Overcoming the Biggest Barrier to Student Success

Ron BleedJanuary, 2005

Previous Research

Top 25 Coursesor

1% Solution

“obvious but not recognized”

Championed by Carol Twigg

• 87% of all higher education students commute.

• Only 13% are residential.• Commuting students are non-

traditional.• Urban universities are similar to

community colleges.

“Going to college, notwhat it used to be.”

Student Retention

• Research Studies• Programs and Strategies

4

Powerful online, integrated course catalog with sophisticated search

and enrollment options

Access to individual course documents and assignments, downloaded for off-

line work and automatically synchronized with online version

Links to electronic advising, library, and tutoring resources

Online news and announcements

Personalized virtual desktop

Integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools

Single sign-on registration

Common application shared by all institutions

Data warehousing capabilities to support program management and reporting

Overview: eArmyU provides Soldiers with all of the tools needed to succeed.

Online e-business payment functionality to support self-pay

Automated delivery ofcourse materials with

tracking capability

Integrated PeopleSoft Student Admin System to track grades and degree progress

Double Loop Learning

1. Better Advisement2. More class time/contact

hours3. Placement testing/pre-

requisites4. Multi-year class scheduling5. Portals/CRM

EspousedTheory of

Action

Challengeof

Assumptions

Brutal Facts

Successful Course Completion Rates

• Day Traditional 70%• Day Partial-Semester 85%• Day One-Day Week 77%• Evening One-Day Week 79%• Every Two Week Start 80%

Unsuccessful Course Completion Rates

• Day Traditional 30%• Day Partial-Semester 15%• Day One-Day Week 23%• Evening One-Day Week 21%• Every Two Week Start 20%

Traditional Targets of Blame

Academic Difficulties 7%

Poor Advisement 1%

Too Heavy Academic Load 3%

Capture Time

• Commuters• Work and Family Life

CCSSE 2004

Financial Problems

Work Responsibilities

Family Responsibilities

Health Issues

Transportation Problems

Job Shift

Personal/Confidential

Limited TimeLife

Interruptions

Our intellects live inside our messy lives, not apart from them in some Platonic realm. My discomfort arose

from my reluctance to allow my students’

noise and pain into my quiet, country life…To seal myself inside the

ivory tower of my discipline was not to be safe but perhaps most

in danger…” (M. Garrett Bauman,

professor of English at Monroe Community

College.)

Kline Biology Tower, Yale

Unscrambling the Work-Family-Education Puzzle

“offering more flexible schedules”

Grubb & Lazerson 2004

Education Work

“Opening Doors”

•Bridges between non-credit, remedial and credit•Non-traditional course formats•Lifelong learning opportunities and career pathways

Grossman, Gooden 2002

Curriculum Design

Models of Course Redesign

• Supplemental• Replacement (hybrid-blended)• Emporium• Fully online• Buffet

Twigg 2004

“Blended learning in higher education is an evolving phenomenon that offers promise for addressing challenges such as access, cost, efficiency and timely degree completion. In addition, this approach will impact aspects of the academy such as faculty development and rewards, student retention, college and department structure, as well as the notion of lifelong learning. Our experience is that blended learning is a transformational force, even at the outer edges of its influence. In a real sense, ‘we have just begun.”

ECAR 2004

Economic Denominator

• FTSE – Full-Time Student Equivalents

• SCCR – Successful Course Completion Rate

Deep Learning Is Not Timed

• NLII advocacy for “deep learning”• Focus on student learning rather than how

much time is spent in a course• Learning based on the course objectives

without being fettered by time constraints• Interactions between students and faculty

occur without the concept of timeFong 2004

Deep Learning Is Not Timed

• Students want to learn their way.

• Students have different timeframes than my timeframes.

• Imagine learning based and measured on content ladders and not clocks and calendars.

Fong 2004

Recommendations

• Understand the incompatibility of traditional scheduling with life interruptions

• Look for new formats for courses that reduce the fixed seat time

• Establish a new reward system for course completions

The most significant innovations andthe ones hardest are institutional innovations, not technical ones.

John Seely Brown, 2004