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ideas and research
on high impact learning

Let’s Talk Frankly about Unbundling Higher Ed Courses...and Maybe the Whole Higher Ed Experience

2/28/2016

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PictureImage from Data, Technology, and the Great Unbundling of Higher Education, Educause Review
There has been a lot of talk lately about unbundling the college degree. And many colleges are testing this concept by creating competency-based programs. Unbundling is a big idea, and hard to implement. However, unbundling a course is quite manageable, and something that any instructor can choose to do.

In their article in the Educause Review, Data, Technology, and the Great Unbundling of Higher Education, Ryan Craig and Allison Williams suggest that higher education could increase student success and workforce preparedness by adopting some of the practices of leading technology companies. Craig and Williams outline the idea that today’s learner is in desperate need of a higher education experience that goes beyond the course catalog, as follows: 

Full-stack providers that hope to achieve the higher education equivalent of Apple's or Uber's success will have to find a way to do three fundamental things: (1) develop and deliver specific high-quality educational experiences that produce graduates with capabilities that specific employers desperately want; (2) work with students to solve financing problems; and (3) connect students with employers during and following the educational experience and make sure students get a job.

Craig and Williams follow up with the example of the success of bootcamp programs. We realize these types of programs are not what every learner is looking for in their higher ed experience, especially if they pursue degrees in liberal arts and humanities (which research shows are worthwhile investments). Nonetheless, Craig and Williams outline the following outcomes-focused approach, which can be applied to teaching all types of disciplines:

Traditional program design is based on a system of credit hour inputs rather than outcomes...A simpler, better system would be reverse-engineered by starting with student outcomes, then moving to the assessments that prove that the outcomes have been achieved, and only then turning to the question of what curricula best prepare students for the assessments. Fortunately, technology allows higher education to make this shift.

Craig and Williams also illustrate how bundling of the entire higher ed experience does not create the best ROI for many of today’s learners:
Bundling has been central to the higher education business model for centuries. Colleges and universities combine content and a wide range of products and services into a single package, for which they charge "tuition and fees." Tuition and fees cover everything from remedial coursework to elective courses to advanced courses in a chosen major and, extending far beyond the academic program... As a result, when students pay for a degree, they are also buying products and services related to real estate, dining, sports, and research. As Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, asks: "Universities are responsible for admissions, research, facilities management, housing, health care, credentialing, food service, athletic facilities, career guidance and placement, and much more. Which of these items should be at the core of a university and add value to that experience?"
​

It's a good question, because although these items don't add time-to-credential, as the academic program bundle does, they add to the cost, which has the same effect on return on investment.

To change the bundling of the university experience is feasible but will take time. For now, we (instructors, institutions, content and platform providers) have the option and tools to unbundle courses, or to make courses that are student-centered. What do we mean by unbundling the course? 


  • Ensuring that the course blueprint is based on a measurable set of student learning outcomes (or competencies).
  • Creating assessments that enable the student to demonstrate mastery of the clear learning outcomes. Providing learning activities that support mastery of the content.  
  • ​Enabling students to learn by doing, learn from each other, and interact with the instructor to promote deeper learning rather than regurgitation. The goal is transferability--the ability for the learner to transfer the learning to new contexts.
  • Giving students ability to direct their learning and personalize the pathway.
  • ​Micro-credentialing so that students can build a portfolio of outcomes.

These tactics of unbundling are proven, research-based strategies for teaching and learning.  While this new approach might seem overwhelming to some, many instructors are implementing such unbundling iteratively, from term to term.  The instructors in our Engaged Learning Community are experimenting with their course design, development and delivery and using these strategies to promote deeper learning, and yes unbundling.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you been considering new ways to develop your course? We’d love to hear from you.



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How to Drive Off-the-Charts Student Engagement In Your Classroom

2/7/2016

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PictureEric Mazur Teaching with Peer Instruction at Harvard
I am a huge fan of Peer Instruction. I first learned about the approach while observing a class of 500 non-chemistry majors at a large research university. After giving a short lecture, the professor changed pace.  He put a question about chemical reactions on the overhead projector and directed the class by saying,  “Ok, take a moment to think about this question on your own first and then respond.”  The room was silent for about two minutes. Students then started pushing buttons on clickers to send in their answers. Then the professor charged, “All right, turn to your neighbor and discuss!”
The auditorium erupted. Students stood up, moved around the room, and were loudly and animatedly discussing…chemistry.

In that moment, my life changed. How, I had to know, did the instructor pull that off? The level of engagement I witnessed was unprecedented. I would end up dedicating my career to trying to help design those kinds of educational experiences for others. I didn’t know it at the time but was I was seeing the first part of a perfect implementation of Peer Instruction.   

