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What are the findings or theories from your area of expertise that we could apply to higher education? Most of my work is in the area of developing technology so that students can “learn by doing.” As more opportunities for computer simulations and instructional design become available, we can provide more instruction that involves “learning by doing” as opposed to the traditional model of “learning by telling.” There are many areas where in the past we were only able to provide instruction through lecture or by having students memorize materials. In the past, when it was important, we would use simulation as our main method to provide the more active part of learning (i.e., clinical psychologists), however with technology we are now able to use active learning in a much greater number of areas. In the area of complex skills, we could be doing much more in terms of designing instruction that would help to bring together knowledge of skills with actually doing and working with these skills. What are the (most important) unsolved problems? The really hard problems lie in certain niche corners of the area of motivation. We have this whole area of distance learning that is developing, yet we don’t have much information about the variables that will help keep students motivated to continue through these classes. We don’t know much about what connections students need to interact with other students or with faculty in order to help facilitate their motivation to do the work on their own and to complete the class. When distance learning first began, prior to the current wave of computer classes, there was an initial track record that demonstrated a dropout rate of about 40-50%. Students would sign up, but would not finish the work for the class. While the situation does seem to have improved, there is still work to be done. For example, the University of Phoenix, which is a private institution where the primary focus has been on distance learning, still offers more hours of sit down class and primary instruction than they do network instruction. This is primarily because this is what we know how to do. Motivation may also be a cover for skills of self-management and time-management. We need to tease apart these variables; therefore, it is important that cognitive psychologists along with motivational psychologists work on this problem. We also need to develop a better understanding of the way that research and practice relate to each other. What are the ways that concepts ground themselves in experience? For education in general this is very important, but it is also relevant for higher education. We don’t have a solid understanding how different kinds of knowledge work together. How do different kinds of knowledge support one another and how do different kinds of knowledge interact with one another? What should be included in an agenda for research? Programs of multidisciplinary work connecting motivational efforts with metacognition efforts. Factors that would help to contribute to success in the distance learning environment. Issues of time management are sometimes short-term problems, but some students can also have holistic problems with time-management. What are some of the ways that task analytic work could help? What could be done to create a clearer identification of the cognitive and motivational aspects that help a student succeed in a less socially manipulated area? 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)? Intelligent Tutoring systems represent an application that is heavily grounded in primary theory. The work by John Anderson, Ken Koedinger, and Al Corbett in developing intelligent tutors is one example. The aim for these tutoring systems has been at the high school and middle school level, but they have also been used at community colleges. There is also the use of intellegent tutoring systems for complex skills that has been used in the military and at the industry level. Another example is work by Kurt VanLehn on tutors for physics and ways to use machine intellegence to help people do a better job of managing their study skills. What are the major problems with or barriers to redesigning higher education? A major barrier is the development of learning organizations and organizational research. Organizationally, universities have not learned how to build upon research on learning in designing their courses. The organization and structure of the academic world, tenure and the compartmentalization of academic areas, along with the mapping of academic freedom onto highly localized planning and decision making creates problems for implementing learning research. In looking at an agenda for educational research it is important that we include research on organizations. Do you have any ideas for overcoming them? Universities are adapting to these problems, but are doing so slowly. The number of tenured positions has been reduced, and there have been problems with the way non-tenured faculty are treated. The university benefits from the flexibility of non-tenure, but has not found a way to compensate its nontenured faculty properly. Change is taking place slowly; I don’t know if there is any way to speed this change process. What do we need to do so that one outcome of the retreat is to effect change (in ways that we want)? The best that you can do is to put provocative ideas in front of the policy and decision makers. Along with the standard reports that come out, maybe the commissioning of work on some of the ideas/prototypes that come out of this meeting. No easy way to do this. Possibly presenting the information that comes from the retreat to a meeting of universities presidents and provosts. Ideas for the Retreat
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