Student Learning Imperative: Bringing Together Tradition, Change
One of the best-known approaches to improvement in undergraduate education, the Student Learning Imperative (SLI), has been widely discussed in academe and hailed as a way to bridge the numerous forms of learning, from the formal learning experienced as part of the official curriculum to students' life experiences. One of SLI's architects is George Kuh, professor of higher education at Indiana University and current president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. SLI combines elements of several approaches, including learning productivity, assessment, and organizational renewal. Unlike many approaches to undergraduate learning, SLI incorporates students' prior experiences along with their formal academic training.
SLI supports notions of learning communities as well as other practices that are familiar to student affairs professionals, and helps to forge a link between faculty and professional staff whose common concern is the student. Kuh and other SLI proponents seek to create a "seamless learning environment" that involves interactions among all segments of the college and university community, including a common language and vision and a spirit of institutional renewal. Kuh has elaborated several principles that need to be present for student learning to occur:
SLI's flexibility and emphasis on the student works on both the traditional residential undergraduate college as well as on campuses that reflect the increasing diversity of the undergraduate population----many more women, older students, students from a variety of racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds. At Portland (OR) State University, student affairs staff and faculty team teach in the Freshman Inquiry Program, which uses SLI principles.
Other institutions that have adopted the SLI approach include Evergreen State (WA) College, which has established the Core Connections program that blends classroom, service-learning, and other activities into an inter-disciplinary experience. Seattle Community College has established a coordinated multicultural program called Speaking for Ourselves, which has been the focus of studies by such scholars as Vincent Tinto and Howard London.
The Student Learning Imperative assumes that learning is pervasive and
continuous. Students' prior experiences and interests are part of their
ongoing learning, and their academic experiences are deepened by a blend
of learning experiences, including peer learning, community experiences,
and self-directed learning. In developing a "seamless" learning environment
for students, SLI may also bridge the gap between faculty and professional
staff whose first concern is for the student.
| For further information on the Student Learning Imperative, contact George Kuh, Professor School of Education, 201 N. Rose Ave., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-1006 or e-mail kuh@indiana.edu. Also see: Kuh, G. D. (1996). "Some things we should forget." About Campus, September-October, pp. 10--15, and Kuh, G. D. (1996), "Guiding principles for creating seamless learning environments for undergraduates." Journal of College Student Development (37)2, pp. 135-148. |
New Millennium Project to Review Financial Aid, Learning Productivity
Three organizations with a strong interest in higher education--the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, DC, the Education Resources Institute in Boston, and the Ford foundation, have formed a national advisory group called "the New Millennium Project," an extensive study of higher education costs, pricing, and productivity.
New Millennium, whose formal title is "Higher education costs, pricing and productivity in the new millennium," will seek to establish new methods and tools for college and university leaders to promote internal cost management and productivity. Pilot testing and implementation will occur in the final two years.
New Millennium investigators and advisory group members will meet in October to discuss the initial phases of the project, including an overview of financial aid trends from 1973 to the present, a summary of work performed at the Learning Productivity Network at the University at Buffalo, and a review of several current reports on higher education finance and productivity.
Project co-directors are Jamie Merisotis and Jane Wellman of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. D. Bruce Johnstone, director of the Learning Productivity Network, is a member of the New Millennium project advisory group. For further information, contact the Institute for Higher Education Policy, 1320 19th St. NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036, or e-mail institute@ihep.com.
Internet Tools Aid Research, Connections
For aspiring or seasoned researchers, students, and those generally interested in higher education issues, the Internet provides a rich variety of resources and forums. Many higher education programs and institutes, such as the Learning Productivity Network, maintain web sites and/or electronic discussion groups. A selective list of some of the most extensive higher education web sites and/or electronic discussion groups. A selective list of some of the most extensive higher education web sites are available in a variety of formats, including HTML and PDF.
National Center for Educational Statistics: Extensive selection of publications and searchable data. Part of the large Department of Education site. Their address is www.ed.gov/NCES.
Internet Resources for Institutional Research: Well-maintained list to research sources, higher education associations, discussion groups, and programs. This site is an essential, and is updated constantly: apollo.gmu.edu/~jmilam/air95.html.
New LPN Study Focuses on College-Level Learning from Principals' Perspectives
College-level learning in high school has been a focus of the Learning Productivity Network since its establishment in 1995. Recently, researchers at the Network have begun a new study of learning productivity, going directly to high school principals to determine which types of college-level learning are available, and what attitudes principals hold toward various forms of college-level learning.
The survey, which has been distributed to 700 principals of public and private high schools throughout the United States, will identify types of college-level learning (for example, Advanced Placement or dual enrollment), the extent of college-level learning in the school, and the principal's attitudes.
Four main forms of college-level learning will be measured, including Advanced Placement, dual enrollment or simultaneous attendance, credit validation, and the International Baccalaureate. Survey findings are expected by the end of the fall 1997 semester. For further information, contact William Barba, survey director, at barba@acsu.buffalo.edu or c/o the Learning Productivity Network, University at Buffalo, 484 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-1000.
Instructional Software and Academic Productivity
Uses of technology to improve learning productivity can take numerous forms, from the simple to the highly sophisticated. A major area of development in technologically aided learning is in instructional software. The National Learning Infrastructure Imperative has been established by EDUCOM "to create a shared understanding of how information technology can transform the learning environment to improve quality, contain costs, and increase access." One means of promoting this mission is through development of high-quality instructional software.
For a number of years, faculty, administrators, and policy makers have grappled with the challenges represented by the development of new media, particularly personal computing, in increasing student learning. Some concerns presented by new media include ways of developing computer-assisted courses, measuring learning outcomes, and cost.
In 1996, EDUCOM convened a group of 20 leaders from academe, publishing, the federal government, and hardware and software organizations to discuss the development of instructional software for academic productivity. The meeting resulted in a number of propositions, including:
1. Instructional software is essential if we are to solve the productivity problem because
5. Market success depends on instructional software that is disaggregated, disintermediated, differentiated, and diffuse.
For details on the project, "Academic Productivity and the Case for
Instructional Software," write to EDUCOM at 1160 16th St. NW,
Suite 1160, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 872-4200 or check the NLII web
site at www.educom.edu/nlii/keydocs/broadmoor.html.
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is published by The Learning Productivity Network Department of Educational Organization, Administration and Policy University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education 484 Baldy Hall Buffalo, NY 14260-1000 (716) 645-6635
D. Bruce Johnstone, Director
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Learning Productivity Network List Update
Since we opened our doors in 1995, the Learning Productivity Network has developed a list of nearly 1000 faculty, administrators, foundation leaders, and others interested in the application of learning productivity to higher education. We publish this newsletter several times a year, and also have a WWW site and a moderated on-line discussion group.
If you have changed addresses, or know someone who would like to be added to our list, please complete the following form and mail to Alka Arora, the Learning Productivity Network, University at Buffalo, 484 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, or FAX to (716) 645-2481.
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