ALGONQUIN COLLEGE KEY AREAS OF DIFFERENTIATION
Algonquin College delivers a comprehensive range of applied education and training experiences to
serve the diverse learner choices and the breadth of employer labour demands across Eastern Ontario
and the province.
Algonquin College works with industry partners to:
• Develop labour-market informed programs and services;
• Provide opportunities for work-integrated learning, and experience inside and outside the
classroom; and
• Engage in applied research and commercialization activities that support student success,
employee growth, and social and economic development in the region and beyond.
Algonquin College employees are engaged in the strategic direction of the College to:
• Lead the transformation of Ontario’s postsecondary system;
• Deliver high-quality teaching methods and modalities that leverage technology to enhance the
educational experience; and
• Improve student learning outcomes for career and life success.
Algonquin College broadens learner access to applied postsecondary education and training in
Ontario, demonstrating leadership through:
• Alternative learning modalities and options to suit multiple learning styles and learner
preferences;
• New, targeted approaches to programs and services that improve pathways for learners of diverse
demographic characteristics; and
• Smart investments in technology that enhance the Algonquin learner experience.
Vision
•Transforming lives and communities through learning.
Mission
•To educate students for career success.
Why competency-based education?
Although competency-based education (CBEd) may seem relatively new to postsecondary education, the concept has been widely discussed throughout American education since the 1990s (Jones & Voorhees, 2002; Mulder, Gulikers, Biemans, & Wesselink, 2009). In fact, colleges including Western Governors University, Sinclair Community College, and Kings College were pioneering CBEd initiatives over a decade ago (2002). Several factors have focused current attention on CBEd in higher education in recent years, including the demand for expanded access to education, the need to reduce the cost of postsecondary education, and a shift from traditional models for learning. Online learning technology, for example, which supports the notion of learning anytime, anyplace, anywhere, also requires higher education to adjust and rethink the traditional educational system.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s (NTI) 2010/11 Annual Report on the State of Inuit Culture and Society focuses on the status of Inuit children and youth in Nunavut, with a focus on ages 2 to 18. In 2008, NTI reported on the overall health of Inuit, with
an emphasis on health service availability and delivery, and in many ways this report complements that document by focusing on the concept of wellness as it applies to Inuit children and youth, and the specific opportunities, challenges and priority areas associated with this rapidly growing demographic. Young people make up a larger proportion of Nunavut’s population than in any other Canadian jurisdiction (see Figure 1).
Children and youth are the most vulnerable people in society, relying on parents, guardians, and extended family members for food, shelter, nurturing, support, and protection. Factors impacting the well-being of Inuit children and youth, such as the availability of nutritious foods and reliable child, youth, and family services, adequate housing, and quality, early childhood and kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) education are beyond their influence or control. The high incidence of violent crime, sexual assault, and substance abuse in Nunavut can compound these challenges, making sustained political advocacy for this population all the more urgent.
The condition of the U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce figures prominently in discussions of national competitiveness, education policy, innovation, and even immigration. But the relevant analyses and conversations are hindered by differing understandings of the composition and character of the STEM workforce and the varied, dynamic career pathways enabled by STEM knowledge and skills.
Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities
As online education moves from the fringes to the mainstream, one question still persists:
“How do I know what my online students have learned?” There are no simple answers, just as there aren’t in face-to-face courses, but with a little creativity and flexibility, you soon discover that the online learning environment opens up a host of new student assessment possibilities. And, just as with traditional courses, the trick is finding the right combination that works best for your particular course.
This special report features 12 articles from Online Classroom that will cause you to examine your current methods of online assessment, and perhaps add something new to your assessment toolbox. It even talks about some of the common assessment mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
Take a look at some of the articles you will find in Assessing Online Learning: Strategies,
Challenges and Opportunities:
• Authentic Experiences, Assessment Develop Online Students’ Marketable Skills
• Four Typical Online Learning Assessment Mistakes
• Assessing Whether Online Learners Can DO: Aligning Learning Objectives with
Real-world Applications
• Strategies for Creating Better Multiple-Choice Tests
• Assessing Student Learning Online: It’s More Than Multiple Choice
• Using Self-Check Exercises to Assess Online Learning
• Measuring the Effectiveness of an Online Learning Community
• Ongoing Student Evaluation Essential to Course Improvement
Online courses enable a strong student-centered approach to learning and, as a result,
assessment. We hope this report helps you design and develop online assessment strategies
that take full advantage of the many formal and informal assessment tools now at
your fingertips.
