Cory Lock, St. Edward's University Julie Sievers, St. Edward's University AAC&U 2014

1. Bringing Faculty into the
Conversation about the Future of
Liberal Education

2. Technology-Related Issues
• Cost-saving
• Digital literacy
• Global learning and
• Competency-based
technology
• Online/blended
courses for traditional
undergraduates
learning
• Promoting
experimentation

3. Education-Related Technologies
• MOOCs
• Game-based learning
• ePortfolios
• Open educational
resources
• Learning analytics
(particularly for flipped
and blended
classrooms)
• Technology supporting
flipped classrooms

4. Write down 1-3 issues/technologies
being discussed on your campus.

5. What groups are (and are not) participating
in these conversations?
• Board of Trustees?
• Senior administrators? (e.g. president, vice-
presidents, …)
• Deans?
• Early adopters?
• All faculty?
• Instructional technology?
• Those charged with overseeing curriculum? (e.g.
course or program directors, chairs, …)

6. Problem:
Need for greater faculty involvement
in decision-making related to new
technologies and related issues

7. Frames: Current Discussions
• Headlines: debates over such topics are frequent
• Selingo, Jeffrey L. 2013. Attitudes on Innovation: How
College Leaders and Faculty See the Key Issues Facing
Higher Education. Chronicle of Higher Education.
• The Changing Nature of Faculty Roles: Peer Review 15:3,
Summer 2013. Especially David Paris’s piece, “The Last
Artisans? Traditional and Future Faculty Roles.”

8. From “The Last Artisans”
“…faculty members need to negotiate their
role on two related dimensions, the
professional and the political.”
“…faculty members need to aggressively
stake out what their professional role is and
standards for it.”

9. A Complex Problem
• Appearance of ongoing
dialogue/conversation, BUT…
• Faculty are not always “at the table”
• Issues often are not framed in terms of their
relation to liberal arts pedagogy and goals

10. Discussion: The Table

11. One example

12. Questions
After determine where conversations are
happening…
1. How do we ensure that those
experienced in liberal education and
pedagogy are at the table?
2. How do we frame our approach to
change in terms of liberal education
values and pedagogy?

13. Questions
After determine where conversations are
happening…
1. How do we ensure the right people (those
experienced in liberal education and
pedagogy) are at the table?
2. How do we frame our approach to
change in terms of liberal education
values and pedagogy?

15. MISSION
(AND MISSION-DERIVED
ELOS)

16. What are your strengths and
weaknesses?
• A strength: Supportive Campus Environment
• Room for growth: Active and Collaborative Learning at the
senior level
• Class presentations, group projects, discussing class topics outside
classroom, participating in community projects, participate in
class…

17. “Toolkit” of Effective Practices
• Such as…
• NSSE Benchmarks of Effective Educational
Practice (academic challenge, active and
collaborative learning, student/faculty
interaction, supportive campus environment,
enriching educational experiences)
• AAC&U High-Impact Practices
• AAC&U VALUE Rubrics

19. Framing questions for new technology,
pedagogy, or structure:
• Does it facilitate students’ acquisition of
mission-derived learning outcomes?
• Does it facilitate implementation of high-
impact practices?
• Does it move students towards
“Capstone-level” mastery of ELOs?
(“deep learning”)

20. Resources for Understanding Current
Developments in Educational
Technology & Higher Ed
Reports
• The New Media Consortium's annual Horizon Report on
how technology is being used in higher education
• The EDUCAUSE annual ECAR Survey on Studentsand
Information Technology Use
• The Sloan Consortium's annual reports on online
education in the United States
• Pew Research Center's reports on the Internet and
American Life
• The Chronicle of Higher Education's annual Almanac of
Higher Education

21. More Resources for Understanding
• Organizations & Conferences
• EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
• HASTAC - Humanities, Arts, Sciences, and Technology
Alliance and Collaboratory
• NITLE - National Institute on Technology in Liberal
Education
• The Sloan Consortium
• SXSW.Edu

22. Resources for Framing the Conversation
around Liberal Education
• AAC&U Essential Learning Outcomes
• AAC&U High-Impact Practices
• AAC&U report, College Learning for the New Global
Century
• AAC&U VALUE rubrics
• Chickering & Gamson's widely cited "Seven Principles for
Good Practice in Undergraduate Education"

23. Contact Information
• Cory Lock, Interim Dean of University Programs,
julial@stedwards.edu
• Julie Sievers, Director of the Center for Teaching
Excellence, julies@stedwards.edu
• https://think.stedwards.edu/cte/blog/post/bringing-faculty-
conversation-about-future-liberal-education OR
http://bit.ly/1mvBxOi