At P2PU, people work together to learn a particular topic by completing tasks, assessing individual and group work, and providing constructive feedback.
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A space to learn together, peer to peer, about the proposed UW "flexible degree option."
The purpose of this P2PU study group is to create an open space for interested University of Wisconsin Parkside faculty and staff to learn about the proposed UW System competency-based Flexible Degree Option. Participants in this group will have a better understanding of what competency-based degrees look like and the external social and economic forces driving universities, including the UW System, to develop such degrees. UW Parkside faculty and staff are welcome to participate using their uwp.edu email account. Postings from real people with real names are welcome. (Anonymous or pseudonymous comments will not be posted by the moderator.)
posted message: A couple of weeks ago I attended a meeting of the System Advisory Group for the Liberal Arts where the main topic of conversation was the flexible degree. I'm including some of my notes.
Kevin Reilly, Ray Cross, and Mark Nook as well as Debra Humphreys (AAC&U) were at the meeting. They all emphasized the importance of a liberal arts education, highlighting this as an integrative experience. The System shared learning goals were expected to be a part of any flexible degree program. Reilly was interested in a mini-conference that would involve talking with business leaders. Also, developing discipline teams to look into how to develop a flexible degree program was discussed (the consortial nursing program was mentioned as an example).
posted message: I came across this article today that describes the challenges of plagiarism in Coursera's courses (MOOC):
http://chronicle.com/article/Dozens-of-Plagiarism-Incidents/133697/
posted message: FYI, article on the relationship between holding a college degree and employment: http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/in-economic-storm-a-college-degree-is-still-the-best-umbrella/31187?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
posted message: An interesting article on MOOC's and credentialing from 'Inside Higher Ed': http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/09/real-economics-massive-online-courses-essay
As a quick summary, the article addresses the dilemma of 'elite' institutions in offering MOOC's and the 'need' for credentialing to be economically viable while still trying to maintain 'quality control' over learning. There are some references to the use of prior learning assessment as one way to address this issue.
posted message: I've mentioned the Lumina Foundation's Degree Qualifications Profile before and its possible relevance to a flexible degree program. There is a booklet published by the Lumina Foundation on the DQP. The Provost's office has ordered a few copies of these booklets and they are now in. You can either drop by Julie Lee's desk to pick up a copy or contact Julie to ask for one to be sent to you. (FYI, you can also read the booklet online: http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/The_Degree_Qualifications_Profile.pdf).
posted message: Thank you for a very good discussion today about the CAEL report. I am sorry that we did not have more time to continue the discussion of the point raised by Megan about "teaching presence." I am sure we will continue this in future meetings. Thanks for your participation.
posted message: The issue of the student credit hour must be addressed as we discuss the Flexible Degree Option. Here's a review of a book on the student credit hour (yes, a whole book), published in 2003 by two leaders in higher education research, Tom Ehrlich and Jane Wellman.
http://www2.aacrao.org/sem/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2321