The Macro Level Context of Teaching and Learning AKD Symposium Teaching and Learning Southern Sociological Society 2014 Maxine P. Atkinson NC State University 1

The Olden Days…. 2

Olden Days 3

1973 Teaching Sociology first published 1980 Passing on Sociology: The Teaching of a Discipline by Charles A. Goldsmid and Everett K. Wilson

Modern Era 1990 Boyer Scholarship Reconsidered 5

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Chin, 2002 SoTL in Teaching Sociology ( ) 6

Today Student Debt, Lack of State Support Accountability Assessment Online Learning MOOCS Contingent Work 7

Diminished State Support, Increased Student Debt The tipping point: students are beginning to pay more in tuition than states Within 20 years, 6 states will provide no support (CO, AK, SC, AR, RI, VT) 8

Cuts to Higher Education 9

Tuition has increased sharply 10

Student Share of Cost of Ed 11

Student Debt Among 27 yr olds who went to college …40% have no student debt, 36% have $25k or less, 13% have between 25 and 50k, 11% have 50k+ Only 33% have a bachelor’s degree or higher 12

Accountability, Assessment Should our degrees be tied to jobs? Competency based learning? 13

Obama’s Ratings Proposal Access (% Pell Grants) Affordability (Tuition) Outcomes (graduation and transfer rates, graduates’ earnings, graduates’ advanced degrees) 14

Online Courses 32% US students 87% colleges have courses 62% colleges have some online program changing_course_

Are online courses effective? Bergstrand and Savage Teaching Sociology, July. Driscoll et al Teaching Sociology, July. 17

18 The Council of Independent Colleges and the Teagle Foundation Consortium for Online Humanities Instruction 20 Small Colleges Offer Online Courses for Member Institution Students

The Future? State U Online state_u_online State University systems organizing their online courses and programs More Programs online 19

Challenges? Faculty Buy-in Retention Reward Structures Credentials Credit, including transfer 20

MOOCS! Massive open online courses Companies: Coursera, Udacity, edX, 2U Potential Problems?......for us….., not companies Potential Advantages? 21

Employers, MOOC Potential “If [an applicant] is trying to educate themselves, it says something about the individual. [It shows that individual wants] to stay on top of what is going on in their field.” “We’re always looking for ways and options for team members to engage in ongoing learning to help the business grow.” 22

Contingent Faculty 23

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Contingent Challenges Low Pay Difficult Work Environment Inadequate Hiring Policies Short Lead Time Limited Job Security No Professional Development No Involvement in Curriculum Planning Limited Office Space, Support 25

Standards for NTT Faculty Recognize high performing faculty Written procedures for hiring Support for professional development Increase lead time Hire more full time NTT Integrate into departments 26

Impact on Student Learning Lack of contact Limited use of high impact pedagogies Negative effect on retention Negative effect on graduation rates 27

Recapping Today’s Challenges Diminished State Support Increased Tuition Increased Student Debt Increased Accountability Obama’s Ratings Proposal Online Learning MOOCS Two-Tiered Faculty 28

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Opportunity? Challenge? Would you rather… Develop and teach an online course? Create an advising program that connects your majors to jobs? Design an assessment instrument that evaluates students’ critical thinking skills? 31

Sociologists have marketable skills to teach! Sociologists have valuable skills for the university! Teaching is likely to become more highly valued. Sociologists understand the importance of job conditions. 32

The Future? 33