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Joe (Mick) La Lopa (2006a), in his POD post of 14 Apr 2006 titled
"Diane Rhemes, NPR this morning" wrote [bracketed by lines "LLLLLLLL.
. . . "; my insert at ". . . .[........]. . . ."]:
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Did any of you listen to Diane Rhemes show this morning on NPR? One
of the panelists was Derek Bok, who wrote "Our Underachieving
Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They
Should Be Learning More" . . . .[Bok (2005a)]. . . . There were
others on the show but their names escape me at the moment but they
were equally intelligent and informed about the problems with higher
education.
It was a pretty powerful and interesting show that pointed out the
problems with undergraduate education such as not teaching critical
thinking and writing skills, classes taught by unqualified TA's,
faculty not being taught to teach, not integrating new research on
learning into teaching, not requiring a second language, and more.
What are we to do about these allegations because many of them are true?
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Regarding the criticism of undergraduate education by Bok and many
others, in "The Physics Education Reform Effort: A Possible Model for
Higher Education" [Hake (2005)], I wrote [see that article for
references other than Bok (2005a,b,c) and Hersh (2005)]:
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Calls for the accountability of higher education in promoting student
learning are becoming more forceful, both from inside the university,
e.g., Duderstadt 2000, Weber & Duderstadt 2004, Hersh 2005, Hersh &
Merrow 2005, Bok 2005a,b,c; and outside the university, e.g., by the
U.S. Dept. of Education's new "Commission on the Future of Higher
Education" (USDE 2005b). For reports on the Commission's first two
meetings and commissioners' comments on the possibility of NCLB-like
testing in higher education, and on the declining literacy of college
graduates (NAAL 2005), see Lederman 2005a,b.
As Hersh 2005 observes: ". . . in an era when the importance of a
college diploma is increasing while public support for universities
is diminishing, [assessment of student learning] is desperately
needed. The real question is who will control it. Legislators are
prepared to force the issue: Congress raised the question of quality
during its recent hearings on the reauthorization of the Higher
Education Act; all regional accrediting agencies and more than forty
states now require evidence of student learning from their colleges
and universities; and pressure is rising to extend a "No Child Left
Behind"-style testing regime to higher education" (see USDE 2005a,b).
Thus it would appear to be high time for faculty members to turn more
of their attention to shifting the higher education paradigm from
teaching to learning . . .[Barr & Tagg (xxx)]. . ., both because
*it's the right thing to do*, and because not doing so may invite
stifling oversight by state and national bureaucrats.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
With regard to Bok's "Our Underachieving Colleges. . . ," note the
"Search inside this book: feature at Amazon.com's site
<http://tinyurl.com/bnn8c>. If one clicks on "Index" s(he) will find
on index page 404 reference to the landmark but virtually unknown
(save for the discerning Bok) education research of physicists
Halloun & Hestenes (HH) (1985a,b).
As Bok details on pages 115-116 and 132, the disappointing
performance of his students on HH's "Diagnostic Mechanics Exam" of
conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics concepts induced
Harvard's Eric Mazur (1995) to adopt interactive engagement methods
of instruction that promoted much higher pre-to-post-test normalized
gain than traditional methods [see Crouch & Mazur (2000)]. In the
same way the effectiveness of introductory physics instruction has
been greatly improved in many universities throughout the U.S. as
discussed in Hake (2005a).
Should not the physics education reform effort be considered as a
possible model for the enhancement of student learning in
undergraduate education, even in disciplines such as English,
Philosophy [Hake (2006a,b)], and yes, even Psychology [Hake (2005b)?
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
"A remarkable feature of American colleges is the lack of attention
that most faculties pay to the growing body of research about how
much students are learning and how they could be taught to learn more.
Derek Bok in "Are colleges failing? Higher ed needs new lesson plans"
(Bok (2005c)
REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy <http://tinyurl.com/create.php>]
Barr, R.B. & J. Tagg. 1995. "From Teaching to Learning: A New
Paradigm for Undergraduate Education," Change 27(6); 13-25,
November/December. Reprinted in D. Dezure, "Learning from Change:
Landmarks in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from Change
1969-1999." American Association for Higher Education, pp. 198-200.
Also online at <http://tinyurl.com/8g6r4>. See also Tagg (2003).
