Category: Blog

Active learning models are becoming more common – but do we know why they’re effective? Researchers at Purdue are investigating. SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATION SERIES The US Department of Education has awarded multi-million dollar “First in the World” grants to 24 colleges and universities that are innovating to solve critical challenges with access, recruitment, retention, and student success. At AI, we have interviewed each of the recipients to learn more about the projects these institutions are pursuing, how their approaches are unique, and what other colleges and universities can learn from these new efforts. Active learning models are becoming more common as professors seek to engage a wider array of students. Project-based learning, clickers, flipped classrooms and other strategies have transformed classrooms — but little scientific research has been done to determine why active learning models are successful. Knowing that could guide more targeted pedagogical strategies. Researchers at Purdue University plan to address this gap through a $2.3 million First in the World grant that will allow them to conduct a large-scale controlled study about why active-learning strategies improve student retention and completion rates. Four years ago, Purdue began transforming large-enrollment courses from lecture-based courses to ones with active, student-centered learning as […]

PARTNERING WITH FACULTY – FROM A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE Bernadette Jungblut of West Virginia University recently spoke to this issue — from a faculty perspective — at an April 2015 Academic Impressions webcast. Now, In this article, Jungblut offers further strategies for partnering with faculty effectively. What follows includes both an institutional case study and Bernadette’s own individual responses to questions raised by participants at the webcast. by Bernadette Jungblut, Associate Provost for Accreditation, Academic Planning, and Assessment, Central Washington University,West Virginia University To explore the issue of faculty engagement in early alert in very practical terms, let’s review the key challenges (both that I’ve noted and that participants at the webcast raised), strategies that work, and a case study from West Virginia University. Engaging Faculty in Early Alert: The Challenge Challenges noted by webcast participants: Challenges I’ve experienced: Engaging Faculty in Early Alert: Strategies Here are strategies that we have employed at West Virginia University that make a difference in faculty engagement: Face-to-face meetings: We conducted face-to-face meetings with faculty members – one-on-one, in small groups, and at department faculty meetings.  We specifically described our undergraduate student profile – about which some faculty members knew relatively little.  When faculty began to […]