Teaching in Times of Changing Administrations and Stringent Budgets (original) (raw)

Student learning or the student experience: the shift from traditional to non-traditional faculty in higher education

2016

Trends in higher education indicate transformations from teachers to facilitators, mentors, or coaches. New classroom management requires diverse teaching methods for a changing population. Non-traditional students require non-traditional faculty. Higher education operates similar to a traditional corporation, but competes for students, faculty, and funding to sustain daily operations and improve academic ranking among peers (Pak, 2013). This growing phenomenon suggests the need for faculty to transform the existing educational culture, ensuring the ability to attract and retain students. Transitions from student learning to the student experience and increasing student satisfaction scores are influencing facilitation in the classroom. On-line facilitation methods are transforming to include teamwork, interactive tutorials, media, and extending beyond group discussion. Faculty should be required to provide more facilitation, coaching, and mentoring with the shifting roles resulting ...

U.S. public administration programs: Increasing academic achievement by identifying and utilizing student learning styles

Teaching Public Administration, 2014

Global economic shifts are forcing universities to become more competitive and operationally efficient. As a result, universities emphasize access, affordability, and achievement. More specifically, U.S. universities have responded by emphasizing course assessment, retention rates, and graduation rates. Both university administrators and faculty members recognize that student cognitive styles are an important dimension in retention and graduation rates. Equally important, the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration requires graduate programs to meet universal core competencies and assess student learning outcomes. Within the context of U.S. higher education trends and new accreditation standards, we examine the demographic characteristics and cognitive styles of 130 Master of Public Administration (MPA) students currently enrolled at the University of Baltimore, which is one of the largest accredited MPA programs in the United States. Student cognitive styles are measured using a point in time Group Embedded Figures Test instrument. Key findings reveal that a stronger concentration in quantitative skills is essential in bolstering Downloaded from core competencies and student marketability in the global economy. Recommendations for course design and pedagogical modifications are discussed.

Through the Eyes of Students and Faculty

Handbook of Research on Learning Outcomes and Opportunities in the Digital Age

Online enrollments have been growing substantially faster than overall higher education enrollments. It is argued that online learning can help address issues of educational inequity, poverty, and social exclusion. The momentum is moving towards online learning, and universities are pressured to develop more online options for their students in order to stay relevant and provide needed flexibility. On average, courses that are delivered online have higher attrition rates than regular face-to-face courses. There are numerous challenges and difficulties in developing online learning environments without sacrificing the quality of learning. This case study examines the development, delivery, and evaluation of online learning through the eyes of students and faculty of an educational leadership department in a Southeast research university.

American Higher Education in Transition

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2012

American higher education is in transition along many dimensions: tuition levels, faculty composition, expenditure allocation, pedagogy, technology, and more. During the last three decades, at private four-year academic institutions, undergraduate tuition levels increased each year on average by 3.5 percent more than the rate of inflation; the comparable increases for public four-year and public two-year institutions were 5.1 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. Academic institutions have also changed how they allocate their resources. The percentage of faculty nationwide that is full-time has declined, and the vast majority of part-time faculty members do not have Ph.D.s. The share of institutional expenditures going to faculty salaries and benefits in both public and private institutions has fallen relative to the share going to nonfaculty uses like student services, academic support, and institutional support. There are changing modes of instruction, together with different use...