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What are the findings or theories from your area of expertise that we could apply to higher education? I have done research on cognitive functioning especially gender differences in spatial ability. I have a couple of books and probably a couple dozen research articles on the topic. I've especially been interested in how biological and social factors influence cognitive functioning over the first 25 years of life. This relates to higher education in understanding different learning styles of men and women (among other groups) in higher education. For example, there is evidence that experiences such as through sports affect cognitive performance and probably brain development.
From a totally different part of my professional experience that in university administration, I've learned a lot about what affects student learning. While at Penn State University, I was a member of a group examining undergraduate education what practices enhance learning and what dampen it. For example, research demonstrates the minimal effectiveness (in terms of retention of information) of traditional lectures whereas more interactional teaching approaches have better learning outcomes. Another memorable finding in this review of the learning research was that young women who drop out of science and technology majors do not do so because they are doing poorly in classes; rather, they drop out because they find the classes boring (repetitious, requiring memorization and rote learning).
While at the National Science Foundation, we worked especially on efforts to emphasize hands on learning of science and technology at all educational levels. This approach has been effective at engaging young people in the science and math and motivating them to continue their studies in this area. Higher Ed was the most difficult level at which to implement change.
Currently, I chair a Board at the National Academy of Sciences on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. One of our committees examined the research on The Aging Mind (also the title of the resulting volume). Among the fascinating conclusions of this inquiry (whose focus was to propose a research agenda for the National Institute of Aging in the area of cognition) was the effectiveness of a compensatory strategy to maintain performance competence. For example, people could continue to perform cognitive tasks by using various ways to enhance memory, or continuing physical performance by reducing the number of things being done at once. Compensatory strategies would seem useful to consider at various ages to deal with weaknesses in skills. Similarly, a group examining learning at the other end of life concluded that activity based learning was much more likely to be retained.
Another inference arising from many professional experiences is the high salience of interdisciplinary learning for application in the real world. Higher education has yet to implement interdisciplinary learning beyond various exploratory efforts; most are not integrated into usual practice despite their appeal to students and relevance for most kinds of work. What are the (most important) unsolved problems? What should be included in an agenda for research? (1) stereotyping of learners and its effects on performance over the short and long terms
We know (from the research of Steele and others) that stereotyping exists, and that it has powerful effects in the near term. We don't know how pervasive these practices are, and we don't know the long term effects.
(2) effective ways of changing teaching practice to increase learning of students
We know about practices that increase learning. Achieving effective implementation of these is less well known. 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)? Many prototypes exist of most any important practice. Challenge is to get these used more systematically. What are the major problems with or barriers to redesigning higher education? Entropy.
I suspect that change will require both top down and bottom up approaches. It will require great patience and tremendous persistence. Everyone needs to get on board with desired change and persist until it is fully integrated into practice. It may take a generation. What additional questions should we be asking? I would be interested in knowing what faculty feel about the need to change. I know that most administrators have been there for about a decade know. Initially many felt that the challenge was a hopeless one. More recently, things appear to be moving some. What do we need to do so that one outcome of the retreat is to effect change (in ways that we want)? Both university leadership AND faculty need to want change and be supportive of the use of more effective approaches.
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