Student-Success

[caption id=“attachment_7070” align=“alignright” width=“167”] https://cheezburger.com/8016802816.[/caption] Do you know the #nailedit meme? In its most common form: Someone sees a recipe or craft online. They try to recreate it. Things go terribly, comically wrong. They graciously post the results online, allowing us all to take joy in the degree to which they absolutely #nailedit. Part of what makes these memes great is that they’re so relatable. Everyone has been there - faithfully (we believe) following a recipe or other set of instructions (looking at you, Ikea), only to have things go horribly wrong. It really can be difficult to get the desired results even when you’re following a step-by-step recipe with illustrations. ...

A few thoughts about why improving student learning in the US higher ed context is so hard to do. (These ideas may apply elsewhere, but I’m thinking specifically about US higher ed.) 1. Improving student learning requires changing student behavior - changing the things students do in order to learn. Students learn by doing - by playing, interacting, manipulating, reading, watching, listening, reflecting, arguing, summarizing, etc. Faculty can promote student learning only by influencing what students do. Faculty exercise this influence in two ways: through the specific activities they assign students to do, and through the ways they support them as they engage in those activities. ...

I’ve been interested in sustainability models for OER for decades. (Longtime readers may recall that the research group I founded at Utah State University in 2003, the Open Sustainable Learning Opportunities group, became The Center for Open and Sustainable Learning in 2005, which I directed until I moved to BYU.) And for just as long, I’ve believed that there are useful lessons for us to learn on this topic from open source software - OER’s far more popular and influential sibling. The empirical work on the sustainability of open source software (e.g., Schweik and English, 2012) is significantly further along than anything in OER, and there have been many more interesting experiments in open source sustainability than in OER. ...

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years working with doctoral students as they search for “the question” that will guide their graduate studies and, eventually, their dissertation work. While the question can often be expressed in a single sentence, its power to shape a student’s graduate experience and frame their dissertation work is undeniable. Properly asked, the question implies which electives to take, determines what literature is in and out of scope, and even suggests a research method for the dissertation. The question, clearly articulated, is an incredibly powerful tool for focusing and aligning work toward a meaningful answer. ...