Fall 2008
EAD 868 Professional Seminar in HALE
I appreciate the Pro-Seminar in HALE because it oriented me to graduate school. Before returning to school, I worked for three years and while that does not seem like a long time it took time to readjust to being a student. My adjustment phase consisted of becoming reacquainted to research and academic writing. As a non-profit professional, I mostly wrote grants and proposals which are succinct in nature and different from the verbose academic writing I was being asked to produce.
As the first required assignment, we were asked to complete a book review on a theme related to higher education. I chose the book The Great Rip-Off in American Education (Scarlett, 2004) as my text. The name alone captured my attention. If someone had the audacity to suggest that higher education could be a rip-off, then I wanted to know more about their perspective. Dr. Scarlett’s views enlightened me about the nature of education at research institutions, as he claimed that the research institutions are more focused on innovation opposed to educating students.Using my prior educational experiences as a point of reference, I simply critiqued the book without considering other literature on the subject. As a result of the feedback on this paper, I recognized that a critical thinker considers multiple perspectives on a subject.
The course not only increased my awareness of various writing styles, but it also assisted me in developing a historical perspective on the foundation of higher education and how it transformed from its origin to present-day. Higher education in America has evolved from a few institutions dedicated to educating wealthy white men for priesthood to a system of an estimated 3,500 higher education institutions with various classifications. Along the process of transformation, minorities including Indians, women, and African-Americans were granted access to opportunities to pursue higher education. The historical overview of the history of participation for each group explained how structures within higher education such as women's colleges and minority institutions were formed. As an administrator, it is important to understand the history and context of higher education.
In addition to the course content, the instructional design provided opportunities for educational growth and skills development. The required group project for this course allowed us to explore how colleges and universities representing various international regions approach diversity in the classroom. Diversity and internationalizing the student experience is among one of the popular topics at MSU and in the national higher education dialogue. Yet, our group wanted to know if this topic was a high institutional priority for colleges and universities from different countries. Each team member focused on a different country from various regions. Because of my interest of Africa, I focused on higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Exploring the concept of diversity from the South African perspective revealed the importance of understanding the cultural and social implications associated with diversity. Overall the course, helped me to improve in my writing, appreciate historical foundations, and analyze the context of an environment.
Featured Work from the course: Book Review of the Great Rip Off, The Black Male Experience in Higher Education and Transformative Intercultural Experiences
References
Scarlett, M. (2004). The Great Rip-Off In American Education.
Amherst:Prometheus Books.
I appreciate the Pro-Seminar in HALE because it oriented me to graduate school. Before returning to school, I worked for three years and while that does not seem like a long time it took time to readjust to being a student. My adjustment phase consisted of becoming reacquainted to research and academic writing. As a non-profit professional, I mostly wrote grants and proposals which are succinct in nature and different from the verbose academic writing I was being asked to produce.
As the first required assignment, we were asked to complete a book review on a theme related to higher education. I chose the book The Great Rip-Off in American Education (Scarlett, 2004) as my text. The name alone captured my attention. If someone had the audacity to suggest that higher education could be a rip-off, then I wanted to know more about their perspective. Dr. Scarlett’s views enlightened me about the nature of education at research institutions, as he claimed that the research institutions are more focused on innovation opposed to educating students.Using my prior educational experiences as a point of reference, I simply critiqued the book without considering other literature on the subject. As a result of the feedback on this paper, I recognized that a critical thinker considers multiple perspectives on a subject.
The course not only increased my awareness of various writing styles, but it also assisted me in developing a historical perspective on the foundation of higher education and how it transformed from its origin to present-day. Higher education in America has evolved from a few institutions dedicated to educating wealthy white men for priesthood to a system of an estimated 3,500 higher education institutions with various classifications. Along the process of transformation, minorities including Indians, women, and African-Americans were granted access to opportunities to pursue higher education. The historical overview of the history of participation for each group explained how structures within higher education such as women's colleges and minority institutions were formed. As an administrator, it is important to understand the history and context of higher education.
In addition to the course content, the instructional design provided opportunities for educational growth and skills development. The required group project for this course allowed us to explore how colleges and universities representing various international regions approach diversity in the classroom. Diversity and internationalizing the student experience is among one of the popular topics at MSU and in the national higher education dialogue. Yet, our group wanted to know if this topic was a high institutional priority for colleges and universities from different countries. Each team member focused on a different country from various regions. Because of my interest of Africa, I focused on higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Exploring the concept of diversity from the South African perspective revealed the importance of understanding the cultural and social implications associated with diversity. Overall the course, helped me to improve in my writing, appreciate historical foundations, and analyze the context of an environment.
