"[W]hat if community colleges were organized to achieve success for the students they have, not for students like those who attend four-year residential colleges? First, such a re-envisioned community college would offer far greater numbers of block-scheduled programs. Rather than selecting courses, most students would be directed to enter comprehensive programs built around specific degree goals and schedules.
Up to two-thirds of community-college students need remedial education.
So students would choose (1) a program such as an associate of science or arts aimed at eventually transferring to a four-year institution or a vocational program like welding; and (2) a block of time to attend full or part time (mornings, full days, or evenings/weekends). Blocks would include homework time, when students would practice what they learn with the help of tutors and technology rather than squeezing it between class and work.
So students would choose (1) a program such as an associate of science or arts aimed at eventually transferring to a four-year institution or a vocational program like welding; and (2) a block of time to attend full or part time (mornings, full days, or evenings/weekends). Blocks would include homework time, when students would practice what they learn with the help of tutors and technology rather than squeezing it between class and work.
This system would also be geared to serve students who begin in remedial education, to allow them to see the length of time and the cost associated with various degree and certificate options. Instead of the uncertainty of many years of semester-by-semester course selection and scheduling, students would know that if they showed up and did their work well, they would earn a degree in a specific period of time.
The community colleges, too, would benefit. Once students began programs, colleges could plan to staff the specific number of courses in each block through the end of that program. At the beginning of each semester, only entering students would make choices, so community colleges would have greater clarity—well before the year began—about what courses and professors would be needed for returning students."
I think it makes sense to adapt the learning environment to the capacities and circumstances of the individual student. I am seeing a few gaps in the logic of this article, though. For example: 1) How does block scheduling provide more time for busy students? If anything, it would be less flexible, I would think. However, the added structure may help build the time management skills of students, I suppose. 2) With the help of an academic advisor, a student can in fact eliminate most uncertainty as to how long a degree will take, even under the traditional model, contrary to an assertion in this article. 3) If you read the entire article, there is a fair amount of rhetoric surrounding the focus of the faculty shifting to teaching and learning. Unsaid behind the rhetoric is the tenuous environment most faculty teach in as a result of the adjunctification of faculty, driven by financial considerations of both the institution and the faculty.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in a proficiency-based model that occurs in a flipped classroom that utilizes technology to deliver content and teachers and advisors to facilitate robutst and applied learning. This may be amenable to block scheduling, more in the sense of an open learning lab. I do think the concept equating credit with seat time is ineffective for any institution of higher education.