Over the last few months, I have spent quite some time reading, researching and visiting a number of institutions that claim some kind of academic innovation. In many cases, I was frustrated to find that the innovation touted in papers and conferences, in fact did not amount to much or in some cases had simply disappeared. So this is my list of things that I found interesting.
5th year free – get your masters degree in a free fifth year at Clark University as long as you can manage the US$44,050 per year tuition. Students have to be admitted into the program and can transfer some credits into the MS degree allowing them to complete in one year.
Hampshire College was set up by a consortium of college presidents to experiment with the liberal arts college. Its curriculum is highly innovative and project based with no grades and a narrative transcript. The graduates are highly sought after and successful in doctoral programs elsewhere.
The Harvard Business School, ever the bastion of entrepreneurial academics has packaged MOOCs using their EdX platform is quite a compelling way that they call HBxCORe. Basically 3 MOOCs taught (if that is the right word!) by Harvard faculty in basic business skills. For one price you can get a certificate of readiness and for another price undergraduate credits, the course is also offered in 3 different length formats.
While we are on the subject of MOOCs (no they did not die they just languished in the Gartner trough of unfulfilled expectations for a while), The University of Illinois now has a fully accredited MBA (they call iMBA really!!) and for US$22,000 you can get an MBA via Coursera.
Not to be outdone, the third big MOOC provider, MIT, also has an interesting offering. Micromasters in Data and Development and Supply Chain Management, these MOOCs on the MITx platform are supplemented with proctored tests and then credit given that can be later applied to a masters degree. I am struck by the bizarre counterpoint of MOOCs and proctored tests like 2017 meets 1617.
Competency based education has received a lot of attention as the way forward but not a lot of universities have got very far with it. I suppose you could argue that Alverno College has been at it for a long time, I attended a workshop there over twenty years ago. Western Governors University has stepped it up a notch offering on-line competency based education where students prepare their degree path and can challenge when they think they know enough.
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has always been a pioneer school and their approach to Prior Learning Assessment is no different – through course challenge or portfolio students can gain credit for what they know. They also offer credit for workplace learning, industry training, military experience and vocational and technical training.
Bootcamps, started a few years ago by the private sector to teach coding skills – they have multiplied and are now offered by various universities. They are basically ten or so weeks long, very intense and project based. Some are in partnership and some are not and some are now starting to credit the bootcamps into degree programs. I think the concept could go way beyond just coding.
Work integrated learning just gets bigger and bigger. To think of launching any degree these days without some kind of coop or internship seems like crazy think. Some universities seem to be leading the way with very sophisticated approaches to making sure that students understand the application of their degree. At Mt. Holyoke U. the Lynk program consisting of advising, resources and courses links their program to career. At the University of Iowa supervisors regularly check in with student employees on work flow, tasks, and assignments through what they call Iowa Grow, a guided reflection program.
Should all first years take the same curriculum? Should we have general education goals? Is first year math and philosophy mandatory? These, and many others torture many universities and colleges. Of course the answer depends on what it is you are trying to achieve, under what principles and with what learning framework. If you can get that right then the answer is a little clearer. “The Point of It All” at Notre Dame is a good examples as well as the foundational studies year at Quest University.
This one I really like. Adventure Orientation at West Virginia University. Incoming students enrol in outdoor adventure courses prior to attendance usually 4 or 5 days led by upper level undergraduates resulting in a significant increase in retention.
Many universities have started to experiment with how Wikipedia can help in designing innovative assignments and curriculum at the undergrad and grad level. A non-profit foundation is available offering support to faculty thinking about how to make this work.
Universities and Colleges concerned about retention have started to look at a more holistic approach to student success. There is a mountain of literature on this but at the heart it simply involves university student support departments and academics (often significantly siloed) working together to optimize student success. Bay Path University has their SOUL program as a good example.
The co-curricular transcript is a feature at many universities. The utility of such a thing to employers is questionable. Most employers understand a degree but are confused by add-ons such as badges and co-curricular transcripts and tend to ignore them as I outlined in another post. However, the value is to the student not the employer, it allows the student to reflect on co-curricular activities and see their educational value. At Elon University, they have tied the co-curricular transcript to reflect the values of the institution and presented it in a graphical format they call the visual experiential transcript.
Open Education Resources (OER) have been around a long time – I still remember the multiple failed attempts to set up centralized learning objects repositories and I know many vendors still have them. OER has simplified somewhat into making papers and text books available on-line and free for students. BC has been active in this area with the open textbook initiative through BC Campus. The savings to students are significant and we should all double our efforts to adopt OERs. UMUC has institutionally committed to OER at the undergraduate and the graduate level.
Accelerated degrees are cropping up everywhere even though most students seem to be taking longer to graduate (largely blamed on having to work while learning). Clearly making more options available to students is the trend. There are several variations. Get a start on university education in high school I just heard that in Montgomery County, MD that students can start in on university level programming pathways in Grade 9. Get a head start on your masters degree during undergraduate studies already mentioned in this post but alive and well at many institutions e.g., Carleton’s accelerated master in computer science. The University of Iowa has a comprehensive package of acceleration options. Oregon State University has fast tracked second undergraduate degrees in attractive areas such as computer science allowing students to compete a second degree between 1 and 4 years depending on their circumstances.
This is just a sample of new approaches that happening in universities and colleges. Those observers that claim that universities are not innovating appear not to be observing very closely.