Cultivating Inquiry-Driven Learners: A College Education for the Twenty-First Century

Neuausgabe 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4214-0598-8
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 152 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 200 g

Inquiry-driven learners anticipate, embrace, and adapt to disruptive change. Clifton Conrad and Laura Dunek advance a transformative purpose of a college education. They invite stakeholders from across higher education to engage in vigorous dialogue about the aims of a college education—and how to realize those aims.

Increasingly influenced by market forces, many universities employ a default purpose of a college education: preparing students for entry into the workforce. As a result, students remain unprepared for a world in which much of the knowledge they acquire will have a shelf life of only a few years.

Cultivating Inquiry-Driven Learners charts a new way forward. It proposes that a college education prepare students to be innovative and adaptable by developing four signature capabilities: core qualities of mind, critical thinking skills, expertise in divergent modes of inquiry, and the capacity to express and communicate ideas. In concert, these capabilities empower students to explore and foster ideas that will prepare them to successfully navigate constant change, capitalize on career opportunities, enrich their personal lives, and thoughtfully engage in public life.

This innovative book also explores a wide range of initiatives and practices for educating inquiry-driven learners. Examples illustrate possibilities for developing inquiry-driven learners across the curriculum and are drawn from institutions with remarkably different missions and identities—from research universities to liberal arts colleges.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Conrad, Clifton

Dunek, Laura

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Part I: What Is The Purpose of a College Education?
1. Contemporary Discourse on the Purpose of a College Education
The Dominant Discourse: Eclipse of the Legacy of Liberal Education
Contemporary Ideas on the Purpose of a College Education
The Absence of a Fundamental Purpose of a College Education
Part II: Approaching Obselete Higher Learning in the Twenty-First Century
2. A Rapidly Changing World and the Need for a Response
The Rapidly Shifting U.S. Economy: From Industrial Production to Knowledge and Innovation
Four Trends Affecting Higher Education, All Driven by Monetary Incentives
Lessons from Other Sectors of Society, All Reshaped by the Same Market Forces Buff eting Higher Education
Proactively Directing External Forces and Preparing Students for a New World
3. Hurtling toward Obsolescence: The Default Purpose of aCollege Education
Shortcomings of the Default Purpose: Knowledge-Inundated, Workplace Commodities
The Need for a Fundamental Purpose of a College Education
Part III: Becoming an Inquiry-Driven Learner
4. Portrayal of an Inquiry-Driven Learner
Definition of an Inquiry-Driven Learner
Core Qualities of Mind
Critical Thinking Skills
Expertise in Divergent Modes of Inquiry
The Capacity to Express and Communicate Ideas
Building upon a Legacy of Ideas
Part IV: Developing Inquiry-Driven Learners
5. Ideas for Developing Inquiry-Driven Learners
Initiatives at Eight Institutions
Institutional Practices for Educating Inquiry-Driven Learners
A Concluding Note
Notes
References
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Clifton Conrad is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and a professor of higher education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Laura Dunek is a lawyer and a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.