.com by Michael D. Smith
Our current system isn’t working for society. Digital alternatives can change that.

Excerpts:

I fear that we in the academy are willfully ignoring this problem. Bring up student-loan debt and you’ll hear that it’s the government’s fault. Bring up online learning and you’ll hear that it is — and always will be — inferior to in-person education. Bring up exclusionary admissions practices and you’ll hear something close to, “Well, the poor can attend community colleges.”

On one hand, our defensiveness is natural. Change is hard, and technological change that risks making traditional parts of our sector obsolete is even harder. “A professor must have an incentive to adopt new technology,” a tenured colleague recently told me regarding online learning. “Innovation adoption will occur one funeral at a time.”

But while our defense of the status quo is understandable, maybe we should ask whether it’s ethical, given what we know about the injustice inherent in our current system. I believe a happier future for all involved — faculty, administrators, and students — is within reach, but requires we stop reflexively protecting our deeply flawed system. How can we do that? We could start by embracing three fundamental principles.

1. Digitization will change higher education.
…
2. We should want to embrace this change.
…
3. We have a way to embrace this change.

I fear that we in the academy are willfully ignoring this problem. Bring up student-loan debt and you’ll hear that it’s the government’s fault. Bring up online learning and you’ll hear that it is — and always will be — inferior to in-person education. Bring up exclusionary admissions practices and you’ll hear something close to, “Well, the poor can attend community colleges.”

Citing Significant Budget Deficits, Several Colleges Face Cuts [Lederman] + other HE-related items

On 10/09/2023, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, funding / grants, future of higher education, higher education, parents/guardians, student-related, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

US Higher Education Needs a Revolution. What’s Holding It Back? — from bloomberg.com by Tyler Cowen
Not only do professors need to change how they teach, but universities need to change how they evaluate them.

When the revolution in higher education finally arrives, how will we know? I have a simple metric: When universities change how they measure faculty work time. Using this yardstick, the US system remains very far from a fundamental transformation.

But today’s education system is dynamic, and needs to become even more so. There is already the internet, YouTube, and a flurry of potential innovations coming from AI. If professors really are a society’s best minds, shouldn’t they be working to improve the entire educational process, not just punching the equivalent of a time clock at a university?

Such a change would require giving them credit for innovations, which in turn would require a broader conception of their responsibilities.

Citing Significant Budget Deficits, Several Colleges Face Cuts — from insidehighered.com by Doug Lederman
The affected institutions include Christian Brothers, Delta State, Lane Community College, Miami University, St. Norbert and Shepherd.

Numerous colleges and universities, public and private, announced in recent days that they face significant budget deficits that will require cuts to programs and employees.

Many of the institutions appear to have been motivated by fall enrollment numbers that did not meet their expectations, in most cases representing a failure to recover from record low enrollments during the pandemic. Others cited the lingering effects on enrollment and budgets from COVID-19, exacerbated by the end of federal relief funds.

How universities can adopt a lifelong learning mindset: Lifelong learning that will last — from timeshighereducation.com by various authors
How the traditional university degree can be reimagined as a lifelong educational journey, enabling students to upskill and reskill throughout their lives

The rapid evolution of the workplace and changing skills demands are driving calls for better lifelong learning provision. For universities, this means re-examining traditional teaching practices and course design to ensure that students can benefit from continuing education throughout their careers. It requires more flexible, accessible, bite-sized learning that can be completed in tandem with other professional and personal commitments. But how can this be offered in a coherent, joined-up way without sacrificing quality? From Moocs to microcredentials, these resources offer advice and insight into how lifelong learning opportunities can be developed and improved for future generations.

The College Backlash Is Going Too Far — from theatlantic.com by David Deming; via Matthew Tower who also expresses his concerns re: this article from The Chronicle
Getting a four-year degree is still a good investment.

American higher education certainly has its problems. But the bad vibes around college threaten to obscure an important economic reality: Most young people are still far better off with a four-year college degree than without one.

Historically, analysis of higher education’s value tends to focus on the so-called college wage premium. That premium has always been massive—college graduates earn much more than people without a degree, on average—but it doesn’t take into account the cost of getting a degree. So the St. Louis Fed researchers devised a new metric, the college wealth premium, to try to get a more complete picture.

But the long-term value of a bachelor’s degree is much greater than it initially appears. If a college professor or pundit tries to convince you otherwise, ask them what they would choose for their own children.

From DSC:
David’s last quote here is powerful and likely true. But that doesn’t mean that we should disregard trying to get the cost of obtaining a degree down by 50% or more. There are still way too many people struggling with student loans — and they have been for DECADES. And others will be joining these same financial struggles — again, for DECADES to come.

