Friday Fragments, February 26th
Keeping tech focused on human relationships, research on free community college & student outcomes, re-thinking how doctoral education is delivered, & humanizing the "cameras on" discussion.
What I’m reading…
Teaching With Technology in Higher Ed? Start With Relationship-Building reminds instructors that “humans are crucial to inclusive teaching, and that using tech successfully in the classroom starts with relationships,” and provides several steps instructors can take to put the focus back on relationships. (Bryan Dewsbury, Univ. of Rhode Island)
Does Free Community College Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence From a Regression Discontinuity Design (Elizabeth Bell, Miami Univ.)
In contrast to concerns regarding tuition-free community college suppressing bachelor’s degree attainment, I find that Tulsa Achieves increased the likelihood of transferring to 4-year colleges by 13 to 14 percentage points and increased bachelor’s degree attainment by approximately 2 percentage points. The estimates for shorter outcomes are underpowered to detect policy relevant effects, but suggest Tulsa Achieves increased college GPA and had a null impact on credit accumulation, retention, and graduation from Tulsa Community College.
An interesting thought experiment in what doctoral education could - and perhaps should - look like in the humanities: How to Save the Humanities Ph.D.? Kill the Doctoral Seminar. (George Justice, Arizona State Univ.)
One professor’s appeal to his students to turn (some of) their cameras on during remote synchronous classes (C. Thi Nguyen, Univ. of Utah)