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Fortify Your Institutional H1N1 Plan with Lecture Capture: Mediasite at Washington State University Tuesday, November 10, 200911:00 – 11:45 a.m. Central Washington State University’s main campus is currently experiencing what the New York Times called perhaps the largest college outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus. More than 2,000 students report symptoms of swine flu, which has led the entire Washington State system to take measures to avoid the spread of the disease between and beyond campuses. And for WSU Spokane, which specializes in health science programs, lecture capture has become central to their pandemic and academic continuity planning. The campus began using the Mediasite webcasting platform just a year ago when its new nursing building came online. Since that time, capturing courses – both on-campus and from faculty home offices – is a key element to span the time, distance and space constraints that are dramatic factors when flu preparedness is introduced on today’s scale. Saleh Elgiadi, Director of IT Services for WSU Spokane, has agreed to share his fundamental principles and practices included in the campus’ comprehensive H1N1 and disaster recovery plans

Clearly, a world-class research university cannot long stand on such a shaky IT foundation. In fact, in the  generally glowing accreditation report filed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities about our university this summer, one recommendation read: “The Committee recommends that Washington State University provide contemporary information management systems that will address the needs of the future for its student, academic and management support requirements.”

Lori Whisenant knows that one way to improve the writing skills of undergraduates is to make them write more. But as each student in her course in business law and ethics at the University of Houston began to crank out—often awkwardly—nearly 5,000 words a semester, it became clear to her that what would really help them was consistent, detailed feedback.

She outsourced assignment grading to a company whose employees are mostly in Asia.

The graders working for EduMetry, based in a Virginia suburb of Washington, are concentrated in India, Singapore, and Malaysia, along with some in the United States and elsewhere. They do their work online and communicate with professors via e-mail.

But when the young superstar sat down with the department chair, he seemed to have only one goal: to land a tenure-track position that involved as many sabbaticals and as little teaching as possible

Hacker and his coauthor, New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus, use this cautionary tale to launch their new book, a fierce critique of modern academia called Higher Education? "The question mark in our title," they write, "is the key to this book." To their minds, little of what takes place on college campuses today can be considered either "higher" or "education."

They blame a system that favors research over teaching and vocational training over liberal arts.

My primary concern rests with the heavy emphasis on "outcomes based" learning. First, I find it difficult to imagine teaching to outcomes as separate from teaching my content -- I do not consider "content" and "outcomes" as discrete entities; rather, they overlap. This overlap may partly be the reason for the thin and somewhat unconvincing literature on "outcomes based learning." I would therefore like to see in this process a thorough and detailed analysis of the literature on "outcomes" vs content-based learning, followed by thoughtful discussion as to whether the need to focus our energies in a different direction is in fact warranted (and for what reasons). Also, perhaps that same literature can provide guidance on how to create an outcomes driven learning environment while maintaining the spirit of the academic (as opposed to technocratically-oriented) enterprise.

Outcomes are simply more refined ways of talking about fundamental purposes of education (on the need for positing our purposes in educating undergraduates, see Derek Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges, ch. 3). Without stating our educational purposes clearly, we can't know whether we are achieving them. "

I've clicked just about every link on this website. I still have no idea what the empirical basis is for recommending a "learning goals" based approach over other approaches. The references in the GEVC report, which is where I expected to find the relevant studies, were instead all to other reports. So far as I could tell, there were no direct references to peer-reviewed research.

An e-mail comment from one reviewer: “In reviewing about 100-some-odd accreditation reports in the last few months, it has been useful in our work here at Washington State University to distinguish ‘stuff’ from evidence. We have adopted an understanding that evidence is material or data that has been analyzed and that can be used, as dictionary definitions state, as ‘proof.’ A student gathers ‘stuff’ in the ePortfolio, selects, reflects, etc., and presents evidence that makes a case (or not)… The use of this distinction has been indispensable here. An embarrassing amount of academic assessment work culminates in the presentation of ‘stuff’ that has not been analyzed--student evaluations, grades, pass rates, retention, etc. After reading these ‘self studies,’ we ask the stumping question--fine, but what have you learned? Much of the ‘evidence’ we review has been presented without thought or with the general assumption that it is somehow self-evident… But too often that kind of evidence has not focused on an issue or problem or question. It is evidence that provides proof of nothing.

I actually learned something in these classes for 3 main reasons. The first reason was that the class size was small, and my interaction with my classmates and professor/teacher made the material meaningful and educational. Secondly, the essays required for these classes pushed me in my writing skills, and promoted independent research and construction of ideas through writing.

Taking the class with students who were serious and knowledgeable about their field of study made my experience educational. Sitting in a large lecture hall with 200 other students who also are taking the class just to get the requirement is not educationally stimulating.

Spending money on classes that don’t have any impact is especially hard now that tuition has gone through the roof. Requiring less classes of greater quality will help alleviate this problem and help students graduate on time.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the Department’s six appointments to the newly constituted National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI).

The Department’s six members, appointed for three-year terms, are: Earl Lewis, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; Susan Phillips, provost and vice president for academic affairs, University of Albany, State University of New York; Jamienne Studley, president and CEO, Public Advocates Inc., San Francisco, Calif.; Aron Shimles, student, Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif.; Frank Wu, professor, Howard University Law School, Washington, D.C.; and , Frederico Zargoza, vice chancellor of economic and workforce development, Alamo Colleges, San Antonio, Tex.

The House and Senate are expected to complete their appointments soon and the newly-formed committee will then meet shortly thereafter.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, a national advocate and institutional voice for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation, has awarded the 2010 CHEA Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes to Capella University (MN), one of four institutions that will receive the award in 2010. Capella University is the first online university to receive the award.

Capella University’s faculty have developed an outcomes-based curricular model

“Capella University is a leader in accountability in higher education. Their work in student learning outcomes exemplifies the progress that institutions are making through the implementation of comprehensive, relevant and effective initiatives,” said CHEA President Judith Eaton. “We are pleased to recognize this institution with the CHEA Award.”