Improving How Universities Teach Science: Lessons from the Science Education Initiative
Carl E. Wieman
(Harvard University Press, 2017)
All students, future scientists or not, need some of the skills that the sciences teach, such as the quantitative analytical skills increasingly valued by employers. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl E. Wieman has pioneered and championed the use of experimental techniques to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of various teaching methods for mathematics and the natural sciences. The results are dramatic. Even the best lectures result in substantially less student learning than active learning methods. Fortunately, active learning can be adapted to teaching in other disciplines and settings and is already used in many CIC college classrooms (and is being presented in CIC’s new Seminars on Science Pedagogy). In this book, Wieman discusses the cognitive science foundations of the most effective teaching strategies, and he details the process he and his colleagues used to convince colleagues to adopt more effective teaching methods. Wieman also distills more effective ways to evaluate the quality of teaching in STEM fields and the social sciences.
Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons from Higher Education Leaders
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Gerald B. Kauvar, and E. Gordon Gee, editors
(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018)
This volume of brief essays by three dozen experienced presidents and other leaders in higher education is intended to provide candid reflections and examples from successful practitioners, illustrative of how they faced the many challenges that confront college and university presidents today. Along with long-term core issues, the writers tackle more recent concerns involving free speech, Title IX, athletics, fraternities, and student and faculty diversity. Three CIC presidents, including Marvin Krislov of
Pace University (NY), Chris Howard of
Robert Morris University (PA), and John M. McCardell Jr. of
Sewanee: The University of the South (TN), wrote chapters, as did CIC Senior Fellow and President Emerita of
Kenyon College (OH) S. Georgia Nugent.
Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education: The Civil Rights Dimension
Gary Orfield and Nicholas Hillman, editors
(Harvard Education Press, 2018)
This book addresses the unforeseen impact of accountability standards on students of color and the institutions that disproportionately serve them. Edited by Gary Orfield, a distinguished research professor and cofounder and codirector of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Nicholas Hillman, associate professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the chapters are written by leading scholars (including Adriana Ruiz Alvarado, assistant professor in the school of education at the
University of Redlands [CA], and Willie Kirkland, director of institutional research at
Dillard University [LA]). The book describes how federal policies can worsen existing racial inequalities in higher education and offers alternatives designed to advance civil rights for low-income and minority students. Based on a series of research studies, the contributors suggest new ways to evaluate and design accountability policies to avoid predictable negative consequences.
Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Leadership Can Transform Higher Education
Scott Cowen with Betsy Seifter
(Princeton University Press, 2018)
Winnebagos on Wednesdays argues that colleges and universities of all types can achieve their educational goals if they possess two things: visionary leadership and a strong mission. Scott Cowen, president emeritus and distinguished university chair of Tulane University, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the critical demands faced by many campus leaders and examines how they overcame difficulties to save their institutions. Cowen also draws from his own hard-won experiences, including the rebuilding of Tulane and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the decision to maintain Tulane’s football program. The book provides a broad overview of the higher education landscape and shows how crucial choices in tough situations shape colleges and universities.
How University Boards Work: A Guide for Trustees, Officers, and Leaders in Higher Education
Robert A. Scott
(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018)
This book is designed to help trustees understand how to fulfill their responsibilities—whether hiring a new president, advising senior staff, managing investments, overseeing strategic initiatives, or others. Robert A. Scott, former president of Adelphi University and of Ramapo College of New Jersey, wrote the book drawing on his personal experience and considerable research. The succinct and candid guide includes an explanation of the difference between governance and management, advice on how to prepare for board decisions and discussions, examples of positive and negative board behavior, guidance about board professional development, and tips on managing presidential transitions. The book would be an important resource for both trustees and presidents, as well as anyone seeking to understand institutional governance.