Johns Hopkins aims to address teacher shortage with new master’s residency option — from hub.jhu.edu ; via Matthew Tower

The School of Education’s TeachingWell program will provide professional, financial support for applicants looking to start long-term careers in teaching

Students in TeachingWell will earn the Master of Education for Teaching Professionals in four semesters at Johns Hopkins and gain Maryland state teacher certification along with real-world teaching experience—all made stronger by ongoing mentoring, life design, and teacher wellness programs through the university.

“We will focus on teacher well-being and life-design skills that address burnout and mental health concerns that are forcing too many teachers out of the profession,” says Mary Ellen Beaty-O’Ferrall, associate professor at the School of Education and faculty director of TeachingWell. “We want teachers with staying power—effective and financially stable educators with strong personal well-being.”

How to Build Stackable Credentials — from insidehighered.com by Lindsay Daugherty , Peter Nguyen , Jonah Kushner and Peter Riley Bahr
Five actions states and colleges are taking.

Stackable credentials are a top priority for many states and colleges these days. The term can be used to mean different things, from college efforts to embed short-term credentials into their degree programs to larger-scale efforts to rethink the way credentialing is done through alternative approaches, like skills badges. The goals of these initiatives are twofold: (1) to ensure individuals can get credit for a range of different learning experiences and better integrate these different types of learning, and (2) to better align our education and training systems with workforce needs, which often require reskilling through training and credentials below the bachelor’s degree level.S

College Cost Transparency Press Release

On 10/07/2023, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business side of he, colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

College Cost Transparency Press Release — from collegeprice.org
Hundreds of Colleges and Universities Commit to Student Cost Transparency

WASHINGTON, D.C, SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 — The College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) — a task force composed of the leaders of 10 higher education associations representing college presidents, financial aid offices, and admissions and school counselors — today announced that more than 360 institutions of higher education have voluntarily committed to follow a set of principles and standards that ensure transparency, clarity, and understanding around communicating student financial aid offers. Together, these institutions serve more than 3.8 million college students in the United States.

The monumental commitment comes as lawmakers, think tanks, and government entities continue to scrutinize the financial aid offers that colleges and universities present to students. The principles and standards recommended by the CCT respond to the needs of students and families in a nuanced and careful manner.

“The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings” [Rosowsky]

On 10/04/2023, in business side of he, change, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, law schools, pace of change, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings — from forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org by David Rosowsky; via Robert Gibson on LinkedIn

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Brian Mitchell, former president of Bucknell University and Washington & Jefferson College, draws on his experience to offer insight in his newest Forbes contribution. He also offers a stern warning: “Boards, administrators, and faculty must wake up to the new realities they now face… the faculty can no longer live in a world that no longer exists… institutional change will happen at a speed to which they are unaccustomed and potentially unwilling to accept.” President Mitchell then goes on to offer some immediate steps that can be taken. Perhaps the most important is to “abandon the approach to governance where trustees are updated in their periodic board meetings.”

Incremental change is possible, but transformational change may not be.

Therein lies the conundrum about which Rosenberg writes in his new book. Higher ed’s own systems are inhibiting needed transformational change.

Also just published was the book, “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Resistance to Change in Higher Education” by Brian Rosenberg, former president of Macalester College. Articles on Rosenberg’s observations, analysis, and cautions have appeared this month in both The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed, the two leading higher education publications in the US.

Addendum on 10/6/23:

Higher Education as Its Own Worst Enemy — from insidehighered.com/ by Susan H. Greenberg
In a wide-ranging discussion about his new book, Brian Rosenberg explains how shared governance, tenure and other practices stifle change on college campuses.

He argues that the institutions designed to foster critical inquiry and the open exchange of ideas are themselves staunchly resistant to both.

The other would be some serious thinking about pedagogy and how students learn. Because the research is there if people were willing to take it seriously and think about ways of providing an education that is not quite as reliant upon lots of faculty with Ph.D.s. Is that easy to do? No, but it is something that I think there should at least begin to be some serious discussions about.
…
Shared governance is one of those things that if you ask any college president off the record, they’ll probably express their frustration, then they’ll go back to their campus and wax poetic about the wonders of shared governance, because that’s what they have to do to survive.

Can this point be expanded/applied to traditional institutions of HE as a whole? [Christian]

On 09/18/2023, in business side of he, colleges, community colleges, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, leadership, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In Rick Seltzer’s Daily Briefing for 9-18-23, he ends the briefing with this important point:

The bigger picture: Culture is exceedingly hard to change, especially after trust evaporates in a crisis. And crises can be particularly wrenching when institutions haven’t established cultures of transparency and accountability during good times. Instead, trust continues to erode in a vicious cycle.

