The term ivory tower is a euphemism for being out of touch with practical or “real-world” matters. With respect to leadership, the more leaders distance themselves from the experiences of their front-line workers, the more out of touch they can become with the granular-level implications of their decisions. For as much as technology is changing the world of higher education, institutions need to invest not only in new technologies, but also in the “flow of know-how” Read more →
Posts by Steven R. Starks
Online Student Retention Strategies
Retention is the most prominent area of concern in academic advising departments. Retention strategies are always learned and never mastered; student services professionals are constantly searching for effective techniques to enhance student retention. From an academic advising standpoint, supporting online learners is best achieved by establishing solid, meaningful student-advisor relationships. Thus, retention strategies can be conceptualized as relationship-building strategies. Read more →
Distance Advising: A Personalized Approach
Quality academic advising, though not easily defined, encompasses a set of values and intentions that help students integrate their dreams, goals, and abilities into a unified sense of purpose. At the core of this process is the student-advisor relationship, which may develop and unfold in ways that are as unique and diverse as our advisees. Ideally, academic advising programs should be formulated to meet the unique needs of students, rather than expecting them “to fit within the established organizational structure” (NACADA, 2010). Read more →
Enhancing student motivation
Motivation is often inferred from observable behavior. When students study diligently and manage their time wisely we tend to describe them as motivated. When struggling students do not implement the advice they’ve been given to improve their academic situation, we usually label them unmotivated. This overly simplistic view of motivation fails to account for the internal processes that we cannot see.
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Higher Education in a Digital World
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” The words of Charles Darwin are strikingly relevant to the world of higher education. Colleges and universities are in the midst of a pervasive and radical change driven by innovations in technology. Institutions must respond to change in a way that helps shape the future of higher education or find themselves in the precarious position of obsolescence. Read more →
Career Advising
The pursuit of a college education is, for many students, the pursuit of a dream: a passion, a profession, a career. For others, the practical benefits of higher education are far too significant to ignore. The Education Pays graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics illustrates these benefits, such as buffering against unemployment, facilitating higher earnings, and promoting upward social mobility. Read more →
Adaptive Online Learning
More than any other time in human history, knowledge is both ubiquitous and accessible. The digital realm of cyberspace contains a vast universe of information comprised of incalculable bits of data. As Siemens (2004) stated, however, “knowledge that resides in a database needs to be connected with the right people in the right context in order to be classified as learning.” Read more →
Jumping into Online Learning: A Reality Check
If you think online learning is going to be easy, then think again. There is a distorted perception among the general population that online learning is somehow less challenging than traditional classroom instruction; that students in online classes can “go at their own pace” and simply take open-book tests to demonstrate their knowledge. If students wish to be successful in online education, they’re going to need a reality check. Read more →
Supporting Students: Alternatives to Questions in Academic Advising
In a previous article, I spoke about the problem with questions in academic advising. Here is a summary of the potential downsides to overusing them in our conversations with students:
- Builds the student’s hope that you will eventually offer a solution
- Teaches students to passively respond to questions instead of actively participate in a co-constructed dialogue
- May foster defensiveness (especially with lots of “why” questions)
You might wonder what this looks like in a conversation. Mitchell (2009) described Read more →
Academic Social Networks
A social network used to mean nothing more than a group of people linked together via common interests or a pattern of social relationships. Similarly, a professional network referred to a group of people tied together by professional relationships or career-related interests. These days, nearly any type of network that exists in the “real world” can also exist in the “virtual world,” which expands the connection possibilities exponentially. Although Facebook is typically associated with social relationships, Twitter with information-sharing, and Linkedin with the virtual Rolodex, these platforms embody the same principles: building online communities and sharing information. In the academic world, traditional campuses are slowly learning how to engage online learners by following the same principles. Read more →
Minimally Invasive Education
Education and learning are not always the same thing. Sometimes the formality of the educational system makes us forget that learning is a natural human behavior. The best educators cultivate an attitude of wonderment in their students; they do not force their students’ attention, but rather awaken a dormant curiosity within them and stimulate their innate problem-solving abilities. I believe it was Piaget who stated that all learning stems from a state of puzzlement; a natural curiosity about one’s environment that fosters an attitude of “active experimentation.” In this TED talk (thanks Mary for bringing this to my attention), Sugata Mitra presents research from his Hole-in-the-wall experiments, which demonstrates how curiosity and collaboration can facilitate learning. Professor Mitra calls this Minimally Invasive Education.
The Problem with Questions in Academic Advising
Asking questions is overrated. Chances are, however, that if you’re an academic advisor then you’ve probably been told otherwise. You may believe that questions are one of the most powerful tools in your advisor tool box. Maybe you even have some favorites; the ones that really make your students think or lead to profound insights. Don’t get me wrong, an effective question can help students critically evaluate their issues and lead to resolution but just for once, let’s talk about the potential downside to questions. Read more →
Online Instruction & The LMS
The LMS (learning management system) market has been dominated by Blackboard for years but low-cost, free, and open source alternatives are on the rise (see OpenClass). The LMS seems to play a pivotal role in online learning and I wonder to what extent are instructional methods adapted to fit the design and features of the LMS versus adapting the LMS to fit online instructional methods. For example, some institutions do not use whiteboards or lecture-capture software because they rely strictly on discussion forums, tests, and papers whereas other institutions incorporate more live and recorded lectures into the classroom and use whiteboards. Are these decisions strictly based on what features the LMS offers or is the pedagogy/andragogy agreed upon first, before the LMS is implemented? Who decides what features should be built into the LMS? Read more →
Online Career Services
How are career services being offered to online students? Some institutions are teaming up with organizations like CareerBuilder (click to view a course demo) and Optimal Resume to offer comprehensive career services that can be accessed via a career resource portal. From personalized career coaching to resume-writing workshops, students have access to a variety of services at their fingertips. Read more →
Plagiarism in Higher Education
Plagiarism – it’s a word that many higher education professionals equate with cheating and a problem that continues to rise. Where exactly are students getting their information? Turnitin conducted a study that analyzed approximately 24 million college papers and pinpointed the most popular sites (percentages represent percentage of students’ papers that matched the content of the corresponding website): Read more →