Rob Kelly
Editor
Online Classroom
Two years ago, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and its 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges issued a bold call to action: If community colleges are to contribute powerfully to meeting the needs of 21st-century students and the 21st-century economy, education leaders must reimagine what these institutions are—and are capable of becoming.
At that time, the Commission’s report, Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future, set a goal of increasing rates for completion of community college credentials (certificates and associate degrees) by 50% by 2020, while preserving access,
enhancing quality, and eradicating attainment gaps across groups of students. The report set forth seven major recommendations, all of which are connected to attaining that goal.
A look at the sexual harassment policies at Canadian universities.
The recent decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal in the case of Fariba Mahmoodi, a student who accused her professor of sexual harassment, has once again focussed attention on a controversial issue. Ms. Mahmoodi complained to the tribunal that Donald Dutton, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, and UBC as his employer, had sexually harassed her. The tribunal agreed, awarding her a total of $13,000 including $4,000 for injury to her dignity, feelings and self-respect, and $5,200 for counseling expenses.
This study investigates the relationship between approaches to studying and course completion in two online preparatory university courses in mathematics and computer programming. The students participating in the two courses are alike in age, gender, and approaches to learning. Four hundred and ninety-three students participating in these courses answered the short
version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST). Results show that students demonstrating a deep approach to learning in either course are more likely to complete. In the mathematics course, a combination of deep and strategic approaches correlates positively with course completion. In the programming course, students who demonstrate a surface approach are less likely to complete. These results are in line with the intentions of the course designers, but they also suggest ways to improve these courses. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that ASSIST can be used to evaluate course design.
Interest in leadership increased during the early part of the twentieth century. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill level. While many different leadership theories have emerged, most can be classified as one of eight major types:.
In January, President Barack Obama convened a gathering for a summit on college access. To be invited, attendees were obliged to make formal commitments to improve access for low-income and underrepresented students. For proponents of community colleges, the focus of this summit likely has a familiar ring. Historically, the defining traits of these two-year institutions have been accessibility with low tuition, open admissions, diverse programming with convenient scheduling, and relatively small class sizes.
When the Royal Bank of Canada was recently caught up in a maelstrom of bad publicity over its use of temporary foreign workers, it led politicians and pundits to scrutinize and question the growing use by Canadian firms of imported, short-term labour. The Royal Bank was accused of misusing a system designed to help employers who could not find Canadian
workers by using it, instead, to find cheaper foreign labourers to replace higher-cost Canadians. But the incident raises a bigger question than simply how one bank makes use of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP): Whether the program is, in fact, interfering with the natural supply and demand responses of the labour market. And if we want
to make better use of available Canadian labour, the time has come for the federal government to start cutting back on the use of TFWP.
The number of admissions under the TFWP has nearly tripled in 25 years, from 65,000 to 182,000 in 2010. The primary justification for the expansion of the program has been the widespread assumption that Canada is suffering from a growing shortage of labour. Yet, it is hard to find any evidence to support this belief.
Abstract
Articulation agreements between colleges and universities, whereby students with two-year college diplomas can receive advancement toward a four-year university degree, are provincially mandated in some Canadian provinces and
highly encouraged in others. In this study, we compared learning in collegetransfer and direct-entry from high school (DEHS) students at the University of Guelph–Humber in Ontario, using eight factors related to learning: age, gender, years of prior postsecondary experience, learning approach, academic performance, use of available learning resources, subjective course experience, and career goals. Our results show that while college-transfer students tend to be older than DEHS students, they do not significantly differ in either learning approach or academic performance. This is an important finding, suggesting that college-transfer programs are a viable option for non-traditional university students. We conclude that the academic success of college transferstudents is attainable with careful consideration of policies, such as admissions criteria, and the drafting of formal articulation agreements betweeninstitutions.