And I thought to myself, the scope of Rick’s conclusion could likely be expanded/applied to institutions of higher education as a whole.

Ask the Chair: Are Great Chairs Born or Made? [Dettmar]

On 09/13/2023, in business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, faculty/staff, higher education, leadership, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, quality, skills, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Ask the Chair: Are Great Chairs Born or Made? — from chronicle.com by Kevin Dettmar (behind a paywall)
Higher education is finally getting serious about training new department heads.

Great chairs aren’t born, but made; “trial and error” isn’t actually a professional-development strategy. The provost and deans should recognize that a confident and competent chair makes their job easier, creates a well-functioning department, and buoys faculty, student, and staff morale.

As someone vitally engaged with the chair’s role, I do think we are experiencing a sea-change when it comes to how institutions are preparing chairs. For too long, colleges have treated the position as simply a minor cog in the chain of command. But more and more institutions are now investing in their chairs.

“What’s the right measure of good teaching?” [McMurtrie] + other higher education-related items

On 08/18/2023, in adjunct faculty, business side of he, career development, colleges, community colleges, faculty/staff, higher education, online learning, quality, teaching & learning, United States, universities, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

Teaching: What’s the right measure of good teaching? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie

There are several elements to this challenge. The first is that many campuses depend largely, if not exclusively, on student course evaluations when it comes to measuring instructional quality. And often those evaluations are not particularly well designed or substantive.
…
But even when course evaluations are better designed, I’m not sure any teaching experts would argue that they should be the exclusive measure of whether a faculty member is an effective teacher. That brings us to the second element of the challenge: What else can a college do?

Several readers offered suggestions, such as to include classroom observations, peer evaluation, and teaching portfolios — in which, say, an instructor describes their teaching philosophy and classroom practices, along with evidence that they are working to strengthen their teaching.

Why Labor Shortages on Campus-Building Staffs Are Reaching ‘Crisis Situations’ — from an email newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education which eventually links to this article

Who will keep the buildings open?
It’s no secret colleges have struggled to fill staff positions like administrative assistants, information-technology specialists, and admissions officers in today’s tight labor market. But many institutions are grasping for ways to fill key facilities positions that literally keep the doors open, such as custodians, electricians, carpenters, and maintenance workers, our Scott Carlson writes.

Staffing shortages strain the employees and contractors already on the payroll. Facilities-staff members are aging and often juggling project backlogs.

Remember: Building services were the third-most-difficult area to hire in, according to a Chronicle survey conducted earlier this year, behind information technology and dining services. Six in 10 respondents said hiring building-services staff was a serious or moderate problem.

Higher ed may be a victim of its own success. The country has emphasized college after high school over the last four decades, while trades have struggled to attract workers.

An eye-opening stat: Even with a recently renewed emphasis on the trades, the U.S. has only about 600,000 people in apprenticeships, far below the 17 million students enrolled in college.

Which Colleges Pay Off for Low-Income Students? — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo

Colleges and universities that specialize in health and technology proved to serve low-income students who end up with the highest starting salaries six years after they enrolled. For this earnings data, College Scorecard does not take into account whether students graduated or not.

Hover your cursor over each bar to read details about each institution.

Brave New Classrooms — from Dr. Philippa Hardman
Why 2023-2024 will be remembered as the academic year that education embraced AI

After a rocky start, more and more evidence suggests that the academic year 2023-2024 will likely prove to be a defining year for higher education: the year higher education embraced AI.

Over the course of the next academic year, we will likely see three main changes in the world of education:

More education institutions will embrace AI & develop policies & guidance on its appropriate use at the institution, department & classroom level.
We will see a wave of assessment reform, with a new focus on the assessment of learners’ process and skills, including the effective use of AI.
To enable this chance, we will see a rapid increase in the provision of AI training for leaders, educators and administrators.

While risks and barriers to entry remain real, supported by well-rounded strategic frameworks, the education system has the potential to leverage AI reinvent itself and improve its ability to deliver on the promise to deliver real-world-relevant education.

Two-thirds of colleges are adding online programs, survey finds — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The annual CHLOE report tracks changing student demand for virtual education and how institutions are adapting their offerings in response.

The Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE), 2023
Student Demand Moves Higher Ed Toward a Multi-Modal Future

The majority of survey participants report increased student demand for online and hybrid learning juxtaposed with decreased demand for face-to-face courses and programs. Most participants also say that their institutions are aligning or working to align their strategic priorities to meet this demand. Notable findings from the 50+-page report include:

Face-to-Face enrollment is stagnant or declining.
Online and hybrid enrollment is growing.
Institutions are quickly aligning their strategic priorities to meet online/hybrid student demand.
“Quiet” quality assurance.

