This week, how to build relationships with online students and encouraging students to use career services.
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Mission “Impossible”: Building Relationships with Online Students
Because online courses can lack the support that face-to-face learning facilitates, Cindy Miller suggests strategies for engaging students. She advises instructors to record video introductions and encourage students to upload pictures of themselves, as well as offer personalized feedback on assignments and reach out to individual students as needed. (The Evolllution)
Unions Won’t Solve Higher Education’s Problems
Underpaying adjuncts is a major issue in higher education, Paul Tice argues. Instead of unionizing, he proposes a model in which institutions separate teaching from tenure-related considerations, pay faculty based on student demand for courses, and increase the percentage of tuition dollars that goes to paying instructors. (The Wall Street Journal – Paywall)
Assessing Teaching: A Curriculum Theory Approach
Maha Bali proposes evaluating teaching through a curriculum theory approach, naming four theories: curriculum as content, curriculum as product, curriculum as process, and curriculum as praxis. She suggests methods instructors might use to reflect on their teaching through each approach. (ProfHacker)
Why Aren’t College Students Using Career Services?
Despite the increased emphasis on career preparation in higher education, many students aren’t using their career centers. According to Lalade Fadulu, student affairs staff should equip faculty with the knowledge to council students, since they may be more likely to interact with students regularly. Additionally, instructors should make their coursework more career focused. (The Atlantic)
The Power of an Integrated Business and Liberal Arts Curriculum
People need both liberal arts and professional education to succeed, writes Ronald K. Machtley. He describes how Bryant University’s Innovation and Design Experience for All program is attempting to combine these models. Created by faculty from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business, IDEA challenges students to develop innovative ideas in professional scenarios. (University Business)
Lecture-Based Pedagogy and the Pitfalls of Expertise
The purpose of higher education is not to demonstrate one’s own expertise, writes Kevin Gannon, but to help students develop their own expertise. This means instructors shouldn’t rely exclusively on lecturing—this, Gannon argues, creates “learned helplessness” in students—but instead should combine lectures with discussion and other activities. (The Tattooed Professor)
Partner News
Northern Arizona University: Serving Traditionally Underserved Communities at NAU: Balancing Broad and Targeted Approaches (The Evolllution)
University of Nevada, Reno: UNR College of Business’ Online EMBA grows into renowned graduate program (Nevada Today)
