Spring Break
Faculty assesses effectiveness of methods of instruction at discussion
Corinne Speckert
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: News
Nellen said expectations of challenge among students are tough to obtain because students expect to be challenged more upon entering a university, but when they're not, they assume they won't be challenged for the rest of their college career.
"Are we setting the bar low that first year, and then from that point on that's what they expect?" she said. "The challenge for us when looking at first-year students is that while they're expecting to be challenged more, are they ready to be challenged more? So we see that they're not ready, so we lower the bar, then at the same time we're lowering their expectations for the future."
Snell said accrediting agencies are looking at assessment tests to determine the efficiency of the faculty.
"Assessment is really looking at 'What are our students learning?' not 'What is faculty teaching?'" she said. "We've been scrambling to get that in place on this campus."
According to the National Survey of Student Engagement, which studies student behavior and campus characteristics, students are more engaged when presented with a higher level of academic challenge. The study further found that students who are engaged are more likely to succeed.
The survey also said that while students are more engaged when they're challenged, but meeting attendees addressed the difficulty of engaging students through challenging them because the amount of challenge needed varies per student.
"Are we setting the bar low that first year, and then from that point on that's what they expect?" she said. "The challenge for us when looking at first-year students is that while they're expecting to be challenged more, are they ready to be challenged more? So we see that they're not ready, so we lower the bar, then at the same time we're lowering their expectations for the future."
Snell said accrediting agencies are looking at assessment tests to determine the efficiency of the faculty.
"Assessment is really looking at 'What are our students learning?' not 'What is faculty teaching?'" she said. "We've been scrambling to get that in place on this campus."
According to the National Survey of Student Engagement, which studies student behavior and campus characteristics, students are more engaged when presented with a higher level of academic challenge. The study further found that students who are engaged are more likely to succeed.
The survey also said that while students are more engaged when they're challenged, but meeting attendees addressed the difficulty of engaging students through challenging them because the amount of challenge needed varies per student.
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