A Gallup Report on the State of Higher Education (2022) defines three aspects of current and prospective students' thoughts concerning the value of higher education that influence their decision to enroll, which include the ability to obtain knowledge and skills (65%), the degree's ability to help students obtain a more fulfilling career (61%) and comparably receive a higher-paying position (60%)—the ability to obtain knowledge and skills can be primarily associated with the classroom instructional experience.
"...the ability to obtain knowledge and skills (65%), the degree's ability to help students obtain a more fulfilling career (61%) and comparably receive a higher-paying position (60%)"
According to Jean Anyon’s chapter "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum" working-class schools such as community colleges adopt a hidden curriculum that teaches students obedience and procedure. Middle-class schools such as state comprehensive colleges learn the hidden curriculum of determining the correct answers, which appease the general systemic society. Professional schools such as highly selective private and liberal arts colleges adapt a hidden curriculum of creative expression, both individual and collaborative. The executive schools, such as elite institutions with billion-dollar endowments, teach the hidden curriculum of analysis and strategy. Every institution bores a stratification in student learning outcomes, although subjects are the same outwardly.
Jonathan Zimmerman, author of "The Amateur Hour, a History of College Teaching in America" discusses the contradiction in a national study completed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Committee on College and University Teaching, where many schools were aiming to individualize instruction via small group tutorials, conferences, independent study, and special honors programs. However, these same colleges opted for larger clusters in class sizes, which directly impacted the classroom learning experience, as research denoted that smaller settings were more advantageous to learning.
Herb Childress, author of "The Adjunct Underclass" discusses how the ratios and relationship building aspects on college campuses are stifled as larger in-class ratios create vicissitude among out-of-classroom support, such as less frequent faculty advisement, office hours, and a blur of comprehension of the standard of what college students expected to receive juxtaposed with the experience they receive. The pedagogy varies significantly from instructor to instructor, making the connection to the course and the larger institution arduous over the traditional four years of learning.
"The pedagogy varies significantly from instructor to instructor, making the connection to the course and the larger institution arduous over the traditional four years of learning."
To prioritize the role of classroom instruction and student-faculty relationships in colleges and universities today, we must invest in the resources needed for the academic profession today, recognizing the demographic makeup of our students are vastly different from a decade ago. Namely, how can we support a college classroom experience that reflects the variation of learners and learning styles, from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses, with varying levels of social capital upon enrollment? The three main areas for recommendation include the investment in experiential learning and credit-based opportunity for hands-on application, real-world adaptations and relativity, the relationship-building aspects of student and faculty, and championing out-of-classroom structures and processes that reinforce the learning emphasizing theory to application. Essentially, all students can benefit from learning by doing.
"Namely, how can we support a college classroom experience that reflects the variation of learners and learning styles, from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses, with varying levels of social capital upon enrollment?"
Student-centered classroom approaches have incrementally become the tertiary priority, where financial and economic means have garnered all institutions' primary and secondary priorities. This is likely due to declining enrollments and 95% of universities are tuition-dependent institutions. We could also argue all institutions are to some degree tuition-dependent. Based upon the current climate, institutional policies should primarily reimagine the college student experience to coalesce with the the academic schools and programs more specifically, with a focus on maximizing relationship building, trust, and developing student self-efficacy beyond the lecture hall. To do this, faculty must be able to experience the full range of academic freedom and creativity, with a shared north star committed and accountable to the retention and success of the students enrolled.
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Jade M. Felder, Ed.D.
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