Evaluating the Effectiveness of College

Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “Evaluating the Effectiveness of College” [Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT:Matthew Von Hendy of the EvalTalk list pointed to an article “Congratulations, College Graduate. Now Tell Us: What Did You Learn?” [Selingo (2013a)] at http://linkd.in/10FdFui. Selingo, in turn, pointed to the research of Arum & Roksa (2011) as presented in their book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses http://bit.ly/RrkWhK. For a more extensive discussion than Selingo’s on the limited learning imparted by U.S. higher education see, e.g.:

(a) “Are colleges failing?” [Hake (2005)] at http://bit.ly/erBRGN;

(b) “Should the Culture of University Science Education Be Changed” [Hake (2011)] at http://bit.ly/iegznz;

(c) “Re: Culture Change for Learning” [Hake (2012a)] at http://bit.ly/HJ2zLf; and

(d) “U.S. Colleges Put Low Priority on Student Learning” [Hake (2012b) at http://bit.ly/KU0UEy.

The above four essays reference, in addition to Arum & Roksa (2011) [in chronological order by publication date]:

(1) Academic Duty [Kennedy (1999)] at http://bit.ly/edBogg;

(2) A University for the 21st Century [Duderstadt (2000)] at http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI;

(3) Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More [Bok (2005b] at http://amzn.to/kXOKbF;

(4) Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids - and What We Can Do About It [Hacker & Dreifus (2010)] at http://amzn.to/bunggt

(5) We’re Losing Our Minds: Rethinking American Higher Education [Keeling & Hersh (2011)] at http://bit.ly/IOE8wU; and

(6) College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be [Delbanco (2012)] at http://bit.ly/LzpMny.

A precursor of the above six books critical of U.S. higher education is Jacques Barzun’s (1968, 1993) The American University: How It Runs, Where It Is Going at http://bit.ly/10umFkS.
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To access the complete 23 kB post please click on http://yhoo.it/16cJ7HO.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
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“. . . studies indicate that problem-based discussion, group study, and other forms of active learning produce greater gains in critical thinking than lectures, yet the lecture format is still the standard in most college classes, especially in large universities."
- Derek Bok (2005), former president of Harvard University, in "Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson Plans" [Bok (2005b)]

“The academic area is one of the most difficult areas to change in our society. We continue to use the same methods of instruction, particularly lectures, that have been used for hundreds of years. Little scientific research is done to test new approaches, and little systematic attention is given to the development of new methods. Universities that study many aspects of the world ignore the educational function in which they are engaging and from which a large part of their revenues are earned.”
- Richard M. Cyert, former president of Carnegie Mellon University, quoted in Tuma & Reif (1980):

“Few faculty members have any awareness of the expanding knowledge about learning from psychology and cognitive science. Almost no one in the academy has mastered or used this knowledge base. One of my colleagues observed that if doctors used science the way college teachers do, they would still be trying to heal with leeches. ”
- James Duderstadt (2000), President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, in A University for the 21st Century [Duderstadt (2000)]

“We have not been very systematic about our quest to improve teaching, even though we value it highly and frequently do well at it. I am struck, for example, by the lack of conversation about what pedagogy means, and what makes it successful. It is our profession, yet it is mysteriously absent from our professional discourse. Here we are, engaged in an activity that is vital to ourselves, our students, and our public - yet we speak of how to do it, if at all, as though it had no data base, lacked a history, and offered no innovative challenges. ”
- Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, in his "Stanford President's Address: Stanford in Its Second Century" - see also AcademicDuty [Kennedy (1999)].


REFERENCES [URL’s shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 15 May 2013.]
Bok, D. 2005a. “Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson Plans,” Boston Globe, 18 December, copied into the APPENDIX of Hake (2005).

Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. A University for the 21st Century. Univ. of Michigan Press, publisher’s information at http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/lxT8YU, note the searchable “Look Inside” feature.

Hake, R.R. 2005. “Are colleges failing?” AERA-L post of 19 Dec 2005 17:54:37-0800; online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/erBRGN. The APPENDIX contains a copy of Bok (2005).

Hake, R.R. 2013. “Evaluating the Effectiveness of College,” online on the OPEN! Net-Gold archives at http://yhoo.it/16cJ7HO. Post of 14 May 2013 16:35:04-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold.

Kennedy, D. 1999. Academic Duty. Harvard University Press, publisher’s information at http://bit.ly/edBogg. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/hbeAsp, note the “Look Inside” feature. An expurgated Google book preview is online at http://bit.ly/hmuC5R.

Tuma, D.T. & F. Reif, eds. 1980. Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research. Lawrence Erlbaum. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/jcAK2d.

Re: Culture Change for Learning

Some blog followers might be interested in a recent discussion-list post “Culture Change for Learning” [Hake (2012)].

The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Richard P. Keeling and Richard H. Hersh (2012) in their Inside Higher Ed article “Culture Change for Learning” at http://bit.ly/Jly6Tj wrote:

“America faces a crisis in higher learning. Too many college graduates are not prepared to think critically and creatively, speak and write cogently and clearly, solve problems, comprehend complex issues, accept responsibility and accountability, take the perspective of others, or meet the expectations of employers. . . . . .The core explanation is this: The Academy Lacks A Serious Culture Of Teaching And Learning [My italics.]:

For those who may wish to dig deeper I have provided over 30 relevant academic references with over 60 hot links.
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To access the complete 23 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/HJ2zLf.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
rrhake@earthlink.net
Links to Articles: http://bit.ly/a6M5y0
Links to SDI Labs: http://bit.ly/9nGd3M
Blog: http://bit.ly/9yGsXh
Academia: http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake

