By Doug Ward
It was a simple idea.
Bring together a group of faculty members from around campus for guided discussions about diversity and inclusion. Guide them to think deliberately and openly about making their classroom practices and pedagogy more inclusive. Then help them create plans to take what they had learned back to their departments and help colleagues do the same.
By Doug Ward
One poster offers to explain the chemistry of the world’s most popular drug.
Another teases about the fatty acids that make T-shirts feel soft.
Still another promises secrets about the oils used in making the perfect chicken nugget.
None of them offers its secrets outright, though. And that’s just how Drew Vartia, a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the chemistry department, wants it.
By Doug Ward
Authentic assignments can be messy.
That’s not a bad thing. In fact, the messiness helps students deepen their critical thinking, improve their decision-making, learn about themselves, and even take more control over their learning.
If I were to design the perfect learning experience, it would have all the components that Chad Kraus included in a studio architecture class he taught this fall.
By Doug Ward
Here’s some sage advice to start the semester: Don’t be a jerk.
American higher education has taken a beating over the last 40-plus years.
Many of those blows came from the outside. Many others were self-inflicted. I won’t rehash those here, other than to say that higher education has done a poor job of fighting back. Much of the time, it has seen itself as above the fray. Its arrogance not only blinded it to its own shortcomings but let critics paint an unflattering portrait that has lingered in the minds of millions of Americans.
By Doug Ward
The University of Kansas has made many gains in its recruitment of minority students, who now make up 20.6 percent of the student body. By at least one measure, though, the university still has considerable work to do.
The criticism of liberal education often carries a vicious sting. For instance, listen to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor:
Student motivation is one of the most vexing challenges that instructors face. Students can’t learn if they aren’t engaged, and serious classroom material often fails to pique the interest of a generation that has grown up with the constant stimulation of smartphones, social media and video on demand.
Two vastly different views of assessment whipsawed many of us over the past few days.
The first, a positive and hopeful view, pulsed through a half-day of sessions at KU’s annual Student Learning Symposium on Friday. The message there was that assessment provides an opportunity to understand student learning. Through curiosity and discovery, it yields valuable information and helps improve classes and curricula.