Some reflections on college sports [Christian]

On 08/14/2023, in business side of he, change, changing business models, colleges, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, student-related, surviving, trends, United States, by Daniel Christian

College sports is following the money but may not like where it leads — from theathletic.com by Chris Vannini

Excerpts:

College sports long ago hitched its entire wagon to the money train.
…
But college sports is about to learn, if it hasn’t already, that when you’ve sacrificed everything at the altar of money, you no longer control where things go, and you might not like where it ends. The big brands will be fine, but a lot of fans will be left behind, and this isn’t the end of it.

The people who make these decisions won’t deal with the long-term consequences. The Big Ten commissioner who added USC and UCLA last year — the beginning of the end of the Pac-12 — bailed on college sports less than a year later. Most of the commissioners who created the CFP a decade ago have left. More commissioners, athletic directors and other administrators are just passing through to their next job, blowing up the sport to make money and put something on the resume. It’s not their fault. It’s what they were asked to do.
…
As we shrink at the top, the big brands will survive. I fear for everyone else. Nothing in the history of sports has shown that shrinking your product helps it, yet it’s happening to the No. 2 sport in the country. What happens to the fans you leave out? Are they supposed to change school allegiances? Are their kids?

It was fun when college football fans could argue about who was better on the field. Now we spend each offseason arguing about who has the better television deal. I can’t blame fans for that. Because the industry’s leaders have been yelling for years that the only thing that mattered was money. The supposed apocalyptic future they feared for years has arrived by their own hand, and it won’t stop here.

From DSC:
I played tennis at Northwestern University. We had a very solid team. (We finished #2 in the Big 10 my freshman year, losing to Michigan by 1 point. My partner and I won our flight that year in doubles.) So I know what it’s like to travel 8-10 hours in the back of a station wagon or a van to play another Big 10 Team. And then to try and get ready for that midterm on the Monday after being gone all weekend. I know what it’s like to get back from practices almost every day to find others leaving the dining room and I’m just getting there. I know what it’s like to see people getting back from the library when I’m just going there. I know what it’s like to dedicate some serious time and energy to a sport while trying to get a solid degree in — knowing that I wouldn’t be pursuing tennis after college.

So when these enormous decisions are made for football and their lucrative TV contracts, I feel for all of the other athletes who are trying to be STUDENT-ATHLETES and not just pre-NFL players. There are some seriously long weeks/weekends ahead for them, as they have to make their way ***clear across the country*** to play their conference opponents.

Along these lines, see this Tweet:

Several softball players who compete for schools that are leaving the Pac-12 have spoken out against the latest round of conference realignment.

They cited mental health and further distances for their families to travel for road games. pic.twitter.com/jeURfGGqjC

— Andy Wittry (@AndyWittry) August 5, 2023

Also relevant, see the following addendum made on 8/15/23:
Athletes and Grad Students and Higher Ed’s Next Headache — from jeffselingo-14576223.hs-sites.com by Jeff Selingo

“Enrollment is driving everything right now,” said James Sparkman, the founder of Alpha Education…

DC: Enrollment = sales

Welcome to the realization that HE is a business. Welcome to a world & dynamics that other co’s/organizations have known for years. https://t.co/VBbOcWZxPw

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 2, 2023

Student loan debt: Averages and other statistics in 2023 — from usatoday.com by Rebecca Safier and Ashley Harrison; via GSV

Excerpt:

The cost of college has more than doubled over the past four decades — and student loan borrowing has risen along with it. The student loan debt balance in the U.S. has increased by 66% over the past decade, and it now totals more than $1.77 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

Here’s a closer look at student loan debt statistics in the U.S. today, broken down by age, race, gender and other demographics.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 54% of bachelor’s degree students who attended public and private four-year schools graduated with student loans, according to the College Board. These students left school with an average balance of $29,100 in education debt.

From DSC:
With significant monthly payments, many graduates HAVE TO HAVE good jobs that pay decent salaries. This is an undercurrent flowing through the higher ed learning ecosystem — with ramifications for what students/families/guardians expect from their investments.

‘Pracademics,’ professors who work outside the academy, win new respect — from washingtonpost.com by Jon Marcus
What’s in a word? A way to help impatient college students better connect to jobs.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Among its approaches, the university focuses on having students learn from people like Taylor, who work or have worked in the fields about which they teach. Sheffield Hallam even has a catchy word to describe these practical academics: “pracademics.”
…
American universities have pracademics, too, of course. They’re among the more than 710,000 part-time and non-tenure-track faculty members who now make up some 61 percent of all faculty, according to the American Association of University Professors. Other adjectives for them include “adjunct,” “casual,” “contingent,” “external” and “occasional.”

