Challenges to traditional models of learning are instrumental to the progress of institutional practices in higher education.

The rise of experimental initiatives geared toward competency-based learning have characterized a visible trend on college campuses — one that is defined by projects like the University of Maryland University College’s implementation of a “digital transcript” this fall and the announcement that Christine Ortiz, a dean at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is starting a nonprofit research university that will not have majors, lectures or classrooms.

Though unusual, these initiatives, and others like them, highlight important concepts that could generate a positive shift for curriculums at U.S. institutions, including Syracuse University, toward the ability to properly assess a student’s skillset and the opportunity for students to engage with “real world” professional practices.

UMUC’s “extended transcript” would pose as a digital compilation of students’ papers, projects and other assignments to demonstrate specific learning outcomes. Similar to a resume, students would be able to customize how their academic accomplishments are displayed on the transcript in response to individual job or internship listings, as reported by Inside Higher Ed.

Rather than the conventional transcript that outlines the courses a student has taken and grades earned without context, the digital sample assignments would reflect writing, creative and professional skills to more indicative of a student’s work ethic and abilities.

The supplement would effectively resolve the gap of subjective grading across institutions through this tangible evidence by providing an alternative to GPAs that may be influenced by professors, personal situations and certain circumstances.

And in the same way that this pilot transcript could pave the way for a future in which students are able to more accurately reflect their ability to excel in the professional world, measures like those proposed by Ortiz, the dean of Graduate Education at MIT, could ensure that students are getting their most out of their curriculums while in college.

Ortiz said in an interview with USA Today that the concept for the research university is still in its early stages, but that each student would essentially design their own curriculum to work on an in-depth project — like research of a start-up — alongside a mentor.

Because major programs tend to be broad and include some courses that are not relevant to a student’s choice of study, ideas like Ortiz’s open up the possibility of students being able to shape what they what to accomplish in college with proper guidance. And like the transcript program at UMUC, this would allow more telling variables about a student through “real-world” experience.

Institutions often stick to the status quo when it comes to the structural components of higher education. And the evolution of the traditional framework of colleges and universities can only move forward if ideas like the ones being rolled out at UMUC and by Ortiz are given the chance to push the boundaries of research, creativity and development and be on the cutting edge of the modern academic world.

Published on March 2, 2016 at 12:00 am