In higher education, we often talk about assessment, but what is usually meant is grading. The two have become so closely linked that we forget they serve very different purposes. When they blend together, it is learning that suffers. If we see assessment as the process of understanding where a […]
Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations
If We Built a University Today: What We’d Keep, What We’d Leave Behind, and What We’d Finally Get Right
What would happen if we started over? If we wiped the slate clean. IF there were no inherited policies, no century-old traditions, no “we’ve always done it this way”, and we built a university designed for students, educators, and the societies of today? This isn’t meant to be a financial […]
Academic Identity & Professional Learning - Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations
Reclaiming the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching: Why We Need to Learn About Learning Again
“Universities are overflowing with experts in knowledge — but too few scholars of how knowledge is learned.” In most universities, research is the key to success. Promotion policies, institutional rankings, and professional recognition all rely on metrics that reward discovery and publication. Journal articles serve as symbols of impact and […]
Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations - Student Learning & Engagement
Beyond the Algorithm: How Do We Bring Higher Education Back to the Learning?
For me, it feels as though AI has become the focal point in higher education. Every conference, workshop, and committee meeting now appears to revolve around the same question: What does/will AI mean for…? Then fill in the blank with anything from teaching, assessment, academic integrity, or any other education […]
Assessment & Feedback - Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations - Student Learning & Engagement - Teaching Practice
Beyond the Tick Box: Why Curriculum Mapping Isn’t Evidence of Learning
I was recently listening to The Grading Podcast when Marc Aronson, Dean of Academics at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, described their practice, in which students undertake Final Demonstration of Learning (FDoL) activities. Listening to this, I couldn’t help but question: When, in a university course, do students truly demonstrate the course learning outcomes […]