From DSC:
For several years now I’ve thought that adjuncts are the best bet for our current traditional institutions of higher education to remain relevant and have healthier enrollments (i.e., sales) as well as offer better ROI’s that the students are looking for. Why? Because adjuncts bring current, real-world expertise to the classroom.

But the problem here is that many of these same institutions have treated adjunct faculty members poorly. Adjunct faculty members are often viewed as second-class citizens in many colleges and universities — even though they provide the lion’s share of the teaching, grading, and assessing of students’ work. They don’t get benefits, they are paid far less than tenured faculty members, and they often don’t know if they will actually be teaching a course or not. Chances are they don’t get to vote or have a say within faculty senates and such. They are often without power…without a voice.

I’m not sure many adjunct faculty members in the U.S. will stay with these institutions if something better comes around in the way of other alternatives.

Colgate Adds Trade School to Higher Education Employee Benefit — from colgate.edu by Daniel DeVries; via Brandon Busteed on LinkedIn

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

One of Colgate University’s most important employee benefits has been expanded to support employee children as they seek trade or vocational education.

Colgate, like many leading universities, offers financial support for employee children who attend an accredited college or university in pursuit of an undergraduate degree. Now, at the University, this benefit has been expanded to include employee children who enroll in trade or vocational schools.

Coursera’s degree and certificate offerings help drive Q2 revenue growth — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
The MOOC platform’s CEO touted the company’s strategy of allowing students to stack short-term credentials into longer offerings.

Dive Brief:

Coursera’s revenue increased to $153.7 million in the second quarter of 2023, up 23% compared to the same period last year, according to the company’s latest financial results.
The increases were partly driven by strong demand for the MOOC platform’s entry-level professional certificates and rising enrollment in its degree programs.
During a call with analysts Thursday, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda attributed some of that enrollment growth to new offerings, which include a cybersecurity analyst certificate from Microsoft and artificial intelligence degree programs from universities in India and Colombia.

Are ‘quick wins’ possible in assessment and feedback? Yes, and here’s how — from timeshighereducation.com by Beverley Hawkins, Eleanor Hodgson, Oli Young
It takes coordination, communication, and credibility to implement quick improvements in assessment and feedback, as a team from the University of Exeter explain

One way to establish this is to form an “assessment and feedback expert group”. Bringing together assessment expertise from educators and academic development specialists, and student participants across the institution establishes a community of practice beyond those in formal leadership roles, who can share their experience and bring opportunities for improvement back into their local networks.

Focusing the group on “quick wins” can encourage discussion to address specific tips and tricks that educators can use without changing their assessment briefs and without significant preparation.

Also re: providing feedback see:

Five common misconceptions on writing feedback — from timeshighereducation.com by Rolf Norgaard , Stephanie Foster
Misapprehensions about responding to and grading writing can prevent educators using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Rolf Norgaard and Stephanie Foster set out to dispel them

Writing is essential for developing higher-order skills such as critical thinking, enquiry and metacognition. Common misconceptions about responding to and grading writing can get in the way of using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Here, we attempt to dispel these myths and provide recommendations for effective teaching.

How generative AI like ChatGPT is pushing assessment reform — from timeshighereducation.com by Amir Ghapanchi
AI has brought assessment and academic integrity in higher education to the fore. Here, Amir Ghapanchi offers seven ways to evaluate student learning that mitigate the impact of AI writers

Recommended assessment types to mitigate AI use
These assessment types can help universities to minimise the adverse effects of GAI:

Staged assignments
In-class presentations followed by questions
Group projects
Personal reflection essays
Class discussion
In-class handwritten exams
Performance-based assessments

Instructors Rush to Do ‘Assignment Makeovers’ to Respond to ChatGPT — from edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young

(Referring to rubrics) But, Bruff says, “the more transparent I am in the assignment description, the easier it is to paste that description into ChatGPT to have it do the work for you. There’s a deep irony there.”

Bruff, the teaching consultant, says his advice to any teacher is not to have an “us against them mentality” with students. Instead, he suggests, instructors should admit that they are still figuring out strategies and boundaries for new AI tools as well, and should work with students to develop ground rules for how much or how little tools like ChatGPT can be used to complete homework.

Nearly 90% of staff report major barriers between traditional and emerging academic programs — from universitybusiness.com by Alcino Donadel
Only 53% of respondents recognized an existing strategic initiative at their institution with regard to PCE units; 17% indicated none existed, and 30% were not sure.

