Over the past decade there has been an upsurge of interest in the quality of postsecondary education, with a particular focus on learning, engagement, and other student outcomes. Instructors, administrators, and other staff across the postsecondary sector have been investigating innovative approaches and services, while many institutions, faculties, departments, and professional associations have established teaching and learning centres or offices to help enhance student success. Governments and governmental organizations have provided support for new approaches and for research projects evaluating them.
This guide, co-sponsored by the McMaster Centre for Leadership in Learning (CLL) and the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), and endorsed by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS), is intended to assist researchers and evaluators of postsecondary educational outcomes. The intended audiences for this document include, but are by no means restricted to, the following:
• faculty members and educational developers investigating innovative approaches or technologies designed to enhance learning in postsecondary contexts;
• faculty members and administrators leading initiatives for students enrolled in programs or courses that are considered particularly challenging;
• anyone involved in professional development initiatives for faculty, graduate students, and others intended to enhance teaching and learning effectiveness;
• student service providers at postsecondary institutions; and
• students and student associations focusing on effective teaching, learning and student success.
As students venture off campus for university-sponsored activities, are they at risk, given that universities are better able to control risk factors on cam-pus than they can for their off-campus activities? Co-operative education is a formalized and longstanding academic program that often sees students spend upwards of a third of their time off campus during the completion of a degree; thus, a discussion of the risks in co-operative education could provide a basis for assessing levels of risk for other off-campus activities. This quali-tative, descriptive case study examines co-operative education co-ordinators’ perceptions of the risks to students in co-operative education programs in Ca-nadian universities. Fourteen co-ordinators from across Canada participated in one-on-one interviews. Co-ordinators acknowledged that of the partners in co-operative education, the student is the most at risk. However, they viewed co-operative education as a safe endeavour for students, and there was agree-ment that the actual risk to students is minimal. The risk factors identified by co-ordinators included personal safety, harassment, youth or limited life experience, and mental health.
Puisque les universités contrôlent mieux les facteurs de risque des activiteurqu’elles parrainent qui ont lieu sur campus plutôt que hors campus, les étudiants sont-ils à risque lorsqu’ils s’aventurent hors campus pour de telles activités? Établi depuis longtemps, l’Éducation coopérative est un programme académique structuré qui voit souvent des étudiants passer plus du tiers de leur temps hors campus pendant leurs lôment. Une analyse
des risques en matière d’éducation coopérative pourrait donc fournir une base d’évaluation des niveaux de risque des autres activités hors campus. Cette étude de cas à description qualitative examine les perceptions des coordonnateurs en éducation coopérative quant aux risques encourus par les étudiants des programmes d’éducation coopérative des universités canadiennes. Quatorze coordonnateurs de partout au Canada ont participé à des entrevues individuelles. Ceux-ci reconnaissent que de tous les partenaires en éducation coopérative, l’étudiant est le plus à risque. Ils considèrent toutefois l’éducation coopérative comme un effort relativement sûr pour les élèvesion, et ils s’entendent pour dire que le risque réel pour les étudiants est minime. Les facteurs de risque relevif par les coordonnateurs sont liés à la protection personnelle, au harcèlement, à la jeunesse ou au peu d’expérience de vie, et à la santé mentale.
This document attempts to provide useful advice for graduate students, particularly Ph.D. students, just starting out on their research careers at the Autonomous Networks Research Group, Dept. of Electrical Engineering-Systems, USC. It should also be useful for graduate students at other institutions working in similar research areas.
Students with no prior experience often have several misconceptions about the nature of research. For example, they may think that doing research is similar to or requires the same skill as acing courses; that research projects are like homework sets - the advisor will assign well-formulated problems and provide the student with the tools to solve them. Hopefully, this document will help clear some of these misconceptions and help them get started on the right foot in their research.
Many of the pointers here may seem like common sense, but as they say, common sense is by no means common… and very little of it is taught in a classroom.
This is an active document, and as such is subject to modifications. To begin with, I have just listed my main points under each heading. I will be working to convert this into a coherent narrative over the course of the next couple of months.
Among the things which I have found most fascinating - and often frustrating too - in the study of postsecondary education are the frequent instances where major goals or functions seem to be, or are alleged to be, in conflict with one another.
An example is the purported conflict between teaching and research. The notion that these two functions of the university are inherently in conflict goes back at least a century and a half to John Henry Newman who argued that teaching and research require different temperaments and conditions and are best done in different settings. Newman's view has not prevailed, and in fact, a central tenet of the contemporary university is that teaching and research are complementary. Still, there are many who feel that there is a conflict, if only for scarce resources and attention. They suggest that the university sector could ccommodate more students and do a better job of educating them if only some universities would cut back on research and become predominantly teaching institutions.
