Innovative Academic Model – Student Centered Approach

I have admired the image below for a long time. It's called dualite (dualite.jpg) and was created by Jean-Christophe Benoist. It makes me reflect on how people can have totally different views of a given fact, model, subject or text, depending on how we see it. When we look at this image, one can visualize a square, a circle or a cylinder depending on the position of the observer. In a complex subject, such as the analysis of an academic model in which several actors took part (students, professors, administrative staff, maintainers, etc.), the questions that arise are: “does everyone have the same vision of the academic model adopted?”, “What are the perspectives and vision of each of these actors in this context?”. The idea of this article is to discuss some characteristics that can be part of an academic model that is closer to the perspectives of all these actors and in tune with the article: “The need for an innovative academic model”.

Academic model - student-centered curriculum development

The student-centered curriculum encourages students to discover their own paths in education, learning to learn by developing their own knowledge structures, rather than simply being subjected to a standard, identical knowledge base for all students. There are several initiatives for the creation of a student-centered curriculum around the world. For the most part, institutions use active learning methods, based on: project-based learning, flipped classrooms, research-based learning, gamification, among others. One of the problems that institutions face is that, generally, these methods end up being incorporated only in parts of the curriculum, generating a curriculum partially student-centered.

To avoid this partial approach, it is necessary that the project be meticulously developed, with the participation of all the actors involved. The suggestion is that the implementation of this project be done in stages, following the PDCA management method (PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT or ADJUST), and must be aligned with the institution’s digital transformation process. As the procedure will be cyclical, once the implementation of each phase is completed and put into practice, all the information generated must be collected. The implementation team will analyze the results, submitting them to the actors involved so that the results can be compared with the expected results. Aa a result of this analysis, the model can be adjusted depending on the results achieved.

We can mention two projects, at different levels, that show spectacular results implementing student-centered academic model. The first in Brazil, in the State of Piauí, adopted in the basic education. The "Programa Palavra de Crian?a" was improved in 2008 and expanded year after year in the municipalities of the State of Piauí. The project has as one of its objectives the literacy (reading, writing and interpretation) of children up to 8 years old. The program was focused on the first three years of elementary school and has as actors: parents, families, teachers and the municipality where students live and study. Since the beginning of the implementation of this program, the State of Piauí has shown continuous growth in the Basic Education Development Index (Ideb), the main indicator of quality in basic education in Brazil.

The second one is in the United States in the undergraduate programs in engineering at Olin College, a small and relatively new educational institution, founded in 1997. It has a student-centered educational approach and is supported by experiential learning. According to the document The Global state of the art in engineering education, developed by the MIT School of Engineering in March 2018, Olin College was identified as a "current leader" and/or "emerging leader" institution in engineering education worldwide.

These are just two examples of the countless initiatives and models that have already been tried by many institutions worldwide that have shown extremely relevant results in terms of learning. The implementation of these models is costly and laborious for any institution, but the results are extremely positive. Looking at the second example, Olin College has spectacular results, without a doubt, however, the annual intake of new students is around 80 students who undergo a rigorous selection process. One of the questions asked in the MIT School of Engineering report, mentioned above, is whether this model would be replicable for a larger intake of students and, complementing this question, would it be a model applicable to all undergraduate programs and not just to engineering? The answer to both questions is simple and straightforward: Yes! To do this, the institution:

1. Have started its digital transformation process.
2. Meticulously plan all stages of project implementation, involving all stakeholders in the institution and not just the academic team.
3. Must have the Rector or the main leader of the institution as the main sponsor of the project, supported by all the directors of the academic and administrative areas;
4. Having guaranteed financial, technological and infrastructure resources for each stage of project implementation.
5. Analyze the results of each implementation stage and adjust it, if necessary.

In the next article, I will propose another kind of reflection: “Does the curriculum of this innovative academic model need to be based on traditional courses as we currently have in all curricula?” This will be another interesting approach, which I call "Curriculum Atomization".

#datascience #digitaltransformation #academicmodel #studentcentered