ERIC Number: EJ744029
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-1822
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Teachable Moments Advising as Liberal Learning
Laff, Ned Scott
Liberal Education, v92 n2 p36-41 Spr 2006
Many faculty members generally assume that their students understand the purposes of college learning and that they are aware of the assumptions about liberal education embedded in the program configurations designed to advance it. In fact, it may very well be that, as Jerry Graff (2003) has suggested, our students are "clueless" about how to think about liberal learning; how it affects their personal, educational, and professional development; and how it plays a role in their day-to-day lives. To learn more about the students' perceptions of liberal education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has conducted a survey. The findings reveal a "serious disconnect between what students value and the vision of liberal education championed by the AAC&U community" (Humphreys and Davenport 2005, 41). In this article, the author argues that the advising process offers teachers perhaps the best opportunity for helping their students become more intentional about their own educations, as well as for helping them to recognize the value of the liberal learning outcomes teachers seek to advance. In order to make the most of this opportunity, however, teachers must rethink advising and explore new approaches that engage students more broadly. In short, the author argues that advising must be reconceived as liberal learning.
Descriptors: Student Surveys, Student Attitudes, Relevance (Education), Outcomes of Education, School Guidance, Liberal Arts, Higher Education, College Students, Focus Groups, Value Judgment, Faculty Advisers, Problem Based Learning, Intentional Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A