Students aren't returning to lectures on campus, enrolments continue to decline, employment in the sector remains precarious and the financials are grim. Just how much trouble are universities in?
As someone who went to university in the 70s I agree with the summation of lectures as an incredibly passive way to learn. If after a particularly hectic weekend you were too hungover to make lectures on Monday morning you simply borrowed someone else's notes. These were probably less than good.
My degree was in engineering so there were practical demonstrations to see. This is not easy in a lecture theatre with perhaps 100 other students and no video link on a screen.
I found my best learning was at the weekly group meetings with a professor and perhaps ten other students. The idea was that the group discussed things to do with whatever they were meant to be learning. I eventually went into education myself and experience tells me that those professors probably got a few good ideas from their students to help with their own research.
The idea of a lecture theatre is largely a hang over from the middle ages when there was no internet, and paper was expensive. It is also partially a hangover of universities being dominated by one church or another and lectures were sermons as much as anything.
A major source of learning these days is Youtube. The quality and veracity is variable but the principle is good.
My suggestion for the way forward is as follows.
Aotearoa has need for expertise in many areas. The universities can maintain their role in degree level courses but also diversify into other areas. The courses can be run mainly online with hubs set up in secondary schools in provintial towns or similar institutions where students can meet face to face without the expense of living close to campus. They could do this with a video link to lecturers and professors to give guidance with problems. The technology is already there.
There would be an obvious overseas market that could be tapped into here as well.
Universities are meant to be places of innovation and original thought but too much they are bound by the strait jacket of the past.
As someone who went to university in the 70s I agree with the summation of lectures as an incredibly passive way to learn. If after a particularly hectic weekend you were too hungover to make lectures on Monday morning you simply borrowed someone else's notes. These were probably less than good.
My degree was in engineering so there were practical demonstrations to see. This is not easy in a lecture theatre with perhaps 100 other students and no video link on a screen.
I found my best learning was at the weekly group meetings with a professor and perhaps ten other students. The idea was that the group discussed things to do with whatever they were meant to be learning. I eventually went into education myself and experience tells me that those professors probably got a few good ideas from their students to help with their own research.
The idea of a lecture theatre is largely a hang over from the middle ages when there was no internet, and paper was expensive. It is also partially a hangover of universities being dominated by one church or another and lectures were sermons as much as anything.
A major source of learning these days is Youtube. The quality and veracity is variable but the principle is good.
My suggestion for the way forward is as follows.
Aotearoa has need for expertise in many areas. The universities can maintain their role in degree level courses but also diversify into other areas. The courses can be run mainly online with hubs set up in secondary schools in provintial towns or similar institutions where students can meet face to face without the expense of living close to campus. They could do this with a video link to lecturers and professors to give guidance with problems. The technology is already there.
There would be an obvious overseas market that could be tapped into here as well.
Universities are meant to be places of innovation and original thought but too much they are bound by the strait jacket of the past.