Self-care -- maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle through individually determined activities -- has been found
to improve productivity and a sense of well-being as well as physical and emotional health in a variety of work
settings. Although it is still considered a somewhat controversial concept, many colleges and universities are now
regarding self-care as essential for the optimal well-being of everyone in their community: faculty, staff,
administrators, students, support personnel and others. The benefits of promoting self-care in the workplace are
well documented.
This paper examines the long-term labour market premiums associated with completing a college certificate and a bachelor's degree, compared to completing a high school diploma. Several labour market outcomes of individuals are examined with longitudinal data over a 20- year period spanning their mid-30s to their mid-50s. The findings show that individuals who have a bachelor's degree or a college certificate have more favourable labour market outcomes over their working lives than individuals who have only a high school diploma. More specifically, the earnings premium associated with a bachelor's degree over the 20-year period ranges, on average, from $728,000 for men to $442,000 for women. For a college certificate, the premium is $248,000 for men and $180,000 for women, on average. The earnings premium associated with a bachelor's degree is much larger at the top of the distribution for men than it is for women. The study also finds that, for both men and women, a bachelor's degree and a college certificate are associated with more years of coverage in an employer-sponsored pension plan
and fewer layoffs than a high school diploma.
Epitomized by the OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the US governments Race to the Top,
accountability is becoming a pervasive normalizing discourse, legitimizing historic shifts from viewing education as a social and cultural to an economic project engendering usable skills and competences. The purpose of this special issue is to provide context and perspective on these momentous shifts. The papers point to historic antecedents, highlight core ideas, and identify changes in the balance of power between domestic and global policy makers.
Public colleges are the only academic institutions in Canada that deliver a robust range of career-focused programs and training to all segments of the population.
The colleges’ labour-market programs, such as Second Career, employment counselling, academic upgrading and apprenticeship training serve more than 160,000 students each year.
Ontario’s public college programs are affordable and reach students in all socioeconomic groups – from people who need upgrading in order to qualify for full-time college programs, to university graduates seeking marketable skills.
Graduates of Ontario’s 24 public colleges earn credentials that have met the province’s rigorous standards for post-secondary education and are valued by employers.
College graduates continue to be in high demand.
It has never been more important to strengthen and promote public college education. The province and the country continue to face a serious skills mismatch that is leaving too many people without any hope of finding a good job. That skills gap will widen as new technology and innovations continue to transform the economy and heighten the demand for a more highly skilled workforce.
The country needs a comprehensive strategy to address the skills mismatch. And Ontario’s 24 public colleges will be pivotal to the success of that strategy.
In response to stronger demand for access to degree programs and changing expectations from employers due to labour market needs, the Ministry made a number of decisions about how to increase access to a broader range of degree opportunities in April 2000. One of those decisions was to allow Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) to offer degrees in applied areas of study. These degrees differ from research-focused degrees because they have a strong focus on preparation for entry to practice occupations. The first degree programs began development in 2001. As of the evaluation period, thirteen of the twenty four colleges in Ontario were offering college degree programs.
Mentoring novice teachers often features buddy support, technical advice, and classroom management tips to meet teacher-centered concerns of survival. Such mentoring aligns with conventional models of teacher development that describe the
novice concerned with self-image, materials and procedures, and management, and only after the initial years, able to focus on individual student learning. Drawing on the wisdom of practice of 37 experienced teacher induction leaders and case studies of mentor/new teacher pairs, this study found that mentors can interrupt that tendency among new teachers, focusing them on the learning of individual students, especially those underperforming. For this work, mentors tap knowledge of student and teacher learners, pedagogy for classrooms and for tutoring teachers, and especially multilayered knowledge and abilities in several domains of assessment. These include assessment of students, alignment of curriculum with standards, and formative
assessment of the new teacher. Skillful use of this knowledge can bring individual student learning into focus and help new teachers generate methods for shaping instruction to meet students’ varied learning needs. These results challenge developmental models of teaching and conservative mentoring practices, calling for articulation of a knowledge base and relevant mentor development to focus new teachers early on individual student learning. Do students think I’m in charge? What materials should I use in this unit?
The National Student Financial Wellness Study (NSFWS) is a survey of college students examining the financial attitudes, practices, and knowledge of students from institutions of higher education across the United States. The purpose of the 2014 NSFWS is to gain a more thorough and accurate picture of the financial wellness of college students. The NSFWS was developed and administered by The Ohio State University in collaboration with co-investigators from Cuyahoga Community College, DePaul University, Iowa State University, Oberlin College, Ohio University, and Santa Fe College. The survey was administered online during autumn 2014 or winter 2015 to random samples of students from 52 participating institutions. Please see the following page for a complete list of the institutions that participated in the study. More information on the study is available at go.osu.edu/nsfws or by emailing the NSFWS team at [email protected].
