This paper reports the results of an analysis of persistence in post-secondary education (PSE) for college students in Ontario based on the extremely rich YITS-B dataset that has been used for other recent studies at the national level. We calculate hazard or transition rates (and cumulative transition rates) with respect to those who i) graduate, ii) switch programs, and
iii) leave PSE (perhaps to return later). We also look at the reasons for switching and leaving, subsequent re-entry rates among leavers, and graduation and persistence rates once switchers and re-entrants are taken into account. These patterns are then probed in more detail using hazard (regression) models where switching and leaving are related to a variety of individual
characteristics, family background, high school outcomes, and early pse experiences. Student pathways are seen to be varied. Perhaps the single most important finding is that the proportion of students who either obtain a degree or continue to be enrolled somewhere in the PSE system in the years after entering a first program remains close to the 80 percent mark for the five years following entry. Seventy-one percent of students graduate within five years of starting, while another 6 percent are still in the PSE system.
Educational Consulting Services (ECS) has supported every college in Ontario in the planning of their campuses and buildings. The focus of this work has been the reconciliation of the colleges’ education and training missions with their infrastructure.
As campus and space planners, ECS has assisted in enhanced space management, transformation of facilities, and improved utilization.
This report is a compendium of observations and a high level commentary on the question of capital funding. It was prepared at the request of ACAATO and draws on ECS’s experience in Ontario and other jurisdictions. The report also draws on
information provided by college administrators for this study.
Today, the colleges’ sustainability is compromised. Reliance on efficiency as a means of overcoming budget shortfalls is an exhausted strategy. The expectation that colleges can still be more efficient has, in fact, become a liability.
As the provincial government releases new strategies for strengthening international student recruitment and retention, concerns have arisen about the stresses on international students.
This paper presents the findings from a research study on the implementation of an alternative evaluation strategy into a third-year class, which changed the learning environment by allowing students to choose how they would be evaluated. The specific objective of the study was to determine if the implementation of this evaluation strategy would improve student engagement, the quality of the learning experience and address challenges associated with increased diversity in student capabilities.
During the Winter 2012 and Winter 2013 semesters, PSY3523: Psychologie de la famille (Psychology of the Family) was taught at the University of Ottawa as a course offered to a maximum of 100 students per semester. The course incorporates various teaching methods, including traditional lectures, the use of documentaries and group discussions, as well as student-led mini-classes. The course implemented an evaluation strategy that combined traditional examinations (midterm and final exams) with the option of completing a term project. If students elected to complete a term project, they could choose from two different options (i.e., to prepare a mini-class or to participate in the Community Service Learning program at the University of Ottawa). Additionally, teaching assistant (TA)-led tutorials were scheduled throughout the semester to help students succeed in both the traditional examinations and the term project. Finally, material presented in the tutorials, as well as weekly quizzes, were made available online for students to consult as needed throughout the semester to support their engagement and success in the course.
This report evaluates the impact of the University of Windsor Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Mentorship Program (FASSMP) on students, mentors and instructors. The FASSMP was established in 2005 in order to address issues of enrolment and retention by enhancing the first-year experience. The program addressed this challenge by integrating peer mentors into first-year foundation courses as a way to help students transition to university.
There are many strategies for estimating the effectiveness of instruction. Typically, most methods are based on the student evaluation. Recently a more standardized approach, Quality Matters (QM), has been developed that uses an objectives-based strategy. QM, however, does not account for the learning process, nor for the value and worth of the learning experience. Learning is a complex and individualized process that course designers and instructors can capitalize on to increase the
value and subsequent worth of a course for all stakeholders. This article explores the concepts of value, worth, and quality of online education, seeking a method to improve outcomes by increasing a course’s value and worth.
While the phenomenon of leadership is widely considered to be universal across cultures, the way in which it is operationalized is usually viewed as culturally specific. Conflicting viewpoints exist in the leadership literature concerning the transferability of specific leader behaviors and processes across cultures. This study explored these conflicting views for managers and professional workers by empirically testing specific hypotheses which addressed the generalizability of leadership behaviors and processes across five nations in North America and Asia. Confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for conceptual and measurement equivalence for all six leader behaviors employed in the study.
The test of a leader lies in the reaction and response of his followers. He should not have to impose authority.
Bossiness in itself never made a leader. He must make his influence felt by example and the instilling of
confidence in his followers. The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.
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.
The Innovation Skills Profile (ISP2.0) isolates the unique contribution that an individual’s skills, attitudes, and behaviours make to an organization’s innovation performance.
The Conference Board of Canada and the Centre for Business Innovation invites and encourages employees, employers, educators, students, government, labour, and communities to use the ISP2.0 as a framework for dialogue and action.
Collectively, the skills of individuals create an organization’s capacity to innovate.
Vision
Prosperous communities and transformed lives.
