Advising as Teaching and Learning Maura Reynolds Hope College With thanks (again!) to Nancy King

Advising is NOT: Primarily an administrative function or paper relationship Obtaining a signature or a PIN number to schedule classes A conference held once a year -- “The 1,000 mile check-up”

A judgmental process or a dictatorship Personal counseling Supplementary to the educational mission of the institution Something anyone can or should do without some specific training

Goals of Academic Advising Helping students clarify their values and goals Leading students to better understand the nature and purpose of higher education Providing accurate information about educational options, requirements, policies, procedures

Planning an educational program consistent with a student’s interests and abilities Assisting students in a continual monitoring and evaluation of their educational progress Integrating the many resources of the institution to meet the student’s special educational needs and aspirations

Advising as Teaching and Learning Focuses on Student Growth In the ability to identify realistic academic and career goals as well as a program to achieve them In the ability to make connections among courses in the curriculum and to integrate learning In the self-awareness of the relationship between one’s education and one’s life

Advisor-as-Teacher Facilitator of communication Coordinator of learning experiences Referral agent who connects students with an institution’s resources and co-curricular opportunities that can help them be successful

Advisors Teach Students To value the learning process To apply decision-making strategies To put the college experience into perspective To set priorities and evaluate events To develop thinking and learning skills To make informed choices Core Values, NACADA

We’re working toward the same goal: an academic experience that promotes the intellectual and personal development of all students. How might advising contribute to the intellectual and personal development of our students?

BECAUSE of academic advising? Learning Outcomes What should students LEARN through academic advising? What information should they be able to understand… What skills should they be able to demonstrate… What should they value… BECAUSE of academic advising?

The purposes of learning objectives Help us understand what we want to accomplish in our advising meetings Help us see more clearly the techniques we might use to accomplish our objectives Help students understand what advising is and its value Help students realize their role in advising Make assessment reasonable.

What do we know about how people learn?

Despite the wide-spread interest in learning in higher education, few resources have been “translated” into concrete practices that we can use in advising.

Some assume that learning is automatic, the natural product of good teaching or good advising. Their focus may be on developing their teaching or advising skills and techniques, the how-to of advising and teaching…..

Being learning-centered focuses attention on what the student is learning how the student is learning whether the student is applying the learning how current learning positions the student for future learning.

Let’s work together to develop learning objectives for advising, explore techniques we might use to achieve them, and consider how they might be assessed. Think about the students you work with and their needs Consider how learning objectives might change as they move through your institution Focus on learning.