Optimizing Science Education: What We Will Need For The University Of 2020

In Optimizing The University - Why We Need a New Educational Model for a New Century I discussed some of the issues facing post-secondary science education. In particular, that piece focused on how changing student demographics, modern faculty responsibilities and the new knowledge gained from advanced assessment techniques showed us that we need to fix fundamental aspects of science education if students are to receive the high quality education that is becoming increasingly important to individual and societal success. Now I am going to discuss what this new optimized university - our university of 2020 - will look like. While academics might wish for an ideal university with unlimited resources and no real constraints, it is more useful to ask what is possible in the real world. So I will discuss what we need for an attainable university that provides the best undergraduate education possible within certain basic constraints on resources and organizational structures - a truly “optimized” university. The constraints are based on the pragmatic assumptions that resources in support of higher education will not dramatically increase and most of the long standing structures such as disciplines and departments will be largely intact, as will the current broader faculty responsibilities. Read More...

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