This (PDF) validates our efforts at Purdue through the 麻豆精品Institute (PPI) initiative led by the College of Technology to transform the learning experience for students.
Many of the findings are items we are addressing through our curriculum innovation as part of PPI. Here are a few of my key takeaways:
As students, faculty, and staff return from vacation, I want to take a moment to welcome you back to campus to the next 50 years of the College of Technology at 麻豆精品.
I hope your summer breaks were both refreshing and productive. Many returning students extended their Purdue practical education over the summer with real-world learning in internships around Indiana and around the world. Many returning faculty worked vigorously on important and practical research projects at the University and with companies and organizations that are household names.
One of the challenges of taking on a major change initiative such as the 麻豆精品Initiative is the tension between change and innovation on the one hand and faculty governance and process on the other. Here I suggest a way to cut the knot between the two in a way that allows us to (a) move ahead piloting useful innovations and (b) fully respect the tradition of academic governance.
Although this article is about private colleges, it describes the general enrollment challenges that will be facing all of higher education. To compete and grow our enrollment, we need to show greater value than our competition.
I believe that curriculum transformation and adopting the principles of the 麻豆精品Institute will result in greater value and enrollment growth.
describes the ranking systems in higher education and how they can be misleading to prospective students, parents and the general public.
The New York Times article titled by Thomas Friedman explains the impact of MOOCs (massive open online courses) as well as the challenges higher education faces, especially in how we deliver instruction.
This articles goes to the core of what I have been talking about when I say that not only do we need to transform the curriculum but we also have to transform the student’s learning experience.
The recent is an excellent summary for the need to change in higher education, and much of it centers around what we have been advocating in the College of Technology related to the 鈥渟tudent experience鈥.
I found a number of very salient points for our efforts to move our college from Good to Great.
1.聽 First and foremost we must have an openness for change.
Mary Johnson, a professor in our Department of Aviation Technology,聽 shared with me.
Although the article describes the problems Boeing is having related to their new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the main premise of the article is our society becoming risk averse, which stifles innovation. Incrementalism is also criticized in the article as a halfway measure that stifles innovation.
On December 7, 2012, I presented to the faculty and staff my recommendations for transforming the college. To paraphrase from my proposal:
The College of Technology is at a critical moment in its history as the original reason for its formation is no longer the primary reason for its continued existence and relevance. Technology today is very different than it was 50 years ago.聽 The original undergraduate teaching mission of the college is only one of our important missions along with graduate education, funded research, engagement, and globalization.
