BOULDER, Colo. – Noah Finkelstein rarely minces words, and the words he offers to public universities carry a lofty challenge. Society can make no better investment in its future than by promoting higher education, he said. It is perhaps the most fundamental form of infrastructure we have – institutions designed to influence the lives of students and build the core components of society. Pressures on these institutions have pushed them toward priorities that run counter to their founding … [Read more...]
Category: News
AAU official works to change the culture of STEM teaching
By Doug Ward and Mary Deane Sorcinelli BOULDER, Colo. – Symbolism sometimes makes more of a difference than money in bringing about change in higher education. That’s what Emily Miller, associate vice president for policy at the Association of American Universities, has found in her work with the AAU’s Undergraduate STEM Initiative. It’s also a strategy she has adopted as the initiative expands its work in improving undergraduate teaching and learning at research universities … [Read more...]
Talking about Teaching: Innovation and Collaboration
This post is one in a series of articles about course transformation at Bay View Alliance universities. by: Mary Huber and Pat Hutchings Changing teaching practices in a department takes time. We often think of that challenge as allowing time for changes in teaching practice to take root and spread, but it also means finding time for constructive conversations about teaching and learning. Most departmental committees that oversee undergraduate programs involve only a small fraction of … [Read more...]
A workshop on building community around learning analytics
Effective use of university learning analytics requires thoughtful management of cultural change and strategic conversations about improving student success, Bay View Alliance members told participants in a recent workshop. The half-day pre-conference workshop, “Developing Institutional Learning Analytics ‘Communities of Transformation’ to Support Student Success,” drew 22 participants from 18 institutions at the 2017 Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference in Vancouver, B.C., in March. … [Read more...]
AAU Grant will help KU Faculty Apply Data to Learning
KU has received a grant from the Association of American Universities (AAU) to promote the use of data analytics to help STEM faculty and departments to improve teaching and student learning. KU is part of a network of six BVA universities engaged in this initiative. Read more at: http://news.ku.edu/2017/02/14/ku-receives-grant-part-national-stem-initiative … [Read more...]
Ann Austin Shares the Latest Research on Institutional Change
Ann Austin offers BVA Steering Committee an approach to change that identifies the multiple levels in an institution that provide opportunities for or roadblocks to reform. As change bears down on higher education, the need for strategic thinking grows By Doug Ward Consider a few of the changes roiling public higher education. Technology has created new ways for students to learn and to earn credentials but has also eliminated the need for a physical presence in many courses. … [Read more...]
At AAC&U, insights on who we are and where we need to go
By Doug Ward How colleges and universities can better help students learn, help faculty improve their teaching, and stay relevant in a fast-changing world. Read more … [Read more...]
AAC&U gathering reflects a sense of urgency and purpose
By Doug Ward With the tenets of a broad, liberal education under assault, participants at the Association of American Colleges and Universities conference share stories of change. Read article … [Read more...]
A research-heavy organization makes a push for better teaching
By Doug Ward “Everyone who takes a course at our universities should be taught in the best ways we know how,” a vice president of the Association of American Universities tells the BVA. Read article … [Read more...]
The paradox of evidence-based teaching
By Doug Ward The spread of evidence-based teaching practices highlights a growing paradox: Even as instructors work to evaluate student learning in creative, multidimensional ways, they themselves are generally judged only through student evaluations. Read article … [Read more...]