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TOWARDS PROMOTING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNER-CENTERED EDUCATION: A PROPOSAL
Prepared by a team of Regents, staff, and faculty representing the Arizona University System
and accepted by the Board on February 25, 2000Contents:
Related Documents:
Guiding Principles For Learner-Centered Education
(Adopted by Regents on August 13, 1999)CONTEXT
The state universities in Arizona face several converging forces. Many universities around the nation and the world are offering innovative courses in non-traditional modes that position them to effectively meet learner needs and that increase their competitiveness in the 21st century. This is competition that our universities are currently not equipped to match. The economics of public higher education nation-wide also suggest that we will not be able to hire enough new faculty to deal with projected enrollment growth as we strive to provide access to growing populations of increasing diversity (see Appendix A). The development of educational technology raises further questions about what forms of it we should use, how we should use them, and capital expenditure. Most significantly, as our state strives to prosper in a global economy, the new Governor's Task Force for Higher Education in Arizona has identified the problem of a diverse workforce whose education is increasingly inadequate for the business, service, and professional sectors.
This proposal is an effort to make the state's public universities more effective in meeting their traditional missions and additionally responsive to the multidimensional contexts and challenges of the 21st Century. A solution to these challenges is to make the state's public universities more learner-centered in their educational processes and to do so thoroughly and systematically. National research conclusively shows that learner-centered modes of education at the college level are more efficient, flexible, and facilitate deeper, more lasting, and more transferable learning. With learner-centered education geared to their different learning styles, diverse students will be able to learn in the mode that most closely fits their preferred ways of learning. They will also have the ability to work independently and in teams. They will further possess the technological expertise, skills, and knowledge of a well-educated person and be prepared to fulfill the requirements of tomorrow's jobs. Industries and professions that will make Arizona and the nation globally competitive will have a well-prepared workforce.
The Arizona university system has studied the means to achieve these ends. All three state universities have identified current examples of learner-centered education within a wide variety of approaches to instruction and across many disciplines. The Board consequently has produced a Statement of Principles for Learner-Centered Change and has accepted the Arizona Faculties Council's Definition of Learner-Centered Education. These documents serve as starting points for system-wide development in this area. As a next step, a plan of action is needed to promote an environment within the Arizona university system that will facilitate the extensive use of learner-centered approaches in as many educational programs as possible.
STRATEGY
The proposed strategy is as follows:
To develop an action plan, with system-wide participation and in conjunction with university strategic plans, that includes:
Incorporation of learner-centered education throughout academic programs in the sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities and professional units to provide effective and flexible instruction, improve instructional design, and facilitate the knowledge and skills necessary for students to be successful in their chosen fields;
Development of learner-centered academic programs and initiatives better able to produce the workforce that is required for Arizona to be competitive in the new information-based global economy;
Expansion of strategic partnerships between the corporate and higher education communities. These partnerships will help ensure the availability of relevant college and university programs and of well-prepared graduates. The availability of programs and well-qualified graduates will attract and retain major employers and support the economic development of the state;
Creation of cooperative initiatives designed to support Arizona's industry. Cooperative research accomplished as part of learner-centered activities can contribute to knowledge and technology transfer in the corporate world. Expansion of access and the means to success provided for qualified students throughout the state -- including diverse, place-bound, time-constrained, and "new traditional" learners. Expanded access will ensure their ability to fully participate in and contribute to society and the new economy;
Identification of learning outcomes from learner-centered programs and initiatives. These outcomes are measurable on many levels by what graduates from Arizona's universities know and are able to do; and
Implementation of information technology that is collaboratively developed, organized, and used as a tool for the delivery of learner-centered education at all levels throughout the state.
To accomplish these strategies, we must address the immediate issues of funding for salaries, deferred maintenance, technological infrastructure, and additional expansion of branch campuses.
To describe the plan with a clear depiction of the urgency with which these needs must be met and a concise, yet compelling vision of how the plan will meet these needs.
To deliver the plan, with a cost analysis, to the governor, the legislature, and key constituencies across the state.
To implement the plan through the establishment of partnerships, the design of initiatives, the timely development and flexible delivery of learner-centered academic programs, and the creation of a supportive environment to address the following issues:
system missions and university plans
policies and regulations
organizational structure and technological infrastructure
training and professional development
evaluation and rewards
costs and productivity
funding and resources
impacts and assessment
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
We propose to use the following, at different times, as indicators of success:
The achievement of key support and coalition-building for this proposal;
At least the beginnings of additional funding for these purposes appearing in the next state budget, with a commitment to continued funding throughout the transition, by way of a separate appropriations bill if necessary;
Provisions to waive or make actual changes in Board of Regents policies that currently limit options in learner-centered education;
A revised Mission Statement for the Arizona university system that is consistent with and supportive of learner-centered education;
Appropriate revisions in university strategic plans to reflect increased emphasis on learner-centered programs;
The crafting of a time line for the completion of the next steps;
The production of the plan itself, including proposed indicators of improved outcomes for students;
Acceptance of the plan by all relevant governance groups in the system;
The achievement of increased partnerships and support mechanisms throughout the state that facilitate, enhance, and employ learner-centered education; and
An ongoing assessment of student achievement that reveals improved learning and increased capacities for contributing to a globally competitive economy in Arizona.
