Exemplary teaching at low cost
A formal, but economical approach to enhance the professional development, opportunities, and contributions of casual teachers and researchers
A platform that diminishes the costs and increases the benefits of live presentations, online or in person
A deliberate scheme to encourage students to embrace recreational experiences that enhance both personal development and wellbeing
Exemplary preparation of students
A program in which students complete segments of classes and assessment before they enroll
A set of standardized, but customizable, tests—coupled with modules—that assess and resolve barriers to learning, such as ADHD or financial pressure
An approach in which students learn basic skills—such as how to use learning technology—but these skills are embedded seamlessly in the materials
Exemplary use of technology
An analysis of past assessments to determine which augmented and virtual reality content should be prioritized and developed
Casual opportunities
A formal, but economical approach to enhance the professional development, opportunities, and contributions of casual teachers and researchers
Overview of the problem
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At many institutions, the majority of teaching and research staff are employed on a casual basis
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These individuals are seldom granted opportunities to develop their skills or track record or to contribute their intimate knowledge of students to the design of their classes or courses
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Usually, these staff are not committed to one institution and may work at several organizations—and are thus sometimes called Taxi Professors in Chile
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Because they do not experience a sense of progress or commitment, they are susceptible to distress and burnout—greatly impeding the teaching and research quality of their institution. And university management has been shown to underestimate the extent to which students value casual tutors.
Overview of the solution
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First, tertiary institutions should invest in a pilot program that extends the professional development and opportunities of 10-20 casual staff members.
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The university could utilize this experience to estimate the return on investment of a more comprehensive program of professional development and career opportunities.
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About 30% of the anticipated profit could be allocated to casual staff who complete this program.
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And about 30% of the anticipated profit could be allocated to the providers of this program
Examples
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This program, for example, would impart knowledge about advanced teaching methods.
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Casual staff members would also be able to choose one of several extensive, ongoing research programs in which they would like to contribute.
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Line managers of research assistants should also receive more guidance on how to assist these individuals—such as to acknowledge these assistants on grant applications
Reviving live lectures
A platform that diminishes the costs and increases the benefits of live presentations, online or in person
Outline of the problem
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Since the advent of online, asynchronous classes, tertiary institutions have started to replace live presentations with video recordings and similar methods
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Yet, as studies reveal, students often prefer to listen to a live presentation—either in person or online. Live presentations are more engaging and are sensitive to recent changes or events. However, live presentations are sometimes perceived as more expensive than video recordings
Outline of a solution
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To increase the return on investment into live speakers—including existing staff and industry experts—institutions can first apply an algorithm to identify topics that might be applicable to many courses, industry partners, collaborators, and potential students
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For example, this algorithm could analyze data that characterize the interests of these stakeholders and reveal that many individuals, including students enrolled in various courses, would be interested in a discussion on machine learning in the health sector
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The institution would thus be wise to invest in a speaker to discuss this topic.
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To diminish expenses, the institution could organize a facilitator to interview this speaker—so the speaker does not have to prepare a speech in advance.
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A complementary algorithm could identify visiting speakers who would be more willing to present live, at low cost, because they may like to promote their organization or fulfill some other goal.
Recreational education
A deliberate scheme to encourage students to embrace recreational experiences that enhance both personal development and wellbeing
Outline of the problem
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Because of the steep competition in modern society, many students study long hours to succeed in their studies—often culminating in burnout
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Some recreational experiences, such as particular movies or museums, both restore energy but also educate individuals.
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Unfortunately, tertiary institutions cannot readily encourage students to immerse themselves in recreational experiences that fulfill these goals
Outline of a solution
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To solve this problem, institutions could first develop an evolving repository of movies, online museums, online games, campus events, or other activities that research shows are both enjoyable and educative. For example, research has shown that some museum enhance both learning and wellbeing.
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Then, to encourage students to participate in these activities, tertiary institutions could award some credit on courses or tokens that students could exchange to receive other benefits.
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Institutions could also organize volume discounts to diminish the fees to students and populate the online calendars of students with these events
Tuition before admission
A program in which students complete segments of classes and assessment before they enroll
Overview of the problem
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Many tertiary institutions are not able to attract enough students to their courses
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Yet many tertiary institutions attract students who are not ready to study or who choose an unsuitable course, impairing their retention rates & reputation
Overview of a solution
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To address all these problems simultaneously, tertiary institutions should introduce an approach in which potential students, including students who have withdrawn in the past, can complete segments of a course online at no cost—and even complete assessments that can be graded automatically and can be used as credit towards the course.