“. . . studies indicate that problem-based discussion, group study, and other forms of active learning produce greater gains in critical thinking than lectures, yet the lecture format is still the standard in most college classes, especially in large universities.”
Derek Bok (2005), former president of Harvard University, in “Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson Plans” [Bok (2005)]

“The academic area is one of the most difficult areas to change in our society. We continue to use the same methods of instruction, particularly lectures, that have been used for hundreds of years. Little scientific research is done to test new approaches, and little systematic attention is given to the development of new methods. Universities that study many aspects of the world ignore the educational function in which they are engaging and from which a large part of their revenues are earned.”
Richard M. Cyert, former president of Carnegie Mellon University, quoted in Tuma & Reif (1980)

“Few faculty members have any awareness of the expanding knowledge about learning from psychology and cognitive science. Almost no one in the academy has mastered or used this knowledge base. One of my colleagues observed that if doctors used science the way college teachers do, they would still be trying to heal with leeches.”
James Duderstadt (2000), President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, in A University for the 21st Century [Duderstadt (2000)]

“We have not been very systematic about our quest to improve teaching, even though we value it highly and frequently do well at it. I am struck, for example, by the lack of conversation about what pedagogy means, and what makes it successful. It is our profession, yet it is mysteriously absent from our professional discourse. Here we are, engaged in an activity that is vital to ourselves, our students, and our public - yet we speak of how to do it, if at all, as though it had no data base, lacked a history, and offered no innovative challenges.”
Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, in his “Stanford President's Address: Stanford in Its Second Century” - see also
Academic Duty [Kennedy (1999)].

REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 17 April 2012.]

Bok, D. 2005. “Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson Plans," Boston Globe, 18 December, copied into the APPENDIX of Hake (2005).

Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. A University for the 21st Century. Univ. of Michigan Press. publisher's information at http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/lxT8YU, note the searchable “Look Inside” feature

Hake, R.R. 2005a. “Are colleges failing?” AERA-L post of 19 Dec 2005 17:54:37-0800; online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/erBRGN. The APPENDIX contains a copy of Bok (2005).

Hake, R.R. 2012. “Re: Culture Change for Learning,” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/HJ2zLf. Post of 16 Apr 2012 14:21:25-0700to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists.

Kennedy, D. 1999. Academic Duty. Harvard University Press, publisher's information at http://bit.ly/edBogg. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/hbeAsp, note the “Look Inside” feature. An expurgated Google book preview is online at http://bit.ly/hmuC5R.

Tuma, D.T. & F. Reif, eds. 1980. Problem Solving and Education: Issues in Teaching and Research, Lawrence Erlbaum. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/jcAK2d.

Re: Interactive Engagement Typically Lowers Student Evaluations of Teaching?

Some blog followers might be interested in discussion-list post “Re: Interactive Engagement Typically Lowers Student Evaluations of Teaching?” [Hake (2011)].

The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: PhysLrnR’s Bill Goffe wrote (paraphrasing): “I thought I recalled reading here that interactive engagement typically lowers student evaluations of teaching, but I've not been able any such claims in the literature.”

Goffe's post initiated a 17-post thread (as of 19 March 15:47-0700) accessible at http://bit.ly/i9zBsd to those who take a few minutes to subscribe to PhysLrnR at http://bit.ly/beuikb.

Bill may have overlooked my post “Re: What if students learn better in a course they don't like?” [Hake (2006)]. Therein I wrote (condensing and paraphrasing):

“When I first started teaching an introductory physics course I followed the example of teaching-award-winning faculty and taught in a traditional manner: passive student lectures, lots of exciting demos, algorithmic problem exams, recipe labs, and a relatively easy final exam. I was gratified to receive a Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) evaluation point average EPA = 3.38 [B plus on a scale of 1 - 4] for ‘overall evaluation of professor.’ Had I continued using traditional methods and giving easy exams I would doubtless have risen to become the U.S. Secretary of Education, or at least President of Indiana University.

Unfortunately for my academic career, I gradually caught on to the fact that students’ conceptual understanding of physics was not substantively increased by traditional pedagogy. I converted to the ‘Arons Advocated Method’ http://bit.ly/boeQQt of ‘interactive engagement.’ This resulted in average normalized gains g(ave) on ‘Force Concept Inventory’ that ranged from 0.54 to 0.65 as compared to the g(ave) of about 0.2 typically obtained in traditional introductory mechanics courses.

But my EPA’s for ‘overall evaluation of professor,’ sometimes dipped to as low as 1.67 (C-), and never returned to the 3.38 high that I had garnered by using traditional ineffective methods. My department chair and his executive committee, convinced by the likes of Peter Cohen (1981, 1990) that SET’s are valid measures of the cognitive impact of introductory courses, took a very dim view of both my teaching and my educational activities.”

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To access the complete 13 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/gKWO1S.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University

Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands

President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize theInvention of the Internet (PEDARRII)

rrhake@earthlink.net>

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi

http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com

http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake

“Few faculty members have any awareness of the expanding knowledge about learning from psychology and cognitive science. Almost no one in the academy has mastered or used this knowledge base. One of my colleagues observed that if doctors used science the way college teachers do, they would still be trying to heal with leeches.”

- James Duderstadt (2000), President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan

REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 19 March 2011.]

Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. A University for the 21st Century. Univ. of Michigan Press, publisher's information at http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI. Amazon.com information at http://amzn.to/fUnbj5, note the “Look Inside” feature.

Hake, R.R. 2011. “Re: Interactive Engagement Typically Lowers Student Evaluations of Teaching?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/gKWO1S. Post of 19 Mar 2011 15:51:49-0700 to AERA-L, Net-Gold, and PhysLrnR. The abstract and link to the complete 13 kB post are also being transmitted to various discussion lists.