Learning Outcomes

Higher Education and the Perfect Data Storm

May 09, 2012 by David Clemens |

To understand what's really going on at our colleges and universities, we need to look beyond data, writes David Clemens.

Defending Online Learning, Part One

Feb 28, 2012 by Thomas K. Lindsay |

Once a skeptic, Thomas K. Lindsay now sees online education as a powerful means to address the crisis in American higher education.

Unnumbered

Aug 31, 2011 by Peter Wood |

Peter Wood fears that a new proposal for improving science education will lead to even greater math illiteracy among high school graduates.

Higher Ed, or Building Clockwork Oranges?

Jul 08, 2011 by David Clemens |

For Father’s Day, my daughter Kate sent me a t-shirt featuring David Pelham’s dust jacket of Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange (Penguin, 1962).  Director Stanley Kubrick turned Burgess’s… Continue Reading | 3 Comments >

Another Glaring Flaw in Leonhardt’s Article

Jun 28, 2011 by George Leef |

There are many more flaws in his article. Here’s another that really bothered me.

One of the glaring weaknesses in the “College is good for everyone!” case is the mounting evidence that many students learn… Continue Reading | 1 Comment >

Knowledge of American History Rapidly Becoming History

Jun 28, 2011 by Glenn Ricketts |

What do most students know about US history? Very little. What to do about it? Good question.

Colleges Ignore the Most Basic of Skills—Writing

Jun 22, 2011 by George Leef |

In this week's Pope Center Clarion Call, Professor Murray Sperber points out that most college courses do little or nothing to help students become good (or even moderately competent) at that most basic of skills -- writing.

New York Association of Scholars Statement to the CUNY Board

Jun 09, 2011 by |

NAS’s New York affiliate believes a CUNY resolution intended to help community college students transfer to four-year schools has the unintended consequence of severely undermining academic standards.

They Can Write

May 06, 2011 by Will Fitzhugh |

Despite most people's willingness to dismiss their intellectual capabilities, high school students can rise to high standards if we expect them to.

“The First Book I’ve Ever Read”...No Comment

Apr 18, 2011 by Ashley Thorne |

A UConn senior, an athlete, reads a book for the first time.

Do Good Professors Give F’s?

Mar 02, 2011 by Jason Fertig |

When C means degree, professors should pass only students who meet course standards, counsels Jason Fertig.

Going to College Makes People More Likely to “Hide” Than to “Do”

Feb 22, 2011 by David Clemens |

In The Weekly Standard, Joseph Epstein makes a nice distinction between those who see man’s essential self as defined by what he hides and those who see man’s essential self as defined by what he does. "More people… Continue Reading | 1 Comment >

The Uselessness of “Student Learning Outcomes”

Feb 14, 2011 by Ashley Thorne |

At the Chronicle, April Kelly-Woessner has an incisive piece on outcomes assessment at her university and in higher education at large. She argues that the nation is less concerned about measuring how much students have… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >

Lumina’s New Degree Profile: As Elusive as the Snark

Feb 03, 2011 by Peter Wood |

Peter Wood questions whether American higher education needs an "outcomes framework," or whether we'd be better equipped with something more like a core curriculum.

Lumina’s Degree Profile - Do We Need It?

Jan 28, 2011 by Ashley Thorne |

The Lumina Foundation's new "Degree Qualifications Profile" is supposed to help colleges have a shared framework to describe what students should be able to do when they graduate. Peter Wood says he'll hold out for something… Continue Reading | Leave a Comment >