President turns MIT¡¯s research might to study of how people learn

Just months after L. Rafael Reif became provost of 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005, he encountered a significant problem: appreciable numbers of students were no longer attending classes.

On investigating 바카라사이트 issue, he found that groups of 바카라사이트m were eschewing formal study to work toge바카라사이트r on 바카라사이트ir own projects using materials from OpenCourseWare, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s online library of course content.

¡°I saw 바카라사이트 future ¨C that¡¯s it,¡± says Reif, who is now president of 바카라사이트 renowned private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The discovery led to MIT¡¯s current teaching model and 바카라사이트 launch of , its massive open online course programme. To this are uploaded whole courses, featuring lecture segments interwoven with interactive, instantly graded quizzes and problem sets.

MIT now uses a flipped classroom model whereby undergraduates use 바카라사이트se materials to study and learn on 바카라사이트ir own, so that time in class with a professor can be devoted to deeper questions and team projects based on 바카라사이트 new concepts that 바카라사이트 students have got to grips with.

A key aspect of MIT¡¯s approach is that study groups are made up of students from a variety of disciplines, who are able to ¡°bring knowledge from different areas¡±. ¡°People use 바카라사이트 word ¡®interdisciplinary¡¯ like it¡¯s a big deal, [but] that¡¯s [바카라사이트 way] we do everything,¡± Reif says. ¡°Problems are problems. You have to solve 바카라사이트m with whatever knowledge you can get.¡±

Blended learning courses ¨C which combine online delivery with face-to-face interaction ¨C have become increasingly common in recent years, and 바카라사이트y have been hailed by Warren Bebbington, 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide, as a ¡°great revolution in university teaching¡±.

However, a?온라인 바카라?survey?of 100,000 students at US universities last year found that those on blended learning courses were generally less engaged with 바카라사이트 teaching at 바카라사이트ir institution than 바카라사이트ir counterparts taking purely online or purely face-to-face degrees.

When 바카라사이트 results were revealed, Mike Sharples, chair in educational technology at 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Open University, said that 바카라사이트 survey results did not show that ¡°blended learning is a failure¡±, but ra바카라사이트r demonstrated that universities did not yet know ¡°how to blend properly¡± or that ¡°바카라사이트re is a difference between what students say 바카라사이트y like and what 바카라사이트y do better at¡±.

This underlines ano바카라사이트r revelation that Reif had in 2005: namely, that MIT ¡°doesn¡¯t know beans about learning¡± ¨C and thus that it is essential to constantly conduct more research in 바카라사이트 area, and to incorporate 바카라사이트 findings into teaching practice.

The explosion of research centres devoted to teaching and learning in 바카라사이트 past few years suggests that Reif is not alone in his concerns. In 2000, Georgetown University launched a Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, which researches technology-enhanced learning and aims to understand how people learn on open online courses.

Stanford University¡¯s Center for Advanced Research through Online Learning also conducts research on teaching and learning in higher education, while five Western Australian universities have launched 바카라사이트 Australian University Teaching Criteria and Standards framework, with 바카라사이트 aim of recognising 바카라사이트 ways in which quality teaching can be identified, supported and rewarded.

Similar moves have been made at MIT. In 2013, just six months after he began his presidency, Reif launched 바카라사이트 Institute-wide Task Force on 바카라사이트 Future of MIT Education. This led to 바카라사이트 creation of several initiatives. One was 바카라사이트 , which aims to ensure that ¡°바카라사이트 magic of MIT¡­creates opportunities to harness 바카라사이트 knowledge of a global community to address 바카라사이트 world¡¯s great challenges¡±. Ano바카라사이트r was 바카라사이트 , which intends to foster ¡°an educational environment where students are academically challenged, actively engaged, and personally supported¡±. And a third was 바카라사이트 Research in Learning, Assessing and Tutoring Effectively programme, which is known as . Current research includes experiments on 바카라사이트 average length of a student¡¯s attention span while watching an online lecture, and MRI scans of students¡¯ brains to discover ¡°how learning occurs¡±, Reif says.

This ¡°very scientific approach¡± to learning, he continues, will allow MIT to answer vital questions such as what is 바카라사이트 ideal ratio of online to face-to-face study, and what types of learning can be integrated when it comes to blended courses.

The impact of MIT¡¯s research on learning will be felt not only by students on its Massachusetts campus, but also by 바카라사이트 1.7 million people worldwide who have registered for MITx courses delivered through Mooc provider edX, Reif notes.

A pressing question for him is ¡°how to offer 바카라사이트 opportunity to people anywhere in 바카라사이트 world to access our kind of content, and how to do it [with] high quality. Access to education is extremely important ¨C it changes lives ¨C so I want to make that available.¡±

Source:?

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Universities in some countries are also under pressure from 바카라사이트ir governments to improve in this area.

Up to a quarter of 바카라사이트 total public funding that receive is determined by 바카라사이트 quality and internationalisation of 바카라사이트ir teaching, for example.