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These segments could also impart vital information to potential students, such as the time they would need to dedicate to this course, the importance of census dates, and so forth.
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Although students would not pay until they enrol, this opportunity would generate vital data that tertiary institutions can utilize.
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To design these segments, the institution would need to arrange specialists to help teaching staff develop more repeatable learning objects, such as video recordings of themselves, and design assessments that can be graded automatically—both of which will ultimately improve efficiency
Ingredients to success
A set of standardized, but customizable, tests—coupled with modules—that assess and resolve barriers to learning, such as ADHD or financial pressure
Overview of the problem
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Many barriers might impede the capacity of students to complete a class or course successfully, such as ADHD, depression, learning disabilities, time constraints, or limited knowledge about a relevant topic. If these barriers are not identified and resolved, these students tend to become more inclined to leave prematurely, to cheat, or to consume significant time and effort from staff.
Overview of the solution
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A consortium of tertiary institutions could construct a test to identify these barriers—and to suggest options and services if these barriers are identified
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Over time, these tests would evolve to accommodate the distinct needs of each field, discipline, or level of study
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Staff could further customize this test to suit their needs—and the test should include some tools that facilitate this customization.
Examples of qualities to assess
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One test could be customized to assess doctoral students and could include modules that test skills in writing and skills in research methods—but only the methods that are relevant to the field of these students.
Seamless study skills
An approach in which students learn basic skills—such as how to use learning technology—but these skills are embedded seamlessly in the materials
Overview of the problem
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To learn effectively, students need to know how to study effectively, how to communicate persuasively, and how to use technology proficiently
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Many students, however, have not developed these skills—diminishing their satisfaction and increasing the likelihood they will cheat or withdraw
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Paradoxically, if these students attend special classes to learn these skills, the workload escalates relative to their peers, sometimes exacerbating the problems they experience.
Overview of a solution
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Whenever possible, teaching staff should design their classes so that students learn these skills incidentally while they are exposed to the learning materials
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Tertiary institutions should thus apply tools and templates that unwittingly enhance the capacity of students to study effectively
Examples of these tools
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Students could use an app that stipulates when they should study particular topics, such as read a chapter. These recommendations would be designed to accommodate the responsibilities and preferences of students—such as whether they prefer to study in the morning or afternoon
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Students could also watch videos that impart information about the topic, while subtly teaching these individuals how to use the learning management system or manage flipped classrooms. They could develop a range of study skills, such as the knowledge of when to watch videos at double speed
The immersive reservoir
An analytic of past assessments to determine which augmented and virtual reality content should be prioritized and developed
Outline of the problem
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Augmented reality, virtual reality, and other immersive technologies significantly enhances student effort, learning, memory, curiosity, and equity—and, after the initial financial investment, can diminish expenses. Yet, tertiary institutions tend to apply both augmented and virtual reality sporadically, because of several reasons.
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First, institutions are often concerned that immersive technologies might compromise security and enable intruders to access IT systems. Potential vulnerabilities include SQL injection, XSS, exploitable UDP, and inadequate account lockout settings.
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Second, besides security concerns, the costs of relevant infrastructure and immersive technologies content can be steep.
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Third, in addition to financial costs, institutions also need to consider both environmental costs—such as the heavy metals and toxic chemicals in electronic components—and social costs—such as the trauma or misguided assumptions that immersive, persuasive experiences can elicit
Outline of a solution
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Because of these considerations, a coalition of tertiary institutions should first decide which topics will benefit from immersive technologies.
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For example, to achieve this goal, this coalition of institutions should collate the responses of students to as many multiple-choice tests as possible.
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Then, data analysts should identify questions in which the responses are highly correlated with the final grade but often incorrect.
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Because these responses correlate highly with the final grade, these questions assess knowledge or skills that are likely to be consequential. Yet because these responses are often incorrect, these questions assess knowledge or skills that are challenging as well—and thus could benefit from immersive technologies.
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Next, these questions can be subjected to latent semantic analysis. This analysis might identify sets of questions that correspond to the same underlying principles or insights.
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Finally, tertiary institutions should identify the principles or insights that are not only important and challenging but also relevant to the most number of students.
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These institutions should then engage a relevant center or business to develop immersive technologies that demonstrates these principles or insights—and utilize their bargaining power to negotiate a favorable contract.
Some relevant literature
Contributors
To seek advice or engage specialists on these initiatives, contact the contributors of this page
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Casual opportunities
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Reviving live lectures
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Recreational education
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Tuition before admission
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Ingredients to success
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Seamless study skills
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The immersive reservoir