Academic Affairs Resources

"Carnegie Corporation Makes a $6-Million Statement of Faith in the Humanities"

"The 7 Fundamental Conditions of Learning"

I’ve included a couple of articles that caught my eye during my reading this week—one about funding for the humanities, the other about fundamental conditions for student learning.

"Changing education paradigms"

I’ve included a Ted talk, courtesy of Dr. Robyn Schiffman, that asks us to rethink our educational paradigms. What does this thing we call education look like if we start from the ground up?

"A Simpler Path"

The article I’ve included this week talks about simpler pathways for community college students. The argument is that too many choices are confusing and actually add time to completion for many college students. Many community colleges are offering fewer courses (not in number of sections but in number of course offerings) in order to streamline the associate degree experience. Others have argued that this actually increases the number of students per section and helps stabilize full-time faculty loads. For me, this is a different way of looking at the college experience. I’ve always thought choice was great for students because the more they could be exposed to the better. I’m very interested to know your thoughts concerning the current rage about the guided pathways model.

"The 4 Properties of Powerful Teachers"

"The Log-on Degree"

Thanks to Charles Kwiatkowski for sending this one my way.

"Teaching Revival"

This article from the Chronicle notes that improving the quality of instruction in higher education may be getting some legs. Note the positive comments about instruction at community colleges.