Content area
Full Text
Innov High Educ (2013) 38:267279 DOI 10.1007/s10755-012-9246-8
John Draeger & Pixita del Prado Hill & Lisa R. Hunter & Ronnie Mahler
Published online: 2 February 2013# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) draws from student feedback to gauge the level of academic challenge at particular institutions (Kuh 2009). Inspired by attempts to understand the implications of NSSE data on other campuses (Payne et al. 2005), a cross-disciplinary research group at our institution developed a multidimensional model of academic rigor. We argue that learning is most rigorous when students are actively learning meaningful content with higher-order thinking at the appropriate level of expectation within a given context. The model allows instructors and institutional decision-makers to aim towards increased levels of academic rigor in classrooms, departments, and across campus.
Keywords Academic rigor . National Survey of Student Engagement . Active learning
John Draeger is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Campus Coordinator for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at SUNY Buffalo State. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Syracuse University. His research interests include the ethics of respectful disagreement in a complex world as well as issues in general education, critical thinking, and deep learning. Email contact: [email protected].
Pixita del Prado Hill is Associate Professor of Elementary Education and Reading at SUNY Buffalo State. She earned her Ed.D. from Harvard University. Her research interests include developing meaningful curriculum, content area literacy, and preparing teacher candidates for high need settings.
Lisa R. Hunter is Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities and Associate Professor of Music at SUNY Buffalo State. She earned her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Arizona. Her research interests include general education, undergraduate education, learning communities, women in leadership, and first year student success.
Ronnie Mahler is Associate Professor of Social Work at SUNY Buffalo State. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology and her Masters of Social Work at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research interests include evaluation research, self-help and social action groups, and active learning pedagogy.
J. Draeger (*)
Department of Philosophy, Campus Coordinator for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, SUNY Buffalo State, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, NY 14222, USAe-mail: [email protected]
P. del Prado Hill :...