In the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’ (AACRAO) new survey on how institutions are mediating PCE units’ coexistence with the academic registrar, they found that once-siloed PCE units that are now converging with the academic registrar are causing internal tension and confusion.

“Because the two units have been organically grown for years to be separate institutions and to offer different things, it is difficult to grow together without knowing the goals of each or having a relationship,” one anonymized respondent said in the report.

The invisible cost of resisting AI in higher education — from blogs.lse.ac.uk by Dr. Philippa Hardman

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The implications of this development are perhaps more significant than we realise. There has been much discussion in recent months about the risks associated with the rise of generative AI for higher education, with most of the discussion centring around the challenge that ChatGPT poses to academic integrity.

However, much less work has been done on exploring the negative – even existential – consequences that might stem from not embracing AI in higher education. Are these new principles enough to reverse the risk of irrelevance?

What if we reimagine “learning” in higher education as something more than the recall and restructuring of existing information? What if instead of lectures, essays and exams we shifted to a model of problem sets, projects and portfolios?

I am often asked what this could look like in practice. If we turn to tried and tested instructional strategies which optimise for learner motivation and mastery, it would look something like this…

Also relevant/see:

Do or Die? — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
The invisible cost of resisting AI in higher education

Excerpt:

Embracing AI in the higher education sector prepares students for the increasingly technology-driven job market and promotes more active, participatory learning experiences which we know lead to better outcomes for both students and employers.
With the rising popularity of alternative education routes such as bootcamps and apprenticeships, it’s crucial for traditional higher education to engage positively with AI in order to maintain its competitiveness and relevance.

DC: Sounds very useful for learning-related items.

“Custom instructions allow you to add preferences or requirements that you’d like ChatGPT to consider when generating its responses.” https://t.co/n0WOJnmDIY

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) July 21, 2023

For example, a teacher crafting a lesson plan no longer has to repeat that they’re teaching 3rd grade science. A developer preferring efficient code in a language that’s not Python – they can say it once, and it’s understood. Grocery shopping for a big family becomes easier, with the model accounting for 6 servings in the grocery list.

This is the worst AI will ever be, so focused are educators on the present they can’t see the future — from donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com by Donald Clark

Teaching technology
There is also the misconception around the word ‘generative’, the assumption that all it does is create blocks of predictable text. Wrong. May of its best uses in learning are its ability to summarise, outline, provide guidance, support and many other pedagogic features that can be built into the software. This works and will mean tutors, teachers, teaching support, not taking support, coaches and many other services will emerge that aid both teaching and learning. They are being developed in their hundreds as we speak.

This simple fact, that this is the first technology to ‘learn’ and learn fast, on scale, continuously, across a range of media and tasks, it what makes it extraordinary.

On holding back the strange AI tide — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
There is no way to stop the disruption. We need to channel it instead

And empowering workers is not going to be possible with a top-down solution alone. Instead, consider:

Radical incentives to ensure that workers are willing to share what they learn. If they are worried about being punished, they won’t share. If they are worried they won’t be rewarded, they won’t share. If they are worried that the AI tools that they develop might replace them, or their coworkers, they won’t share. Corporate leaders need to figure out a way to reassure and reward workers, something they are not used to doing.
Empowering user-to-user innovation. Build prompt libraries that help workers develop and share prompts with other people inside the organization. Open up tools broadly to workers to use (while still setting policies around proprietary information), and see what they come up with. Create slack time for workers to develop, and discuss, AI approaches.
Don’t rely on outside providers or your existing R&D groups to tell you the answer. We are in the very early days of a new technology. Nobody really knows anything about the best ways to use AI, and they certainly don’t know the best ways to use it in your company. Only by diving in, responsibly, can you hope to figure out the best use cases.

Teaching: Preparing yourself for AI in the classroom — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie

Auburn’s modules cover the following questions:

What do I need to know about AI?
What are the ethical considerations in a higher-ed context?
How will AI tools affect the courses I teach?
How are students using AI tools, and how can I partner with my students?
How do I need to rethink exams, papers, and projects I assign?
How do I redesign my courses in the wake of AI disruption?
What other AI tools or capabilities are coming, and how can I design for them?
What conversations need to happen in my department or discipline, and what is my role?

Transforming Higher Education: AI as an Assistive Technology for Inclusive Learning — from fenews.co.uk by Gain Hoole

In recent years, I have witnessed the transformative power of technology in higher education. One particular innovation that has captured my attention is Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI holds tremendous potential as an assistive technology for students with reasonable adjustments in further education (FE) and higher education (HE).

