Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. A crusader made of true character and conviction. Happy Birthday, MLK!
“The function of education is to teach one to think
intensively and to think critically... Intelligence plus character -
that is the goal of true education.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education highlighted what Central Piedmont Community College is doing to help their online students succeed. Creating a "home grown" assessment that measures student's learning styles is the way they are "getting the conversation going". It is crucial for student success to know what challenges may lie ahead and for administrators to be to know what to talk about. Having an honest conversation about a student's motivation, discipline, plan, and ability to take online classes is a responsible move in guiding them to completing courses.
A home grown learning styles assessment certainly is a beginning step in the right direction. However, is it enough? SmarterMeasure includes a learning styles assessment but also measures readiness in other areas including technical competency, life factors, individual attributes, reading rate and recall, and typing speed and accuracy. It provides a complete profile about a student. Using a tool such as SmarterMeasure gives administrators insight about what students need while providing the student with strong feedback to build their confidence and guide them in their opportunities for improvement.
A recent article from the Los Angeles Times reports, California has spent $480 million over the past five years on community college drop outs - citing ill-preparedness, too little support, and lack of remedial help as possible triggers to poor attrition. The article acknowledges the stats of dollars and cents spent across the country on drop outs but doesn’t provide insight about how to “fix” this problem.
Accountability is in question for many schools with the question being, who is responsible for these students? For-profits have been under scrutiny about their recruiting practices over the past couple of years and have begun to make efforts to screen their students more carefully examining their motivation, readiness levels, and financial obligations. Community Colleges across the country have experienced sky rocketing enrollments with the unstable economy. Traditional universities are looking for ways to provide flexible options to students having to juggle financial responsiblities, home life, and school work. So while students are responsible to do their part, prepare for school and commit to completing course work, schools are also having to fund the fall out of those who don't follow through.
SmarterMeasure is a tool many schools are turning to in an effort to be proactive when it comes to predicting what students may withdraw due to ill-preparedness or motivation and commitment. Learn more at www.SmarterMeasure.com.
Are we a nation of cheaters? Do all students cheat (even if a little bit) on a high stakes exam at some point while getting their education? With the recent incidents of cheating exposed nationally, media is asking the question, is cheating an epidemic? Noted in a recent Washington Post article, cheating has been going on since civil service exams in ancient China. So while it may not be a recent phenomenon, students have gotten creative. Also in the article, Christine Probett from San Diego State University who has studied the methods student use to cheat, gives her list of the most creative ways to steal answers.
Updated Classic Methods
New “High Tech” Methods
Don't try this at home, kids.
Martin Bashir from MSNBC reports with Daniel Golden and discuss the impact the economy is having on college recruitment and acceptance.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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