Boyer Commission Report: Creating a reseach-based learning community
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Boyer Commission Report: Creating a reseach-based learning community
To Readers: The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University was created in 1995 under the auspices of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The commission’s report, issued in April, (http://notes.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf) challenged research universities to rethink their approach to undergraduate education. Instead of using liberal arts colleges as the model for undergraduate education, research universities are entreated to draw upon their strength as research-based communities of learners. “The research universities possess unparalleled wealth in intellectual power and resources; their challenge is to make their baccalaureate students sharers of the wealth,” according to the report.
The contribution of research universities to baccalaureate education is staggering. The 125 research universities in the United States represent 3 percent of institutions of higher education, but confer 32 percent of the baccalaureate degrees, and 56 percent of the baccalaureate degrees earned by recent recipients of PhDs in science and engineering.
The report identified 10 challenges facing research universities. UW Associate Provost for Academic Planning Debra Friedman highlighted some of the initiatives already under way at the UW consistent with those challenges, as well as identified areas for possible improvement. Her findings are summarized below.
Challenge 1: Make research-based learning the standard.
“...learning is based on discovery guided by mentoring rather than on the transmission of information.”
The UW has:
Proclaimed the value of the integration of research and education.
Offered temporary support to units wishing to transform their curriculum.
Provided support and awards for selected students to participate in research.
Continuously expanded public service and internship opportunities.
Supported the development of undergraduate education in professional schools.
The UW still needs to:
Review the basic curriculum in terms of the standard of inquiry-based education.
Ensure that students are, in fact, taught primarily by those actively engaged in scholarship.
Challenge 2: Construct an inquiry-based freshman year that is intellectually integrated and joins students into small learning communities based on common interests.
The UW has:
Offered the Freshman Interest Group program (FIGs) to one-third of the freshman class.
Offered freshman seminars taught by senior faculty.
Units which have incorporated design and laboratory experiences into freshman classes.
The UW still needs to:
Expand opportunities in already-existing programs.
Integrate inquiry-based learning into the lower-division curriculum.
Challenge 3: Build on the freshman foundation, further integrating inquiry-based learning, developing mentorships, and extending opportunities to transfer students.
The UW has:
Offered or required research experiences in selected majors.
Offered transfer students Transfer and Interest Groups (TRIGs).
Majors which offer capstone experiences.
Offered or required internships and practica in many degree programs.
The UW still needs to:
Fulfill the students’ hunger for research and experiential learning.
Enrich the sophomore year of study, linking freshman and major experiences.
Expand experiential learning opportunities through increased partnerships with community, business and government organizations.
Challenge 4: Remove barriers to interdisciplinary education.
The UW has:
Proclaimed the value of interdisciplinary education in balance with strong disciplinary education.
Supported selected initiatives in interdisciplinary education through the University Initiatives Fund and other mechanisms.
Integrated interdisciplinary education into the core curriculum at Bothell and Tacoma.
The UW still needs to:
Continue to address both cultural and structural barriers to interdisciplinary education.
Allow students to pursue interdisciplinary interests across departmental, college and campus lines.
Challenge 5: Link communication skills and course work: undergraduate education must enable students to acquire strong communication skills, and thereby create graduates who are proficient in both written and oral communication.
The UW has:
Required a basic writing course for all students.
Established writing centers in selected departments and at the Bothell and Tacoma campuses.
The UW still needs to:
Review the standard of writing proficiency for students.
Consider a standard of proficiency in oral communication.
Challenge 6: Use information technology creatively. Students should have the best opportunities to learn state-of-the-art practices—and learn to ask questions that stretch the uses of the technology.
The UW has:
Established a progressive program in information technology, UWired.
Brought information literacy skills to freshmen in FIGs.
Supported transformation of courses, using best educational technology.
Integrated Web-based learning in selected areas of the curriculum.
The UW still needs to:
Address the demands for educational technology by students and faculty on campus.
Continue to provide leadership in the state in the area of educational technology.
Challenge 7: Culminate with a capstone course. The final semester(s) should focus on a major project and utilize to the fullest the research and communication skills learned in the previous semesters.
The UW has:
Capstone courses in some majors.
The UW still needs to:
Consider creative alternatives and formulate a set of priorities relating to capstone experiences.
Challenge 8: Educate graduate students as apprentice teachers.
The UW has:
Strong departmental training programs.
Centralized training for international teaching assistants.
PEW grant and Huckabay Fellows programs, allowing graduate students expanded opportunities to develop their teaching skills.
The UW still needs to:
Review appropriateness of training practices and use of graduate student teaching assistants in selected areas.
Challenge 9: Change faculty reward systems. Research universities must commit themselves to the highest standards in teaching as well as research and create faculty reward structures that validate that commitment.
The UW has:
Undertaken a serious review by faculty, administration, and Regents of its faculty reward system.
Experimented with different models in the evaluation of teaching.
The UW still needs to:
Formulate reward system policies that reflect the valued synergy of research, teaching and service.
Challenge 10: Cultivate a sense of community. Research universities should foster a community of learners.
The UW has:
Articulated the value of a diverse community.
Supported a rich array of voluntary associations for students.
Supported a rich tradition of arts, lectures, and ceremonial events.
The UW still needs to:
Find ways to build community across boundaries.
Consider specific steps to integrate new students into the UW community of learners. ¶
University Week
The faculty and staff publication of the University of Washington
uweek@u.washington.edu
August 6, 1998
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