Comments on: Academic Upstarts

By: Harold Jarche

Harold Jarche — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:50:43 +0000

You’re right, Allan, and the market will decide what is rigorous enough.

By: Allan

Allan — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:10:44 +0000

These online schools will never threaten the traditional universities unless they establish a reputation for being just as rigorous.

By: Reflections on Instructional Design - Week 7 | All The Young (Edu)Punks

Reflections on Instructional Design - Week 7 | All The Young (Edu)Punks — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:29:40 +0000

[...] thought originates from a comment by Guy Boulet in Harold Jarche’s blog that went: “In my mind, this is the university of the future, and the future is now. It is [...]

By: Tom Haskins

Tom Haskins — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Harold: Thanks for the links! To follow up on Guy’s comment first – during the twelve years I taught college, I used a problem-based approach. That gave me four ways to approach new material: 1) here’s a problem, let’s figure out how to solve it 2) here’s a solution, let’s see what kinds of problems it solves 3) here’s a situation, let’s determine what the problem is so we can solve it 4) here’s a solution that’s causing other problems, let’s figure out what the real problem is that’s not getting solved yet.

As the students and I used this problem-based approach, it became obvious to us that the university administration and other faculty were not solving problems in their situations. Otherwise they would solve the problems of the 50% drop out rate, soaring tuition rates, widespread anxiety disorders among students, and negligible retention of what was taught. As I explored this issue with other faculty members, it only resonated with those instructors who empathized with their students, remembered what it was like to not know the material at all, and realized what a difference it makes to show respect to the students. Those that were devoted to being right, in control and admired for their superior expertise – could not get the value of using a problem based approach in their professional life.

As I’ve been thinking a lot about disrupting higher-ed, I agree with Daniel’s assessment of how slow most disruptions coming into play will be: free content, problem-based teaching, online 24/7 delivery, etc. As you said Harold, they are not real upstarts. The one disruption that may take hold much faster is serving the non-consumers who dropped out of college or never applied.

By: Daniel Lemire

Daniel Lemire — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:26:59 +0000

In Canada, most universities are publicly funded. This means that the “old diploma” model can remain in place quite a long time because we collectively bear its cost.

Probably over my life time, we shall see some evolution, but it will be slow.

What could move students and the systems, is a clear signal sent by the employers. However, in my experience, the employers want U. of Toronto, or McGill graduates, and they simply do not care to know what the students learned. They just want to make sure that the fellows are smart enough to learn and adapt. Unfortunately, this applies to young graduates as well as older ones.

Change will come, but it will be slow.

By: Guy Boulet

Guy Boulet — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:21:03 +0000

Last Friday I attended a presentation on Problem Based Learning applied to an undergraduate program. The main goal was to teach students how to find, analyse and report information rather than simply providing them with pre-digested content.

This resulted in a subtantial increase in retention, from around 50% to 80%, but the best outcome has probably been that students graduating from this program had a significant advantage on the labour market. Employers indicated that the graduates from this university were more proactive and overal more efficient than others because they were not limited to the content that they were taught about. The fact that they were taught to build their own knowledge was a real advantage.

In my mind, this is the university of the future, and the future is now. It is time that faculty stop thinking that what they teach is gospel. The role of faculty staff must shift from teacher to tutor. Students must be guided, not taught in order to better prepare them for the reality of the workplace.