Free-Range Learning in the Digital Age: The Emerging Revolution in College, Career, and Education
Peter Smith
(Select Books, 2018)
In today’s information-rich, digitized society, new technologies and data analytics are defining learning opportunities that were previously unimaginable. This book aims to define this new learning space and give readers the awareness, knowledge, and tools to use it. The author argues that society undervalues the education that occurs outside of college through digital means, and he shows how people can get the most from their education, whether it is from a university or online learning. Peter Smith, Orkand Endowed Chair and Professor of Innovative Practices in Higher Education at Uni¬versity of Maryland University College, has worked to help adult learners realize their potential throughout his distinguished career in higher education, which includes serving as founding president of both California State University Monterey Bay and the Community College of Vermont as well as working on education issues in the United Nations.
Who Gets In? Strategies for Fair and Effective College Admissions
Rebecca Zwick
(Harvard University Press, 2017)
Author Rebecca Zwick, distinguished presidential appointee at Educational Testing Service and professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Barbara, examines the current high-stakes competition of U.S. college admissions. Analyzing survey data from college and university applicants, she assesses the goals of different admissions systems and the fairness of criteria—from high school grades and standardized test scores to race, socioeconomic status, and students’ academic aspirations. The book reviews the merits and flaws of competing approaches and demonstrates that admissions policies sometimes fail to produce the desired results. Zwick explains that there is no objective way to evaluate admissions systems, but that colleges’ admissions policies should reflect the particular educational philosophy of the institution. She believes that colleges should be free to include socioeconomic and racial preferences among their admissions criteria, but that they should strive for transparency about the factors they use to assess applicants.
Making Sense of the College Curriculum: Faculty Stories of Change, Conflict, and Accommodation
Robert Zemsky, Gregory R. Wegner, Ann J. Duffield
(Rutgers University Press, 2018)
To help answer why developing a coherent undergraduate curriculum can be difficult at colleges and universities, the authors recount personal, humorous, powerful, and poignant stories from more than 185 faculty members from 11 colleges and universities, representing all sectors of higher education. Written by Robert Zemsky, chair of the Learning Alliance, Gregory R. Wegner, director of program development at the Great Lakes Colleges Association, and Ann J. Duffield, college strategic planning and communications consultant, the stories contradict the public’s and policymakers’ belief that faculty members care more about their scholarship and research than their students and work far less than most people. The book provides insights into the barriers to broader curricular change—impediments that can be overcome by a new kind of partnership among faculty, institutional decision makers, and education leaders.
REPORTS
Completing College: A State-Level View of Student Completion Rates
(Signature Report No. 14a)
Doug Shapiro, Afet Dundar, Faye Huie, Phoebe Wakhungu, Xin Yuan, Angel Nathan, and Ayesha Bhimdiwala
(National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, February 2018)
This joint study by the National Student Clearinghouse and the Project on Academic Success at Indiana University examines national and state-level six-year college completion rates by sector for the student cohort that matriculated in fall 2011. Nationally, 76 percent of students who started at a four-year private nonprofit institution completed a degree within six years (see Figure 1). By comparison, the national completion rate for those who started in four-year public institutions was 65 percent. In 12 states, more than 80 percent of students who started at a four-year private nonprofit institution completed a degree within six years.
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Opens in new windowFIGURE 1: More Students Who Start at Private Nonprofit Colleges Complete Their Degrees in Six Years—a Larger Percentage Than Students Who Start at Other Institutions
Data source: Completing College: A State-Level View of Student Completion Rates. 2018. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Figure created by the Council of Independent Colleges.
Institutions’ Use of Data and Analytics for Student Success: Results from a National Landscape Analysis
Amelia Parnell, Darlena Jones, Alexis Wesaw, and D. Christopher Brooks
(Association for Institutional Research [AIR], NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and EDUCAUSE, April 2018)
This report presents the results of a survey examining how colleges and universities use data and analytics to foster student success, conducted in a partnership among AIR, NASPA, and EDUCAUSE. The survey collected responses from nearly 1,000 institutional research (IR), student affairs, and information technology (IT) professionals at public, private, two-, and four-year institutions across the United States. Major findings include that most institutions are investing in data and analytics projects but less often measure the cost of these projects; many institutions conduct first-year student success studies from multiple angles; and while data-related responsibilities in IR, student affairs, and IT often are siloed, they nevertheless contribute to institution-wide goals related to improving student success.
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