Higher Education in the 21st Century: Living in Pasteurs Quadrant

Judith A. Ramaley AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal Conference March 4, 2004

Premise

Our approach to undergraduate education must Be developed with a clear understanding Of the educational goals of our students, Their patterns of participation and enrollment, And their expectations.
How can we ensure that all students experience A coherent and engaging education?

Education in the 21st Century

What will it mean to be educated in the 21st century? What kind of educational environment must we provide
to support a 21st century education? 21st century and who will decide?

What will be the societal role of higher education in the

How do Federal and state policies, and Federal R&D priorities, shape the contemporary university?

Envisioning Education in the 21st Century The Greater Expectations National Panel Report calls for a practical liberal education in which college students become intentional learners who can

Adapt to new environments Integrate knowledge from different sources Continue learning throughout their lives Thrive in a complex world.

The Intentional Learners Envisioned By The National Panel Should Become

Empowered through the mastery of intellectual and practical skills

Informed by knowledge about the natural and social worlds and about forms of inquiry basic to these studies

Responsible for their personal actions and civic values

How Can We Set High Expectations For All?

How are student patterns of enrollment changing? How will these patterns of participation affect the kind of education that students receive? If the conditions within single institutions no longer define the experience of a majority of undergraduates, what additional steps must we take to ensure a coherent and purposeful educational environment for all students?

Who are our faculty?

In 1987, 67% of faculty were full-time and 58%

had tenure.

In 2002, 55% were full-time and 45% had tenure. Full-time tenure and tenure-track faculty are
being replaced by part-time and fixed term faculty.

Part-time faculty primarily teach (89%); full-time faculty play more complex roles. Source: U.S. Dept. Education

Who Are Our Students Today And How Are They Participating In Higher Education?
Patterns of Enrollment and Pathways to a Degree Have Become Extremely Complex
Source: Adelman, C., Principal Indicators

Of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education, 1997-2000.

U.S. Department of Education

Few Traditional Age Students (18-26 years old) Obtain Their Education From One Institution

57% attend more than

one school as undergraduates to do so

62% attend during

summer terms

35% cross state lines

20% earn acceleration
credits by examination or dual enrollment

22% are stop-outs and

14% are enrolled for less than a year

Of those who earn

more than 10 credits, 64% earn a credential of some kind

Pathways Through Higher Education Are Now Very Complex

26% attended two or

more 4-year schools transfers

14% alternated between

2 and 4-year schools

9% were true reverse 22% transferred from

a 2-year to a 4-year school

12% took a few

community college credits in addition to attending a 4-year school

11% attended two or

more community colleges

The Pipeline vs Multiple Pathways

Pipeline: a clear and uninterrupted route from high school to college and from college to advanced study

Pathways: complex patterns of enrollment that involve

more than one institution

What will be the societal role of higher education in the 21st century and who will decide?
1. To prepare students to be good citizens by providing them ways to help the institution itself be a good citizen while learning to be good citizens themselves;
2. To foster and renew bonds of trust in the community; i.e., social capital and to use the neutrality of the campus to provide a common ground where differences of opinion and advocacy for particular points of view can be addressed in an open and constructive ways and where people with similar goals can come together and create ways to work together.

What will be the societal role of higher education in the 21st century and who will decide?
3. To create leadership development opportunities for students and to foster a commitment to social and civic responsibility;
4. To enhance the employability of graduates by providing opportunities to build a strong resume and to explore career goals; 5. To promote learning both for students and for community members; 6. To play a role in creating capacity in the community to work on complex societal problems.

What will be the societal role of higher education in the 21st century and who will decide?
7. To design a more effective way for the campus to contribute to economic and community development; 8. To build support for public investment in higher education, both to provide access and opportunity for students of all backgrounds to pursue an education and to generate knowledge that will address critical societal needs;

9. To accomplish a campus mission of service.

What kind of educational environment must we provide to support a 21st century education?

Rethinking the Idea of a University

Broadening the Definition of Scholarship Building Genuine Scholarship into the Undergraduate Experience

The Idea of the University

the cultivation of the intellect, as an end which may reasonably be pursued for its own sake Truth of whatever kind is the proper object of the intellect. The high protecting power of all knowledge and science, of fact and principle, of inquiry and discovery, of experimentation and speculation; it maps out the terrain of the intellect.
Cardinal Newman

The Idea of the University The modern university is not outside, but inside the general fabric of our era. It is not something apart, something historic, something that yields as little as possible to forces and influences that are more or less new. It is, on the contrary, an expression of the ages, as well as an influence operating upon both present and future.
Abraham Flexner, quoted in Clark Kerrs The Uses of the University

The Multiversity

The Multiversity is an inconsistent institution. It is not one community but several Its edges are fuzzy. Hutchins once described the modern university as a series of separate schools and departments held together by a central heating systemI have sometimes thought of it as a series of individual faculty entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance over parking.

Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University

The Engaged University

The primary purposes of the 21st century engaged university are to conduct research on important problems, ideas and questions, to promote the application of current knowledge to societal problems and to prepare its students to address these issues through a curriculum that emphasizes scholarly work that has consequences both for the students and for society.

The Engaged University

Success in the university of the future will be defined by the rigor of scholarly work, by the quality of the educational experience of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, by the effectiveness of the partnerships that link the university with the community, and by the impact of the institution on the quality of life of citizens of the state, the nation, and the world.

Engaged Scholarship Is

Research and learning that is conducted with the community rather than on behalf of the community; that reframes research, teaching and service as discovery and learning conducted in an engaged mode; that connects the goals of scholarship (to develop theory and advanced understanding) with technology (to solve practical problems and develop useful products); while taking its inspiration from both a scholarly context and the experience of the community and its challenges.
Ramaley, J.A. (2002)

Engaged scholarship is conducted in Pasteurs Quadrant.

Where Basic Science & Technological Innovation Meet

for the research community and students to promote the public good and enrich educational experiences
Quest for Fundamental Understanding? Yes No

Pasteurs Quadrant

Considerations of Use? No Yes

Pure Basic Research

[Bohr]

Use-Inspired Basic Research

[Pasteur]

Pure Applied Research

[Edison]

The Boyer Model of Scholarship At no time in our history has the need been greater for connecting the work of the

academy to the social and environmental

challenges beyond the campus.

Ernest Boyer (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered

 Scholarship of Discovery:

contributes to the human stock of knowledge and to the intellectual climate of a college or university. makes connections across the disciplines, placing the specialties in larger contextoften educating nonspecialists Life in Pasteurs Quadrant where knowledge is responsibly applied to consequential problems and addresses both individual and societal needs and where societal realities inspire and challenge theory.

Scholarship of Integration:

Scholarship of Application:

What Will It Mean To Be Educated In The 21st Century?

Introducing the Boyer Model of Scholarship Into The Curriculum

All Students can and should participate in discovery as well as integration and application of knowledge to problems of broader societal significance.
Research experiences for undergraduates;

Examples:

internships; service-learning; pursuit of

integrated studies and capstone experiences.

Know How vs. Know Why

All forms of experimentation seek the same end: moving from superficial knowledge to deep understanding

Knowing how is superficial knowledge based on

norms of behavior, standards of practice and the technologies available.

cause-effect relationships and accommodates exceptions, adaptations and unforeseen events.

From David Garvin, Harvard Business Review, 1993

Knowing why is deeper. It captures underlying

Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (2002)
calls for

a philosophy of education that empowers individuals, liberates the mind and cultivates social responsibility.

Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (2002) How can we provide a meaningful education for both pipeline and pathway students? First, what should education entail?

Challenging encounters with important issues More a way of learning than specific content Prepares students to be intentional learners who can adapt to new environments, integrate knowledge from different sources and continue to learn throughout their lives Prepares graduates who will be intentional, empowered, informed and responsible.

Plato: The purpose of education is to cultivate the intellect, pursued for its own sake, in order to uncover the universal themes and natural laws that the prepared mind can discern beneath the surface confusion of life.

Isocrates: The purpose of an education is to prepare citizens to participate in public affairs.

Marrou, H.I. (1956) A History of Education in Antiquity

A practical liberal education lies between these two poles of direct experience and timeless purpose, thought and action, self-realization and social responsibility. It liberates the spirit and feeds the soul while preparing students to make informed and responsible decisions.

How Is Scholarship Changing And What Does This Mean For Undergraduate Education?

Pure vs. Applied

There is an inexorable shift from the traditional mode of research that is pure, disciplinary, homogeneous, expert-led,

supply-driven, hierarchical, peer-reviewed, and almost exclusively university-based to a new research mode that is more likely to be applied, problem-centered, transdisciplinary, heterogeneous, hybrid, demand-driven, entrepreneurial, and network-embedded.
[Gibbons, et al., 1994]

Disciplinary traditions, subject-centered hierarchies, and organizational boundaries are melting rapidly in the scholarly community but not in the undergraduate curriculum.

Convergence and Complexity in the Sciences

There are signs that the disciplines are converging, drawn together by common mathematical and computational paradigms. As this happens, the areas of greatest interest transcend traditional academic disciplines and the structure of the academic department and draw increasingly from many disciplines.

EXAMPLE

Convergence and Complexity in the Sciences [cont.]

Advances in computational capacity are changing our world-view. World One: discrete, static, sequential, mechanistic, separable, universal, homogeneous, regular, linear, superficial, single World Two: continuous, dynamic, simultaneous, organic, interactive, conditional, heterogeneous, irregular, nonlinear, deep, multiple. The structure of the undergraduate major as well as courses for general education have generally not kept pace with these developments.

