Area of Expertise 

• I/O psychologist
  

• Motivational factors and learning

What are the (most important) unsolved problems?

How can we stop wiping out our kids in our educational system?  A specific example of this can be found in the rankings of our school children in math and science.  American 4^th grade students ranked 2^nd in international comparisons of math and science while 8^th grade students ranked around 35^th.  Is this merely a cohort effect or is there something that happens in the education system and/or the American culture that alters the motivational aspects of learning?

How can we encourage students to become engaged in the learning process? For example, undergraduates at my university (Bowling Green) are somewhat interested in learning, but are often more preoccupied with grades and ultimately with serving their time at the university in order to get to the next step and get a job.

What should be included in an agenda for research?

The first step would be creating specific starting points for research.  The How People Learn book should be a good place to start.  Hopefully, this conference will crystallize specific spots for the various areas of psychology to concentrate on in regard to why higher learning does not take place to the level that we would expect.

What prototypes can you point us toward where principles from the science of learning are already being applied (e.g., activities, courses, fields of study, degree programs, or entire systems)?

Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is an excellent prototype of an entire system. This college applies assessment center methods to undergraduate education. Assessment center methods are derived from industry and military settings. Rather than interviewing a student or giving a multiple-choice test, you simulate situations and observe how the student performs in these situations. This method has been the basis for Alverno’s curriculum for over 25 years. I just reviewed Learning That Lasts: Integrating Learning, Development, and Performance in College and Beyond (Mentkowski and Associates, Jossey-Bass, 2000) for Psychological Science. The review is in press, and can be read at http://folios.bgsu.edu/Hakel.

Another prototype is a freshman seminar that I have been working on for the last four years. The class is officially called “Personal Development Seminar, but it is popularly known as “Springboard.” Twelve students are enrolled in each section, and each person has his or her own coach. Last fall we ran 26 sections, about 9% of the incoming first year cohort. The students are engaged in hands-on, active learning geared at developing communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills. Many activities are recorded on videotape, and coach and peer feedback are used heavily. Retention rates of those who have taken the class are higher than their cohort. Springboard shows that students are eager to learn; we need to find ways to overcome the barriers that inhibit learning among faculty and students.

What are the major problems with or barriers to redesigning higher education?

Curricular gridlock--universities are optimized for getting funding through enrollment. Due to the class sizes, lecture formats are often used exclusively and students are being exposed to knowledge, but are not engaged in applying that knowledge. 

Other barriers include lots of inertia, and the large variety of stakeholders.

Do you have any ideas for overcoming them?

Having this conference is the first step. The fast sign-up of participants along with the excellence of their work makes me optimistic about very positive outcomes. This conference should help to pinpoint specific areas to begin pilot projects, as well as possible sources for funding these ideas. It is heartening to know that there are a lot of basic researchers out there that are interested in applying research. 

People have sometimes said that if it is not broke, don’t fix it. However, there are more and more concerns about our education system and a lot of fears about being left behind as we enter into world globalization.

What additional questions should we be asking?

How can we create networks and connections that will help to continue the development of these ideas?  What venues and to what audiences should we be addressing these concerns?

What do we need to do so that one outcome of the retreat is to effect change (in ways that we want)?

Some ways to do this include being very clear about what are messages are and to aim high. Reforming education is something that can only happen if someone decides to try it. It would be good to get at least half of the participants galvanized in some sense and working on these things either in their own labs and campuses or in teams working on demonstrations. This would be a good benchmark. As Karl Weick has argued it in an article in American Psychologist (Small Wins: Refefining the Scale of Social Problems, 1984, vol. 39, 40-49), there is importance in the psychology of small wins. Instead of waiting for all of the pieces to fall together, it is important to do things that can be done now in order to build confidence that will help lead to a major impact. 

It will also be very beneficial to look at and display prototypes prior to and at the retreat.