What is Peer Instruction?
What is Peer Instruction?
PictureABCD Flashcard from San Diego State University
Peer Instruction is a research-based, student-centered teaching method. It was originally developed by Eric Mazur to improve undergraduate physics learning at Harvard University.  While students teach and learn from each other in a Peer Instruction environment, this does not mean there is no place for a lecture. Instead in Peer Instruction, faculty leverage the power of student engagement to make lectures come alive.
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How does Peer Instruction work?
Before class
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To use Peer Instruction in your class, the first thing you need to do is prepare a little differently than you would for a 45-minute lecture.  
Start by selecting a concept, idea or topic you want students to learn and prepare a 2-5 minute mini-lecture on that topic. Then, prepare a set of questions or ConcepTests that will test students’ understanding of that content.

Here is an expert tip: Make sure your question does not ask students to simply repeat a verbatim response to something you said in your lecture.  And most important of all, be very purposeful in using questions that are directly tied to the specific ideas, concepts, or skills you want students to develop. One theory I have about why Peer Instruction approaches don’t result in improved performance in some classrooms has to do with the kinds of questions posed. If Peer Instruction doesn’t work, I always ask - did I strategically direct students’ attention to the underlying concepts or skills that were tested on higher stakes assessments?  (Read more about writing effective questions here.)

Next, you need to pick a method to collect student responses to your questions.  You can use high-tech options, such as clickers or classroom responses systems, or low-tech options such as ABCD flashcards.

PictureTurn to Your Neighbor, The Official Peer Instruction Blog
Peer Instruction Resources
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Since the 1990s, PI has spread across the globe and is practiced by thousands of educators across the disciplines in a variety of institutional types. For a more detailed protocol for implementing Peer Instruction, see our Quick Start Guide or many of the articles on Turn to Your Neighbor, the Official Peer Instruction Blog.  You can also find other users in your field, city or possibly on your campus who are currently practicing the method at the Peer Instruction Network.
After that first experience with Peer Instruction so many years ago, I knew educational experiences of phenomenal quality were possible in science classrooms. I also knew that I wanted to spend my career designing them.  So, I spent four years studying the approach as a fellow in Mazur’s group at Harvard University. I have implemented the method in my own classrooms at Columbia University and The University of Texas at Austin, I write a blog on the method, and facilitate a worldwide network of thousands of educators who use and love Peer Instruction.  It is my favorite go-to method for driving off the charts engagement in any classroom.

Blog post by Julie Schell, EdD, Director and Clinical Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin 
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EdSurge Adaptive Learning Meetup

2/5/2016

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Picture
Earlier this week Edsurge launched a special section of their website that focuses on adaptive learning. The content they published came from over six months of deep diving into the questions, innovations, and ideas that form our collective understanding of what adaptive learning is, is not, and should be.
Last night they hosted a Meetup in San Francisco and had the following education leaders present and drive a discussion:
Angela Estrella (Teacher, Instructional Coach and Parent)
Jennie Dougherty (Associate Director of Innovation, KIPP Bay Area)
Johann Larusson (Lead, Center for Digital Data, Analytics and Adaptive Learning, Pearson)
James Harrell (Talent Development Manager, Oakland Unified School District)
Esther Tricoche (Associate Partner, New School Venture Fund)
Elena Sanina (Senior Manager of Blended Learning, Aspire Public Schools)

Though the presentations focused on the K12 space, we stilled learned a lot about what educators need us, entrepreneurs and tech developers, to create products that will work most effectively. Here are some of the big takeaways:

​1. Use simple language, and put the customer in the center when describing what a product or platform provides...not this:









While this copy might be succinct for technical folks and investors, it’s not clear what the value proposition is for the instructor or learner.


2. There are some general truisms that Edsurge’s research revealed about what makes the most effective adaptive learning tools, these rules make a lot of sense:

Picture
 We were thrilled to see this slide as it supports everything we’ve set out to provide with our comprehensive tool: flexibility with teaching methodology, choices galore, promotion of active learning practices to drive engagement.
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3. Most adaptive tools are designed for 1:1 interaction (one student/one computer), teachers and students want and benefit from collaborative tools and platforms in addition to 1:1 experiences. 

4. [K12] Classrooms are full of learners that are at different comprehension and mastery levels. 
We realize that there’s a general assumption that everyone who’s been admitted to a two or four-year school should be college ready, and that the population is level set, the reality is that this is not the case at all. College success is a serious issue not only for student bodies, which are composed of learners from even more disparate backgrounds than found in a K12 class, but for higher education institutions as well that want to increase matriculation, retention, and graduation. 

5. Every ounce of technology needs ten ounces of humanity. 

Can we have an amen? This statement drew the largest applause. Tech is great, content is king, and both need to be brought to bear with superb pedagogy. Nonetheless, teaching and learning transcend zeroes and ones. Without instructional engagement, and frankly learner enthusiasm, we’re not going to see the efficacy we want from the tools we design. So, we need to develop tools that drive quantifiable activities that move learners through a course of materials, but encourage and inspire a humanistic experience of active discussion and collaboration. 

Check out #EdsurgeAL for more chatter on adaptive learning and last night’s Bay Area Meetup. Edsurge will be hosting a Twitter Chat with some of the authors and contributors from their guide - Thursday 2/11 at 5PST using the hashtag #EdSurgeAL. Register and they’ll you send a reminder.
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