In this comprehensive blog post, I will delve into the multifaceted aspects of AI as an assistive technology, exploring its benefits, considerations, challenges, and the future it holds for transforming higher education.

The integration of AI as an assistive technology can create an inclusive educational environment where all students, regardless of disabilities or specific learning needs, have equal access to educational resources. Real-time transcription services, text-to-speech capabilities, and personalized learning experiences empower students like me to engage with course content in various formats and at our own pace (Fenews, 2023). This not only removes barriers but also fosters a more inclusive and diverse academic community.

5 Ways to Ease Students Off the Lecture and Into Active Learning — from chronicle.com by Jermey T. Murphy
Lecturing endures in college classrooms in part because students prefer that style of teaching. How can we shift that preference?

What can we do? Here are five considerations I’ll be following this coming fall in response to that nagging “less discussion, more instruction” evaluation.

Lecture … sparingly.
Routinely ask how the course is going.
Be transparent.
…and more

A three-part series re: courseware out at The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Millions of Students a Year Are Required to Buy Courseware. Often, It Replaces the Professor. — from chronicle.com by Taylor Swaak
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Courseware Can Be Integral to a Course. Why, Then, Are Students Footing the Bill for It? — from chronicle.com by Taylor Swaak
The Homework Tax | For students already struggling to afford college, courseware can add to the burden
Their argument is multifold: For one, they say, products like these — which often deliver key elements of a course that an instructor would typically be responsible for, like homework, assessments, and grading — should not be the student’s burden. At least one student advocate said colleges, rather, should cover or subsidize the cost, as they do with software like learning-management systems, if they’re allowing faculty free rein to adopt the products.
…
And the fact that students’ access to these products expires — sometimes after just a semester — rubs salt in the wound, and risks further disadvantaging students.
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Bots Are Grabbing Students’ Personal Data When They Complete Assignments — from chronicle.com by Taylor Swaak
When students use courseware, how much personal data is it collecting?

Institutions aren’t “letting the wolf into the henhouse”; instead, “we’re letting the hens out into a forest of wolves,” said Billy Meinke, an open educational resources technologist with the Outreach College at the University of Hawaii-Manoa who’s done research on publisher misuse of student data.
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Here are five reading challenges to learn about learning this summer — from retrievalpractice.org by Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Here are five summer reading challenges to learn about the science of learning.

Important: make sure you remember what you learn! Engage yourself in retrieval practice and retrieve two things after each book, practice guide, and research article you read. Share your two things with our communities on Twitter and Facebook, make a list of what you’ve learned to boost your long-term learning,…

Assignment Makeovers in the AI Age: Essay Edition — from derekbruff.org Derek Bruff

Last week, I explored some ways an instructor might want to (or need to) redesign a reading response assignment for the fall, given the many AI text generation tools now available to students. This week, I want to continue that thread with another assignment makeover. Reading response assignments were just the warm up; now we’re tackling the essay assignment.

Here are ways professional education leaders can prepare students for the rise of AI — from highereddive.com by A. Benjamin Spencer
Institutions must adapt their curricula to incorporate artificial intelligence-related topics, the dean of William & Mary Law School argues.

First, they need to understand that the technological side of AI can no longer be simply left to the information technology experts. Regardless of the professional domain, understanding what AI is, how it works, how the underlying code and algorithms are designed, and what assumptions lie behind the computer code are important components to being able to use and consume the products of AI tools appropriately.

Commentary from Rick Seltzer re: “Public confidence in higher ed plunges — again” — from chronicle.com

Excerpt:

Only 36 percent of Americans say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in higher education, according to a survey Gallup conducted in June. That’s down from 48 percent who said the same in 2018 and 57 percent in 2015.

It’s also broadly consistent with a March Wall Street Journal-NORC survey that found just 42 percent of respondents thought college was worth the cost because it improves career prospects.

Confidence waned among all major groups. Sharpest declines were among Republicans, those without a college degree, women, and the oldest respondents.

Rick links to Zachary’s article:

Public Trust in Higher Ed Has Plummeted. Yes, Again. — from chronicle.com by Zachary Schermele
Americans’ confidence in higher ed is continuing to shrivel — a troubling sign that could foreshadow further erosion of colleges’ enrollment, funding, and stature in the coming years.
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Also relevant/see:

High confidence in higher education reaches new low — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

Gen Z values education — but doesn’t think a four-year degree is the only option — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Dive Brief:

The current cohort of high school students, part of Generation Z, values postsecondary education but is increasingly interested in alternatives to four-year colleges, according to a new report from ECMC Group, a nonprofit focused on student success, and Vice Media.
In 2023, 65% of surveyed students said they would need education beyond high school, compared to 59% pre-pandemic, the report said. But 59% said they could be successful if they don’t get a four-year degree
Almost half, 48%, of high schoolers said their postsecondary education would ideally take three years or less, and just over a third, 35%, said it should take two years or less.