Bok, D. 2005a. "Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How
Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More." Princeton
University Press. Amazon.com information is at
<http://tinyurl.com/bnn8c>.
Bok, D. 2005b. "The Critical Role of Trustees in Enhancing Student
Learning," Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 December, online to
subscribers at <http://chronicle.com/chronicle/v52/5217guide.htm> .
Bok, D. 2005c. "Are colleges failing? Higher ed needs new lesson
plans" Boston Globe, 18 December, freely online (probably only for a
short time) at
<http://tinyurl.com/da5v2 >, and to educators at
<http://tinyurl.com/aj95w> (scroll to the APPENDIX). Bok wrote: ". .
. studies indicate that problem-based discussion, group study, and
other forms of active learning produce greater gains in critical
thinking than lectures, yet the lecture format is still the standard
in most college classes, especially in large universities."
Crouch, C.H. & E. Mazur. 2001. "Peer Instruction: Ten years of
experience and results," Am. J. Phys. 69: 970-977; online at
<http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/publications.php?function=search&topic=8>.
Hake, R. R. 2005a. "The Physics Education Reform Effort: A Possible
Model for Higher Education?" online at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/NTLF42.pdf> (100 kB). This is a
slightly edited version of an article that was (a) published in the
National Teaching and Learning Forum 15(1), December 2005, online to
subscribers at
<http://www.ntlf.com/FTPSite/issues/v15n1/physics.htm>, and (b)
disseminated by the Tomorrow's Professor list
<http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings.html> as Msg. 698 on 14 Feb 2006.
Hake, R.R. 2005b. "Do Psychologists Research the Effectiveness of
Their Courses? Hake Responds to Sternberg," online at
<http://tinyurl.com/n9dp6>. Post of 21 Jul 2005 22:55:31-0700 to
AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-J, AERA-L, ASSESS, EvalTalk, PhysLrnR, POD, &
STLHE-L, TeachingEdPsych.
Hake, R.R. 2006a. "Education Research in Philosophy," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0603&L=pod&P=R13487&I=-3>.
Post of 19 Mar 2006 16:37:37-0800 to AERA-C, AERA-J, AERA-L, Dewey-L,
PBL, Peirce-L, PhysLrnR, POD, STLHE-L, & WilliamJames-L.
Hake, R.R. 2006b. "Education Research in English Literature," online
at <http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0603&L=pod&O=A&P=19213>.
Post of 20 Mar 2006 15:42:07-0800 to AERA-C, AERA-J, AERA-L, PBL,
PhysLrnR, POD, and STLHE-L.
Halloun, I. & D. Hestenes. 1985a. "The initial knowledge state of
college physics students." Am. J. Phys. 53:1043-1055; online at
<http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html>. Contains the "Mechanics
Diagnostic" test, precursor to the "Force Concept Inventory."
Halloun, I. & D. Hestenes. 1985b. "Common sense concepts about
motion." Am. J. Phys. 53:1056-1065; online at
<http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html>.
Hersh, R.H. 2005. "What Does College Teach? It's time to put an end
to 'faith-based' acceptance of higher education's quality," Atlantic
Monthly 296(4): 140-143, November; freely online to (a) subscribers
of the Atlantic Monthly at <http://tinyurl.com/dwss8>, and (b) (with
hot-linked academic references) to educators at
<http://tinyurl.com/9nqon> (scroll to the APPENDIX).
La Lopa, J.M. 2006. "Diane Rhemes, NPR this morning," POD post of 14
Apr 2006 12:42:18-0400; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0604&L=pod&O=D&P=6845>. See
also La Lopa (2006b).
La Lopa, J.M. 2006. "Diane Rhems, p II," POD post of 14 Apr 2006
13:00:31 -0400; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0604&L=pod&O=D&P=6953>.
Mazur, E. 1997. "Peer instruction: a user's manual." Prentice Hall;
online at
<http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/publications.php?function=search&topic=8>
/ "Peer Instruction a User's Manual" where "/" means "click on."
Tagg, J. 2003. "The Learning Paradigm College," Anker. Amazon.com
information at <http://tinyurl.com/mlots>. See also Tagg's website at
<http://daphne.palomar.edu/jtagg/>.
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