The more than one million undergraduate students heading to Canadian universities this fall will benefit from innovative
approaches to teaching and learning, including more opportunities for experiential learning. After graduation, they’ll enjoy
higher earnings and better employment outcomes than those without degrees.
Vision
Seneca is building a different kind of school with a different kind of graduate. We are driven by our values of excellence, innovation, community, and diversity. Seneca will be the preferred partner for colleges and universities, offering students the most innovative pathways in Ontario in a number of distinct academic clusters. With an enviable reputation for academic excellence, Seneca will continue to offer career- relevant programming at the certificate, diploma, baccalaureate, and graduate certificate levels. The College will consistently renew and refresh its programs, driven by a focus on student mobility and market demand.
Every program at Seneca will embed cross-disciplinary and experiential learning, and provide flexible learning options that enable students to learn during the day, in the evening, on weekends, in person, and online. More students and faculty will be supported in international study, work, and volunteer opportunities designed to enrich their own Seneca experiences. Students
will benefit from a comprehensive set of integrated advising services, from pre-application through to graduation, that will help them match their educational and career pathways with their interests and skills.
A different kind of school will produce a Seneca graduate with distinctive qualities: highly attractive to employers; ethical, engaged and confident; and adaptable and capable of addressing the challenges of the future in a global context. Our focus on the Seneca Core Literacies will ensure that graduates from every program have the broad range of skills that are key to success:
communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration – the skills required to navigate change at work and in society.
Ontario has launched a review of its university funding model. The “funding model” is the rule set by
which the province’s operating grant, managed by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
(MTCU), is distributed to the province’s 20 publicly assisted universities to support their teaching,
research and service missions.
The government’s recently released University Funding Model Reform Consultation Paper defines the scope of the review as:
“The annual operating grants to universities provided through the university funding
model. This represents about $3.5 billion of government investment.” (MTCU)
The review encompasses the entire amount of annual (and, in recent years, annually increasing) MTCU direct operating support to universities. It includes the variously named “basic operating,” “general purpose” or “enrolment driven” grant universities may expend on their general operations. It includes all of the “special purpose” grants MTCU provides to drive identified policy or programmatic priorities.
During the last three decades of the twentieth century, it was the policy of many industrialized countries to shift the responsibility for a substantial portion of baccalaureate credit activity to colleges and other non-university postsecondary institutions. In most American states and some Canadian provinces, this was accomplished through assigning colleges the role of providing the first two years of baccalaureate courses, or expanding that role where it was already being performed. The
alternative approach, followed in several European countries, was to transform their college sectors into parallel degree granting sectors that offered complete baccalaureate – and in some countries, also postgraduate – programs of a more applied, career-focused nature than those offered by the universities. Although the predominant approach in North America for a long time was for colleges to provide only the first two years of baccalaureate programs, in the 1990s this started to change, as colleges in some states and provinces were given the authority to award baccalaureate degrees on their own. British Columbia and Alberta were among the first places in North America where colleges awarded baccalaureate degrees. Ontario colleges were given the authority to award baccalaureate degrees in 2000, and since then so also have colleges in Manitoba, Prince Edward
Island, and the Yukon. South of the border, colleges in 18 states have been authorized to award baccalaureate degrees.
The priority for the Ontario government – for its economic ministries, its education ministries, and for the entire government – must be economic growth and helping more people find good jobs.
To be the most personally connected learning organization in Canada – a catalyst for individual, organizational, and community transformation. Through partnerships, we will connect people from all walks of life to extraordinary learning experiences that will inspire innovation and prepare them for life and career success. With a reputation for excellence, Georgian graduates
will be in demand by employers and will contribute to the economic vitality, sustainability, and quality of life in their communities. Our learners and employers will feel a lifelong connection to Georgian because of the positive difference we have made in their lives.
Consuming information online is as simple as a click, scroll, or swipe these days. All searches are not created equal — and rarely do we think about fact checking what we find on the internet.
“…The internet is actually changing the way we read, the way we reason, and even the way we think, and all for the worse,” says Tom Nichols in his recently published book, The Death of Expertise.
In higher education, I think it is imperative that we teach our learners and peers about what it means to participate and interact in digital spaces and places. How can our institutions help students, staff, and faculty “be” online and consider how both information and digital environments impact knowledge sharing and learning.
First Nations in Canada: Vital
Statistics for Atlantic and Western Canada, 2001/2002
Around the world, new digital technologies are transforming organizations. Digital innovations present boundless opportunities, helping organizations improve their effec- tiveness, efficiency, creativity and service delivery. Higher education is profoundly affected by these transformations and Canada’s universities are actively exploring the powerful possibilities of our shared
digital future.