By . It’s been my experience that too much of the same thing tends to end badly — and higher education is no exception. It was that way in college when my roommate Chris decided his life’s work was to take the Doodle Challenge — at the time, beating the record of 19 burgers within a 2.5 hour session at The Yankee Doodle, the local greasy spoon. More...
03 novembre 2014
Rethinking the Lecture: In the Information Age, It’s Time to Flip the Classroom
Obama administration rules target for-profit colleges
By . The Obama administration on Thursday will publish new regulations intended to target for-profit career colleges that leave students with debts they cannot repay.
The U.S. Department of Education rules will sanction schools with students who carry too much debt compared with their earnings after graduation. Programs that fail to meet debt-to-income requirements for two out of three consecutive years would lose eligibility for federal student loans and grants -- the primary revenue stream at for-profit colleges. More...
What MOOCs Are Teaching Universities About Active Learning
When the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) enrolled over a hundred thousand students from all over the world, it started an education buzz about how technology could revolutionize higher education. A few years later, MOOCs haven’t exactly replaced expensive college degrees, but edX CEO Anant Agarwal says the MIT experiment with MOOCs has given educators important insights into how students learn. More...
The Road I Believe You’ve Been Looking For
By Oronte. You’re familiar with that “good dog” feeling that gets us in a car, happy as hounds. I got to feel it again last week when I left for the University of Memphis, where I’d be the most recent visitor at the River City Writing Series. As I left Lake Charles the news was all about ashes from Ebola-contaminated material headed for our landfill, hysterical restraining orders against it, and waggish suggestions that Louisiana had finally found something they wouldn’t dump in their own soil and water. Read more...Sustainability commandment #3
By G. Rendell. Expecting an economy to provide for the needs -- food, clothing, shelter, health, education -- of all the members of the society in which it operates imposes a significant burden. Operating that economy within the limits imposed by the various refresh rates of natural resources imposes a significant constraint. The truth is, our (the USA's) current economy -- be it healthy or un-, it's still the biggest one around -- neither discharges the burden nor lives within the constraint. It's not designed to. Read more...
Don't Cite Me On This
By Barbara Fister. First, let me start with a disclaimer. I may have totally misunderstood the key point of an article and how people who I respect interpreted it. If so, I hope someone will set me straight. Read more...
#SAgrad Program Not Accepting Applications
By Eric Stoller. On a recent comment thread on the Student Affairs subreddit, someone asked for recommendations for higher education administration graduate programs. Enthusiastically, I recommended Oregon State University's College Student Services Administration (CSSA) "#SAgrad" program. My experience as a CSSA grad was very positive. More...
Crying on the Job
By Laura Tropp. Around this time of year (midterms, advising) students often come to me crying about being overwhelmed or some perceived unfairness. I haven’t quite figured out a technique for how to respond to the “criers.” I’ve tried different responses, including telling the student that it’s okay to cry and offering tissues, pretending that I don’t notice the tears streaming down their face, or, if they are particularly embarrassed, reassuring them that it’s okay to express their emotions in that way. Read more...
Mosaics (Part Two)
By Margaret Andrews. Last week I wrote about advice I give to students applying to college or graduate school. My advice to students is simple, but risky: Be yourself, let your true colors fly, and tell the story that only you can tell. If students try to package themselves to be what they believe a school is looking for, they will sound like at least one thousand other applicants and there will be no reason for an admissions officer to pull them out of the pile for the ‘admit’ list. Read more...
Mosaics (Part One)
By Margaret Andrews. I’ve done a lot of admissions work in my life, including managing the admissions team for a top-tier business school, being on the admissions committee for one of the most selective schools on the planet, and overseeing admissions for less selective programs. While I now run much larger operations, I’ve always kept my hand in admissions and still coach a lot of neighborhood kids and sons and daughters of friends on how to stand out from the crowd. Read more...