ISSUES
The disposition of Arizona state government to provide the needed resources;
The recognition of the faculty across the system that these plans are not workload additions and they will have support and development time within a modified and fair rewards system;
Intellectual property problems have yet to be fully and fairly addressed;The need to integrate these plans for learner-centered education with the plans of K-12 and the community colleges;
Many students may continue to come to us with non-learner-centered expectations;
There remains great uncertainty and lack of knowledge about technology, from the range of its applications to the amount of resources required to expand its use;
The danger of more competition than cooperation or collaboration among and between the three state universities;
Several Arizona Board of Regents policies currently discourage options that facilitate various kinds of learner-centered education; and
Some policies at particular universities may also inhibit learner-centered education and need to be changed or made more flexible.
ACTIONS THAT CAN ADDRESS THESE ISSUES
Build powerful coalitions to educate and influence public officials;
Provide development programs and support for learner-centered faculty initiatives, modify the incentive and reward structures for faculty, and use faculty with expertise in learner-centered techniques to build strong coalitions and expand support for such approaches;
Create a fair policy on intellectual property at the Board of Regents level, with extensive input from faculty throughout the system;
Develop an initiative that coordinates and articulates learner-centered education across all sectors of public education in Arizona;
In addition to establishing learner-centered patterns in earlier levels of education through the above initiative, include such expectations in orientation, bridge, and pre-arrival programs at the universities so that students understand their responsibilities as learners;
Analyze the costs and benefits of expanded technology, make individual university plans for increased infrastructure, apply for non-state grants to enhance technology, and lobby for legislative appropriations in this area;
Model patterns of cooperation and collaboration among the three universities after the policy recommendations and processes of the Arizona Faculties Council;
Identify the Board of Regents policies most restrictive of learner-centered options and propose that the Board modify these or provide options for waiving them in specified circumstances; and
Identify the local university policies most problematic for learner-centered education and propose university waivers or modifications, with Board approval when required.
CONCLUSION
The team understands that the process we propose here cannot be undertaken without presidential approval, extensive faculty input and discussion, and considerable further discussion at the level of the Board of Regents and Regents staff. That is one reason why we are suggesting a plan for a plan and no more at this stage. Many specifics remain to be worked out as the actual plan is developed over the next year. Nevertheless, we are unanimous in our recommendation that the general direction we suggest here for the Arizona universities be carefully and earnestly pursued over the next decade throughout the public university system. If we wish to participate and compete in the new world economy and the society of the future, it is our strong conviction that the universities will have to move in this direction, and we respectfully offer this outline of the first steps we should take towards this essential transformation.
Definition of Key Terms
Access
Policies and programs that promote the availability of higher education as nearly universally as possible to all qualified students.Arizona Faculties Council
An organization of faculty leaders who advise and collaborate with the Arizona Board of Regents on various issues relating to the operation and governance of the Arizona universities. Currently, membership includes three representatives each from ASU Main; ASU West; NAU, and the U of A; and one representative from U of A South.Diversity
A condition in which there is broad representation of underrepresented groups.Governance Groups
Administrative groups such as the Council of Presidents, Cabinet, Council of Deans; and faculty groups including Academic Senates and Staff Advisory Councils.Governor's Task Force
A taskforce of university and community college presidents, community college governing board members, regents, government and private sector leaders, appointed by Governor Hull, and charged with recommending improvements in Arizona's higher education system and producing a "Blueprint for Higher Education".Instructional Technology
The modes of delivering educational service employing technology including computers, the Internet, television, multi-media, and distance learning networks.Learner Centered Education
A strategy of education that places improvement of student learning at the center of decision-making processes and policies at all levels of the institution. It is characterized by the use of clear, measurable goals and student outcomes, and the direct involvement of learners in activities that produce deeper understanding of the content through the development of skills that are readily transferable to life and work. An additional central goal is to prepare self-directed learners who can continue learning beyond their formal education.Orientation, Bridge, and Pre-Arrival Programs
Services provided to students and parents to orient, upgrade skills, and better prepare students for their university experience.System Mission Statement
An Arizona Board of Regents document which details the goals and mission of Arizona's three universities and their branch campuses.Unit
Divisions of the university such as a college, school, department or program.
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