Featured Work from the course: Book Review of the Great Rip Off, The Black Male Experience in Higher Education and Transformative Intercultural Experiences
References
Scarlett, M. (2004). The Great Rip-Off In American Education.
Amherst:Prometheus Books.
Transformative Intercultural Experience.pdf | |
File Size: | 96 kb |
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Book Review of The Great Rip Off.pdf | |
File Size: | 80 kb |
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The Black Male Experience in Higher Education.pdf | |
File Size: | 84 kb |
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EAD 805 Higher Education Administration
Administration of Higher Education focuses on creating a working knowledge of higher education by using research institutions as the model of inquiry. I experienced a steep learning curve in this course because my prior experiences with higher education institutions were all related to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). I attended Dillard University in New Orleans, LA and worked at Miles College in Birmingham, AL. In comparison to research institutions, HBCUs have lower student populations and therefore offer fewer academic programs.With these two things combined, research institutions have a need for more administrative support units. It was important for me to make this distinction early on in the course, in order to broaden my view of complex organizational structures.
Robert Birnbaum’s How Colleges Work: The Cybernetics of Academic Organization and Leadership (1998) was an eye-opening account of how decisions are made in the bureaucratic environment of higher education. Before taking this course, I had not thoroughly considered the decision-making process involved in developing institutional plans.Understanding the complex structure of large universities and the inter-relationships among units was perhaps the greatest lesson I took from this course.
The first major project challenged me to analyze two structurally different higher education institutions. I chose Berea College and University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), where I spent some time. The project challenged me to analyze how an organization’s structure enables or hinders it's ability to perform efficiently and at its maximum level of operation.The spirit and mission of Berea definitely represents Birnbaum's model of collegial institutions, where power sharing and equality are the guiding principles. On the other hand, UMSL is more representative of the bureaucratic institution due to the for divisional units and the specialized nature of work.
Understanding the organizational structure enable administrators to make quality decisions and also projects the impact of their choices. Yet, the decision making process is always limited to a specific set of information. Often times leaders and administrations have to make decisions in the confines of data that does not provide all the necessary answers, which is know as bounded rationality. The theory left a significant impression on me because it highlights the need for leaders to possess savvy data collection skills. The process of becoming informed and seeking information is often undervalued when discussing leadership development and decision making. Therefore, I include data collecting strategies in my leadership and process for making decisions.
Featured Work: Organizational Comparison Analysis evaluates the difference in structure between a state public research institution and a private college, where each student exchanges work for their tuition.
References
Birbaum, R. (1998). How colleges work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Administration of Higher Education focuses on creating a working knowledge of higher education by using research institutions as the model of inquiry. I experienced a steep learning curve in this course because my prior experiences with higher education institutions were all related to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). I attended Dillard University in New Orleans, LA and worked at Miles College in Birmingham, AL. In comparison to research institutions, HBCUs have lower student populations and therefore offer fewer academic programs.With these two things combined, research institutions have a need for more administrative support units. It was important for me to make this distinction early on in the course, in order to broaden my view of complex organizational structures.
Robert Birnbaum’s How Colleges Work: The Cybernetics of Academic Organization and Leadership (1998) was an eye-opening account of how decisions are made in the bureaucratic environment of higher education. Before taking this course, I had not thoroughly considered the decision-making process involved in developing institutional plans.Understanding the complex structure of large universities and the inter-relationships among units was perhaps the greatest lesson I took from this course.
The first major project challenged me to analyze two structurally different higher education institutions. I chose Berea College and University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), where I spent some time. The project challenged me to analyze how an organization’s structure enables or hinders it's ability to perform efficiently and at its maximum level of operation.The spirit and mission of Berea definitely represents Birnbaum's model of collegial institutions, where power sharing and equality are the guiding principles. On the other hand, UMSL is more representative of the bureaucratic institution due to the for divisional units and the specialized nature of work.