Mission
Creating new realities by opening endless opportunities.
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.
Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities is currently at-tempting to increase institutional differentiation within that province’s post-secondary education system. We contend that such policies aimed to trigger organizational change are likely to generate unanticipated responses. Using insights from the field of organizational studies, we anticipate four plausible responses from universities to the ministry’s directives: remaining sensitive to their market demand, ceremonial compliance, continued status seeking, and isomorphism. We provide several policy recommendations that might help the ministry overcome these possible barriers to further differentiation.
Le ministère de la Formation et des Collèges et Universités de l’Ontario cherche à accroître la différentiation institutionnelle du système d’éducation postsecondaire ontarien. Nous soutenons que les politiques publiques visant à déclencher ce changement organisationnel vont vraisemblablement engendrer des réactions imprévues. Tirant nos connaissances des champs d’études organisationnelles, nous anticipons quatre réactions potentielles aux directives du ministère par les universités. Ainsi, les universités peuvent : demeurer réceptives aux demandes de leur clientèle, entreprendre une conformité superficielle, s’engager dans une recherche perpétuelle d’un statut supérieur ou favoriser l’isomorphisme. Nous suggérons plusieurs recommandations de politiques publiques qui peuvent aider le ministère à faire progresser la différentiation en surmontant ces éventuels obstacles.
The first edition of The Challenge of Change was published in 1997. It turned out that this was precisely the year when the field of educational change began a major shift toward deeper action and large-scale reform.
The occasion was Tony Blair’s first term election in England in May, 1997. He came into power with a clear and explicit education platform in which literacy and numeracy were named as the core priorities. Blair and his government committed in advance to targets of 80% proficiency in literacy and 75% in numeracy for 11-year-olds — starting at a base of 62%. This was an enormous undertaking because it involved the entire system of 20,000 schools and a timeline of essentially four years.
When I recently returned to my department after a decade in administration, I looked forward to reconnecting with former colleagues, getting to know the grad students, going to lectures and colloquia, teaching undergrads, and yes, even serving on departmental committees. But when I moved into my faculty office and began my work schedule, I had only one question as I looked around my department: Where did everybody go?
A 10-year absence presented a fairly stark before-and-after picture of a very real transformation that is happening on our campuses. Many faculty rarely come into their offices anymore.
Entire departments can seem like dead zones, and whole days can pass with only a glimpse of a faculty member as someone comes to campus to meet a student, attend a meeting, or teach a class. The halls are eerily quiet. Students, having figured this out, are also absent. Only the staff are present.
Slides dealing with social media basic categories.
The problem with textbooks is that they’re expensive. They’re sort of a hidden educational fee.
Like a lot of students, James Tait was supposed to buy the online component to his textbook. Buying used to save a bit of money, he didn’t get the online access code that comes with a new book.
“I needed it for my chemistry class, it was called Mastering Chemistry, but I never bought it,” he said.
The online component is an addition to the textbook, for homework, self-tests, and tutorials. Textbook companies include these platforms with the sale of new textbooks as an additional service, but also to reduce used textbook sales. The access code for Mastering Chemistry is about $70.
CAMBRIAN COLLEGE VISION/MANDATE
Vision
Cambrian believes in the strength of community and proudly stands behind its role as an accessible college serving the needs of its constituents. As a community builder, Cambrian attains excellence by infusing creativity, cultural diversity, collaboration, and an understanding of our learners’ needs in all that we do. Cambrian cares.
Mission
• We lead with our commitment to diverse learners.
• We teach and learn through quality education that responds to the needs of the community.
• We balance hands-on experience with the knowledge and skills essential for personal and
professional success.
In this summary we provide a list of practices for universities to consider when creating or expanding a student retention or degree completion grant program. These practices were gathered from a series of interviews with ten urban-serving institutions. More
comprehensive information from those interviews and additional background information are presented in the full report.
This paper presents the findings of a research study on a complete course re-design of a large first-year class, which changed the learning environment and reduced boundaries to allow for more meaningful student engagement and improved student learning. The specific purpose of this study was to determine if a blended course design can increase student engagement and influence students’ approach to learning in a large first- year course.
During the fall semester of 2010, GPHY 101: Human Geography was taught at Queen’s University as a traditional large lecture course of 438 students, with three lectures of 50 minutes per week (Model 1) for 12 weeks. In the following winter semester of 2011, the students in GPHY 101 were offered an intensive blended course (Model 2). In this new offering to 157 students, the lectures that were captured during the fall semester were made available for students to view online. Instead of attending actual large lectures, students were required to view the three weekly lectures on their own time prior to attending an interactive class of approximately 50 students for 90 minutes, once per week. In this weekly class with the professor, students were actively engaged in small-group problem solving, discussion, debate and other forms of cooperative learning activities.