The NRC Report Bio2010 shows that [t]he connections between the biological sciences and the physical sciences, mathematics and computer science are rapidly becoming deeper and more extensive. (p.1) To compound the changes even more, scientists now take advantage of cyberspace to interact with each

other differently, to gather and interpret their findings and to communicate their work in new ways.

Is any of this new way of doing science and communicating about science reflected in the curriculum and in the experiences of undergraduates?

Not much! According to Bio2010, the teaching of biology has not changed substantially in over two decades. Meanwhile, the science itself has undergone a remarkable transformation. The gap between the biology that students study and the realities of the most exciting and advanced work in the life sciences is a matter for deep concern.

Implications of Greater Expectations and the Changing Nature of Scholarship for the Undergraduate Experience of Pathway Students
Pathway students are less likely to have a coherent experience or to obtain an intentionally designed education. Pathway students are less likely to have time to participate in the more integrative activities that are available to full-time students taught by full-time faculty who pursue a scholarly agenda.
A significant proportion of underrepresented students enroll in a pathway mode.

The Experience of Underrepresented Students

While 91% of high school graduates from highincome families apply to four-year institutions, only 62% of college-qualified high school graduates from low-income families attempt a four-year college education.
Many of these lower-income students come from socio-economic groups that are much less likely to complete a degree even if they do enroll in college.

A higher proportion of Hispanics enroll than do non-Hispanic whites. However, they tend to pursue paths that are associated with lower chances of attaining a bachelors degree or a higher degree. Many enroll in community colleges or attend part-time and others delay further education until they are older. This is also true for African-Americans and Native Americans. The pattern of participation of underrepresented students in higher education is partly driven by cost, partly by reactions to the culture of academic disciplines and partly by the lack of access to social networks that smooth the way into college.

Critical Next Questions

How can we design a coherent and intentional education for all students, including both traditional (pipeline) and nontraditional (pathway)?

What do pathway students study? How are their experiences different from those
of pipeline students? What effect do these differences have on the nature of the education they receive and what they learn?
goals change as they progress?

What are their educational goals and do their

Critical Next Questions [cont.]

What public policies might smooth movements across institutions and enhance the intentionality and integrity of the curriculum that pathway students encounter? How can we close the gaps in participation and outcomes for different participants in our educational system? How can we promote greater success for students who take pathway routes through higher education? What Federal and state policies might we consider and how might we implement them to ensure access, quality, educational purposefulness, and affordability?

The Beginnings of an Answer Lessons from Learning Organization Models

A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. Insights are the trigger for organizational improvementWithout accompanying changes in the way that work gets done, only the potential for improvement exists.
David Garvin, 1993

Beginnings of an Answer

Our focus is on organizational inquiry. We use this term in the Deweyan sense as a highly general characterization of the exercise of human intelligence in the worldthe intertwining of thought and action by which we move from doubt to the resolution of doubt. We distinguish between coming to see things in new ways and coming to act on the basis of insight. We give special importance to the experience of surprise, The mismatch of outcome to expectations, which we see as an essential process by which people can come to see, think, and act in new ways.
Argyris and Schn, Organizational Learning II (1996) p.xxii-xxiii

Principles of Learning Organizations May Offer Insights on How to Design a Curriculum and Expectations for NonTraditional (Pathways) Students.

1. Rethink how to create an environment conducive

to learning that does not depend upon the design of a single curriculum or set of requirements developed by one institution or the expectation of continuous enrollment.

Principles of Learning Organizations May Offer Insights on How to Design a Curriculum and Expectations for Non-Traditional (Pathways) Students.

2. Open up boundaries and stimulate the exchange of ideas

using some of the strategies of learning organizations:

a) Use learning forums-events designed with explicit

learning or discovery goals in mind (e.g., consider designs from research experiences for teachers or teacher institutes; cohort models of graduate study) and link learning to societal concerns.

b) Engage students in studying changing societal issues

Principles of Learning Organizations May Offer Insights on How to Design a Curriculum and Expectations for Non-Traditional (Pathways) Students.
c) Use student-generated audits/progress reports on learning, guided by a set of intentional learning criteria (e.g., Alverno College model).

d) Offer symposia that bring together students, researchers and practitioners to learn from each other and share ideas.
e) Develop learning communities on the web.

Conclusions
1) Our concepts of undergraduate education are
based on two key assumptions that remain true only for pipeline students. Most students now study at more than one

institution. Most students now exhibit at least one nontraditional characteristic: part-time, over the age of 25, non-residential, work full or parttime.

2) There is evidence of a growing disconnect

between how research and scholarship are conducted and how we approach undergraduate education.

Therefore

1) We must create an educational environment that

works across institutional boundaries since students cross these boundaries regularly.

2) We must rethink the undergraduate curriculum

and ensure that it reflects the changing nature of scholarship and incorporated a full range of scholarly experiences for all students, both pipeline and pathway.