DC: #HigherEducation needs more efforts like this. We need to provide much more lifelong learning opportunities and more design thinking to create more cradle-to-grave #learningecosystems.https://t.co/Uro6XjhVm0

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) July 7, 2023

From DSC:
And some further comments on that article:

Rather than looking to modify the traditional higher education structures for 18-year-olds fresh out of high school, the College for Adult Learners and Continuing Education will establish its own processes for the nontraditional student.

The average age of students enrolled in the Center for Distance Education is 32, and many have kids or other life responsibilities that impact their time and ability to focus on education, Seal explains.

“It’s not so much that we’re competing with other institutions [for adult learners], it’s that we’re competing with life,” Seal says. “They’re not leaving to go to another institution—they’re leaving because of life things.”

Some resources and reflections from Stephen Downes:

Online Learning Still in High Demand at Community Colleges — from insidehighered.com by Sara Weissman
Some colleges are still offering half or the majority of their classes online in response to student demand.

East Los Angeles College, the most populous campus in the California Community College system, offered 60 percent of its courses in a hybrid or online format this past spring, most of them asynchronous. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than a quarter of courses were offered online.
…

He said students have made their preferences clear via their enrollment trends—online course sections at the college have filled much more quickly lately than in-person courses.

Teaching: Does higher education value good teaching? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie; possible paywall but at least must have an account

Excerpt:

But the bigger question hanging over the conference was this: Do colleges actually value good teaching? On the one hand, it would seem obvious that they must. Undergraduate education is the central reason most colleges exist. How could you not value your core product?

But look below the surface and what do you see? An industry in which the majority of instructors are adjuncts who are often low-paid and unlikely to receive any sort of professional development, let alone an office in which to meet with students after class. At research universities you will find many tenure-track professors who were warned not to devote too much time to teaching before securing tenure, since scholarship is what’s rewarded. Promotion and tenure policies on many campuses, research-intensive or not, over-rely on student evaluations when it comes to judging teaching expertise or commitment. Finally, given that most doctoral programs devote a nominal amount of time to teaching students how to teach, it’s easy to see why many professors stick to how they were taught as students, whether or not those methods were effective.

Supreme Court makes its historic ruling in affirmative action cases [Sanchez]

On 06/29/2023, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business side of he, career development, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, higher education, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, participation, policy, society, sociology, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Supreme Court makes its historic ruling in affirmative action cases — from hechingerreport.org by Olivia Sanchez
Court rules that these policies violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment

Ever since the Supreme Court announced last year that it would rule on two cases involving affirmative action in college admissions, the world of higher education has been anxiously awaiting a decision. Most experts predicted the court would eventually forbid the use of race as a factor in admissions decisions, and colleges and advocates have been scrambling to prepare for that new world.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court met those expectations, ruling that the consideration of race in college admissions is unconstitutional.

Supreme Court rules against race-conscious admissions at Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill — from highereddive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
The opinion issued Thursday was unsurprising for college access advocates who had nonetheless urged the high court to keep with decades of precedent.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are unconstitutional, shattering decades of legal precedent and upending the recruitment and enrollment landscape for years to come.

Supreme Court rejects race-based affirmative action in college admissions — from washingtonpost.com by Robert Barnes

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection, a historic ruling that rolls back decades of precedent and will force a dramatic change in how the nation’s private and public universities select their students.

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Conscious Admissions Nationwide — from chronicle.com by Andy Thomason and Sarah Brown

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down colleges’ use of race-conscious admissions nationwide, ruling in a pair of closely watched cases that the practice is racially discriminatory.

Writing for the court’s majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that policies that claim to consider an applicant’s race as one factor among many are in fact violating the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Learning Ecosystems

The Public Is Giving Up on Higher Ed [Smith]

College Cost Transparency Press Release

“The Enemy Within: Former College Presidents Offer Warnings” [Rosowsky]

Can this point be expanded/applied to traditional institutions of HE as a whole? [Christian]

Ask the Chair: Are Great Chairs Born or Made? [Dettmar]

“What’s the right measure of good teaching?” [McMurtrie] + other higher education-related items

Higher ed is now experiencing what other organizations/businesses have been going through for years [Christian]

Supreme Court makes its historic ruling in affirmative action cases [Sanchez]

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