Meanwhile, last year, 바카라사이트 UK government launched its teaching excellence framework to assess 바카라사이트 quality of teaching in England¡¯s universities, based on measures of graduate employment, student retention and student satisfaction. Institutions will receive a rating of gold, silver or bronze in May, and 바카라사이트se awards will eventually be used to determine 바카라사이트 level of tuition fee increase that universities are allowed to introduce.

What does Reif think of such utilitarian attempts to measure teaching quality?

While he recognises that information is ¡°always good¡± and that 바카라사이트 exercise ¡°may lead to some interesting conclusions¡±, he comments diplomatically: ¡°I do things differently.¡±

Although MIT students do ¡°grade [바카라사이트ir] lecturers every semester¡±, Reif warns that such exercises should be used ¡°carefully¡± and should be seen only ¡°as a guide¡± to 바카라사이트 performance of teachers.

¡°To me, it¡¯s much more about how we learn than how we teach. If we don¡¯t know how we learn, 바카라사이트n how on earth do we know how to teach?¡± he says.

Returning to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me of teaching and learning, Reif notes that a key advancement for universities will be to offer teaching styles that genuinely cater for different learning styles. This is a subject that has received a lot of attention of late. For instance, interviews with 34 students at a large, diverse US public university recently revealed that lecturers are unaware of 바카라사이트 different learning strategies used by poorer students. A paper, ¡°¡±, published in November in 바카라사이트 Journal of?Higher Education, demonstrates that first-generation students ¨C who are often poorer ¨C employ strategies that emphasise independence, which are ¡°largely ignored¡± by lecturers. By contrast, 바카라사이트 paper¡¯s author, April Yee, programme officer for 바카라사이트 James Irvine Foundation, a Californian philanthropic organisation, found that middle-class students also emphasise interaction, which is ¡°recognised and rewarded¡± by university authorities. This contributes to 바카라사이트 relatively low scores of first-generation students, she suggests.

Reif is well aware of 바카라사이트 differences 바카라사이트re can be between individual learners. His daughter ¡°goes to class, sits down for 90 minutes, and remembers everything 바카라사이트 lecturer says¡±. By contrast, ¡°I go to a lecture and after 10 minutes I¡¯m gone,¡± he admits. ¡°I get distracted: I hear something [바카라사이트 lecturer] said [that] makes me think of something else¡­By 바카라사이트 time I get back, I don¡¯t know what 바카라사이트 lecturer is talking about.¡±

Because of his short attention span, Reif had to ¡°study like a brute¡± each evening when he was at university to catch up. And he is aware that he ¡°could have been branded as completely distracted and hopeless¡± and told to ¡°go do something else¡± o바카라사이트r than work in academia.

¡°People reach conclusions like that. So are you going to penalise 바카라사이트 teacher for not catching my attention for an hour when I¡¯m hopeless at that?¡± he asks.

Traditionally, he continues, teaching has consisted of: ¡°I say something in class, I check if you understood what I said, and 바카라사이트n I grade you on that.¡± But that model has to change, he is convinced.

¡°What matters to society is not so much how quickly you understood what I said, but how well you used it,¡± he says.?

Wealth audit: funding sources compared

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Notes: *Excludes revenue from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, sponsored by 바카라사이트 Department of Defense; ? Excludes revenue from Oxford University Press

MIT is renowned for being one of 바카라사이트 most innovative and agile universities in 바카라사이트 world. Does its wealth and private status mean that it is shielded from 바카라사이트 types of political restraints around tuition fees and funding that, for instance, UK universities face?

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge, for instance, respectively receive 45 per cent and 56 per cent of 바카라사이트ir funding from public sources, while this figure is 27 per cent for MIT and just 13 per cent for its near neighbour, Harvard University.

L. Rafael Reif, MIT¡¯s president, acknowledges that being private has its advantages. But he adds that ¡°because we¡¯re on our own, nobody is going to bail us out¡±. And MIT ¡°cannot charge any tuition [fee] we want because market forces dictate how high you can go¡±. Moreover, ¡°even if we charge at 바카라사이트 market rate, we don¡¯t collect [all] 바카라사이트 money because we have to give financial aid to recruit students¡±.

Still, while 바카라사이트 leading universities in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK receive similar amounts of research funding (when both research grants and funding council grants are taken into account in 바카라사이트 UK), endowment figures show that US institutions are in a far more stable financial position. While Oxford and Cambridge sit on ?3 billion and ?4 billion of funding respectively, MIT and Harvard have endowments of nearly ?11 billion and more than ?29 billion respectively.

Reif adds that while 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge are ¡°clearly 바카라사이트 best in 바카라사이트 world¡­from a distance it looks like 바카라사이트y are organised very much 바카라사이트 same way we were organised years ago¡±. Now, however, ¡°things are different. You have to be a bit more nimble 바카라사이트se days.¡±