Résumé
Les ententes d’articulation entre les collèges et les universités (qui permettent aux étudiants de programmes d’études collégiales de deux ans d’être admis dans un programme universitaire de quatre ans) sont prescrites dans certaines
provinces canadiennes et fortement encouragées dans d’autres. Chez des étudiants de l’Université de Guelph-Humber en Ontario, la présente étude a comparé huit facteurs liés à l’apprentissage, entre les études universitaires après un séjour au collège et les études universitaires directement après les études secondaires (DEHS), soit l’âge, le sexe, les années d’expérience postsecondaire, la méthode d’apprentissage, le rendement scolaire, l’utilisation de ressources d’apprentissage disponibles, l’expérience subjective en matière de cours et les objectifs de carrière. Nos résultats démontrent que, tandis que
les étudiants qui passent par le collège ont tendance à être plus âgés que les étudiants DEHS, leurs méthodes d’apprentissage et leurs résultats scolaires restent sensiblement les mêmes. Cette constatation est importante et suggère que les programmes avec transfert collégial sont une solution acceptable pour les étudiants non traditionnels. Nous concluons que la réussite scolaire des étudiants qui transitent au collégial est réalisable si on étudie attentivement les politiques, comme les critères d’admission et la rédaction d’ententes d’articulation formelles entre les institutions.
The following research reports detail the results of programs or inventions designed to increase the retention of post-secondary students. This bibliography is intended as a sample of the recent literature on this topic, rather than an exhaustive list. For inclusion, articles or reports generally described experimental research studies of PSE retention programs. Preference was given to larger scale projects focused on colleges in jurisdictions outside of Ontario (in several cases, progress reports from ongoing, large-scale initiatives were also included). Where possible, links to the original research are provided.
Canada's post-secondary institutions are at the forefront of excellence in science, research and innovation. They help to
train the workforce of tomorrow and create the knowledge and insights needed by the private and public sectors to build a
clean, sustainable economy.
The Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, today announced that the Government of Canada will launch the
application process for a $2-billion fund that will improve research and innovation infrastructure at universities and
colleges across the country.
In our 2006 report, Canadian Post-secondary Education: A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future, CCL soberly articulated the various reasons for which uncertainty clouds the future contributions that the post-secondary education sector may make to Canada’s economic and social goals. Despite the myriad strengths that PSE educators and institutions have demonstrated
over many years, the absence of clear pan-Canadian goals, measures of achievement of goals and cohesion among the various facets of PSE led us to express deep reservations.
The mission of the Canadian Council on Learning is, in part, to describe our learning realities. If we have a remit to identify issues, equally we have a responsibility to report potential strategies for success. In last year’s account, we found that what we do not know can hurt us; that we must develop pan-Canadian information about PSE that can provide
decision-makers the best tools available to determine policies. We also found that almost all other developed countries have built not only the national information systems required to optimize policy, but have also—in both unitary and federal states—provided themselves with some of the necessary national tools and mechanisms to adjust, to act and to
succeed. Canada has not.
Getting students to take their reading assignments seriously is a constant battle. Even syllabus language just short of death threats, firmly stated admonitions regularly delivered in class, and the unannounced pop quiz slapped on desks when nobody answers questions about the reading don’t necessarily change student behaviors or attitudes.
Established in 2004, the Industry Training Authority (ITA) is the provincial Crown agency that governs and manages the industry training system. Working in close collaboration with industry, it keeps occupational standards current and relevant, assesses skills, manages the apprenticeship training pathway, and works to align the profile and number of newly credentialed workers with labour market needs. It provides career development opportunities for individuals and a skilled workforce for
industry.
An annual Government’s Letter of Expectation (GLE) is ITA’s primary source of guidance in setting its strategic direction. In 2008 – consistent with the relevant GLE’s emphasis on expanding access to training for groups that are traditionally under-represented or face barriers to labour force participation – ITA began to establish a distinct suite of Aboriginal Initiatives. The overarching objective was to increase the representation of Aboriginal participants in the trades.
• Recognition for excellence in polytechnic education.
Mission
• To champion innovation and excellence in career-focussed education, training, and applied research.
• To serve the ever-changing needs of our diverse and growing community.
• To inspire students and employees to strive towards their highest potential.
PREAMBLE
This paper explores general issues relating to globalization and higher education; the internationalization of higher education, and particularly the recruitment of international students. This subject is examined through a range of topics around the global development of the market approach to the recruitment of international students and a focus on the current situation regarding the recruitment of international students in the Colleges of Applied
Arts and Technology in Ontario (CAATs). As the number of international students seeking educational opportunities grows to 7 million over the next 20 years, the ability of the CAATs, the Canadian educational system, and the governments of Ontario and Canada to market the welcoming and safe multicultural Canadian experience, and the excellence of the educational offerings and opportunities in CAATs to potential international students will, in great measure, determine their success and their survival in an increasingly globalized world.