Inside Higher Ed: The Standardization of College Teaching
- From: J Flenner <varney@[redacted]>
- Subject: Inside Higher Ed: The Standardization of College Teaching
- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:59:05 -0400
[Moderator: Below are snippets from a rather long article on an issue
somewhat off to the side to this list's main topic, but in the context
of this list some interesting questions come to mind of how free online
books and other Internet resources may affect the practice of higher
education (and its potential standardization or homogenization, the
main focus of this article).
J. Flenner suggests that folks interested in the issue read the whole
article (which he also recommends in general for articles for which he
posts "teaser" snippets). I'd agree, and also note that the comments below
the article have some interesting responses from various points of view.
- JMO]
http://insidehighered.com/views/2006/09/12/wilson
Sept. 12, 2006 | Inside Higher Ed
The Standardization of College Teaching
By Shari Wilson
info@[redacted]
As an undergraduate at a state university, . . . I went to the
university bookstore and looked at the textbooks each professor required.
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When I moved to teach at a large urban community college, I faced
something that looked like too much freedom. For one freshman
composition course, I was given a choice of 59 textbooks to choose from.
At the next level of composition, the list of approved textbooks was 104
titles long. Dazed, I contacted trusted colleagues and skimmed their
textbooks.
Finally, I reverted to my old undergraduate habits and visited the
college bookstore. This time, however, I was making a bigger decision. I
now had to commit to a textbook that would serve three sections of a
particular composition class. That meant that 99 students of varying
academic abilities would have to live with my decision. And even though
I could change the text the next semester if I needed to, there would be
16 long weeks with a book that did not serve our needs as well as it should.
Finally I would make my choices -- and start the laborious process of
ordering desk copies and passing paperwork on to my department chair. It
was exhausting, but tremendously rewarding. After all, I was able to
choose a text that, for the most part, aligned with my own beliefs. I
would be challenged to teach some new material and learn some new
teaching techniques with this choice -- and my students would benefit.
In contrast, this week, at the university where I am on contract to
teach full-time, my supervisor told a roomful of composition faculty
which textbook they will be using for Fall 2007. To stunned silence, he
held up three textbooks that he had chosen for what he called a "one
year experiment." One text was to be used for incoming freshman taking
composition; the next semester's instructors would have the choice of
one of the remaining two textbooks. Refusing any discussion, he
indicated that part of the reason for this change was the
administration's edict that freshman students be given a "uniform
experience" in our composition courses.
There was not a sound as more than 30 professors left the room. It was
not until the next day that I first heard their collective unbridled
response. One professor who had worked at this university for over a
decade stopped our director in the copy room and said, "So, since you're
choosing the textbook, are you going to give us standardized lesson
plans, too." When his supervisor did not respond, the professor made one
last attempt to communicate his disappointment, "Hey, why don't you just
come in and teach my courses for me?"
"It's just the beginning," another professor told me. "This university
has bought into the idea that education is a business." Sighing, he
said, "The next step will be classes of a thousand with PowerPoint
presentations instead of lessons." At the time I thought he was just
being sarcastic and reactionary; yet I later wondered if he was on to
something.
(snip)
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