Student experience is the center of everything higher ed does. Remarkably, little about the student experience has actually been studied from the student perspective. This is especially true when it comes to the growing number of interdisciplinary programs.
“No previous study has investigated the perceptions of the students themselves,” said Scott Auerbach, professor of chemistry at UMass Amherst and the Mahoney Family Sponsored executive director of the iCons program. “Our new findings suggest how to design programs that meet student needs in a world that demands more interdisciplinary workers to tackle problems in clean energy, public health, and climate change.”
Auerbach et al’s study examines the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Integrated Concentration in STEM program, a certificate program devoted to solving real-world problems in biomedicine and renewable energy.
The researchers identified three stages of interdisciplinary work: the “choosing” stage for beginning students, the “navigating” stage for advanced students, and the “integrating” stage for alumni.
“We were very surprised by these findings, especially in discovering an interdisciplinary stage for beginning students, before they have amassed enough learning to be considered competent in their fields,” said Genia Bettencourt, lead author of the paper.
Press release: https://www.newswise.com/articles/universities-love-interdisciplinary-stem-programs-but-what-about-students
The Educause EdTech conference will be held next week in Denver. The conference is hosted by the nonprofit association and is widely-considered the largest community of technology, academic,
industry, and campus leaders advancing higher education through the use of technology. The conference highlights the most pressing issues in higher ed and proposes ways in which technology can be used as part of the solution.
More information: https://www.educause.edu/
What does the future of EdTech in Africa look like? CNBC Africa hosted a forum on the topic last week. You can find a summary of the discussion at: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/659/232762.html
Everybody Loves Language, an edtech language learning edutainment and content development company, has expanded its English language learning service into Israel. Its courses are now being marketed and sold by CES Israel, an online learning company.
“We are thrilled to be working with CES Israel as we expand our business in additional markets with our state-of-the-art and advanced language learning platforms, Everybody Loves Languages,” said Gali Bar-Ziv, President and CEO of Everybody Loves Languages. “We continue to innovate and develop products that make learning languages easy and fun so our students can reach their goals.”
Press release: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/everybody-loves-languages-expands-business-offering-in-israel-865226761.html
TBG Staff
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