Understanding the organizational structure enable administrators to make quality decisions and also projects the impact of their choices. Yet, the decision making process is always limited to a specific set of information. Often times leaders and administrations have to make decisions in the confines of data that does not provide all the necessary answers, which is know as bounded rationality. The theory left a significant impression on me because it highlights the need for leaders to possess savvy data collection skills. The process of becoming informed and seeking information is often undervalued when discussing leadership development and decision making. Therefore, I include data collecting strategies in my leadership and process for making decisions.
Featured Work: Organizational Comparison Analysis evaluates the difference in structure between a state public research institution and a private college, where each student exchanges work for their tuition.
References
Birbaum, R. (1998). How colleges work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Organizational Comparison Analysis.pdf | |
File Size: | 81 kb |
File Type: |
EAD 801 Adult Learning
Adult Learning helped me to develop a solid foundation for understanding how adults learn. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs offers insight to practitioners about the goals students may want to achieve for pursuing formal education. After becoming more familiar with Maslow’s work, I realized that adults pursue formal education for several reasons, including the social atmosphere of school and training programs. Also, students may become disengaged when their basic needs are unmet.
Malcom Knowles' andragogy anchored my thoughts regarding engaging adult learners in educational programs. He suggests that adults need to know their reason for learning. As an instructional designer, it is my goal that participants find my programs useful and relative. From theory and practice, I realize that adults have a wealth and prior experience that should be taken into consideration during the development and implementation of training and programs. Working in adult education is very humbling for me because I recognize that my students have so much to share with me about their lives and expertise. My students continue to teach me.
The case studies in this course were critical to learning how to apply the multitude of adult learning theories. One of the cases focused on developing strategies to reduce student drop-out at a community college. While the case was fictitious it prompted me to evaluate the role and duty of higher education institutions. Should community college provide wrap-round services to circumvent drop-out? Daycare services, financial management courses, and study skills training are all services related to reasons why students drop-out of education and job-training programs. Yet, how far should community colleges go to help students stay on-track to accomplishing their goals. I do not have the answer. More importantly, the course provoked me to a higher level of thinking and abstraction in order to provide tangible solutions to the issues presented in the cases.
EAD 801 Adult Learning required most of my mental energy during that first semester. Although the course content was powerful, the context was equally important to my development. This was my first online course and I definitely walked into it with preconceived ideas. I did not think I would learn as much as I did. The online environment challenged me to take more ownership of my learning. Professors always say that you will learn from your colleagues, which was proven true in this course. Most of our cases studies were a collaborative effort; being accountable to group members helped me to remain focused.
Featured Work: Adult Learning Final is the collection of three essays that demonstrate my command of adult learning theories.
Adult Learning helped me to develop a solid foundation for understanding how adults learn. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs offers insight to practitioners about the goals students may want to achieve for pursuing formal education. After becoming more familiar with Maslow’s work, I realized that adults pursue formal education for several reasons, including the social atmosphere of school and training programs. Also, students may become disengaged when their basic needs are unmet.
Malcom Knowles' andragogy anchored my thoughts regarding engaging adult learners in educational programs. He suggests that adults need to know their reason for learning. As an instructional designer, it is my goal that participants find my programs useful and relative. From theory and practice, I realize that adults have a wealth and prior experience that should be taken into consideration during the development and implementation of training and programs. Working in adult education is very humbling for me because I recognize that my students have so much to share with me about their lives and expertise. My students continue to teach me.
The case studies in this course were critical to learning how to apply the multitude of adult learning theories. One of the cases focused on developing strategies to reduce student drop-out at a community college. While the case was fictitious it prompted me to evaluate the role and duty of higher education institutions. Should community college provide wrap-round services to circumvent drop-out? Daycare services, financial management courses, and study skills training are all services related to reasons why students drop-out of education and job-training programs. Yet, how far should community colleges go to help students stay on-track to accomplishing their goals. I do not have the answer. More importantly, the course provoked me to a higher level of thinking and abstraction in order to provide tangible solutions to the issues presented in the cases.
EAD 801 Adult Learning required most of my mental energy during that first semester. Although the course content was powerful, the context was equally important to my development. This was my first online course and I definitely walked into it with preconceived ideas. I did not think I would learn as much as I did. The online environment challenged me to take more ownership of my learning. Professors always say that you will learn from your colleagues, which was proven true in this course. Most of our cases studies were a collaborative effort; being accountable to group members helped me to remain focused.
Featured Work: Adult Learning Final is the collection of three essays that demonstrate my command of adult learning theories.
Adult Learning Final.pdf | |
File Size: | 95 kb |
File Type: |