Blog

  • Template: The Top Metacognitive Strategies for Higher Ed

    Template: The Top Metacognitive Strategies for Higher Ed

    Metacognition plays a critical role in the education process. The concept itself amounts to ‘thinking about thinking.’ When students learn through metacognitive activities before, during and after class, their grades or scores often improve. The reason? Self-awareness, reflection and critical thinking lead to more engagement in the classroom. As such, metacognition is one of the most important strategies that instructors, particularly college-level instructors, can use to help their students succeed.

    Table of contents

    1. Why is metacognition important?
    2. Examples of metacognitive strategies
    3. The value of metacognition in post-secondary courses
    4. 8 metacognitive strategies to use in college classes
    5. Metacognition in the college classroom

    Why is metacognition important?

    Metacognition, put plainly, is thinking about one’s thinking. It refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, analyze and assess one’s understanding and performance. In other words, metacognition in the classroom is the act of considering one’s own learning and thought processes to see if those processes produce results. When educators use metacognitive strategies, learning becomes more visible for students. In turn, students gain a better understanding of why a particular strategy will help them solve a problem. Here’s an example: after an assessment, ask your students to reflect on which of the study strategies they used were most effective to plan more strategically for their next assessment to ensure they meet their learning goals on their next assessment. 

    The word metacognition is an umbrella term: Thinking about and analyzing one’s own thinking and learning processes happen in a number of ways, each contributing to the development of metacognition skills. You could provide students with opportunities for reflection, encourage them to engage critically with course readings or provide real-world case studies to extend learning outside the classroom. Effective educators teach their students how to use a variety of methods to measure and critically reflect on their own learning experiences.

    Examples of metacognitive strategies

    Practicing metacognition can help students develop the essential skill of self-regulation. In turn, students will have a deeper sense of agency over their learning. Metacognitive strategies are usually categorized into four stages: You, Plan, Do and Review.

    • The ‘You’ stage is where students reflect on their prior knowledge on a topic
    • The ‘Plan’ stage is where students develop an action plan for completing a task and determine the metacognitive strategies they’ll use
    • The ‘Do’ stage is where students carry out a task and monitor their progress along the way
    • The ‘Review’ stage is where students reflect on their learning paths and identify areas to improve when taking on completing future activities

    Dr. Linda Nilson, Director Emeritus of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University and author of Creating Self-Regulated Learners, highly encourages faculty to tap into metacognitive strategies in the classroom. Dr. Nilson suggests asking students the following questions to help them reflect upon their own learning process. Here’s how she recommends breaking things down:

    Planning before a task Monitoring during a task Evaluating after a task
    What do I already know about the topic? What material am I having trouble understanding? Can I see and organize the relationship between topics?
    What additional information, if any, will I need before completing this task? How does what I am learning relate to what I already know? What can I recall and what do I need to review?
    What are my weaknesses and how can I make up for them? How is my thinking on the topic changing? What questions do I need to bring to the next class?

    We’ve rounded up more metacognitive strategies to help students turn into conscious learners. Get access to our free template of self-regulation activities featuring Dr. Nilson’s ideas to deepen learning. Simply sign into Top Hat or create your account today.

    The value of metacognition in post-secondary courses

    Through metacognitive learning strategies, students don’t just consider how they’re learning—they actually learn to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. This allows them to shore up areas where they feel confident and work more effectively on where they may need to focus future learning efforts.

    It is critical for college students to understand how to use metacognitive activities to further their understanding of coursework. Students in higher ed are expected to be able to formulate independent thoughts about the subjects they’re studying. Metacognition is the first step to making this happen. Once students know what they’re thinking about a particular subject, they can make connections between their prior knowledge and the new course concepts they’re learning.

    Metacognition also helps students develop a critical eye. According to Vanderbilt University, students who lack metacognition skills may lack the ability to discern the truth of what they see and hear every day—which is crucial as today’s students have more access to information than ever before. As such, the development of metacognitive skills also contributes to the growth of critical judgment skills. For this reason, it’s essential that college instructors give students plenty of opportunities to work on activities to develop metacognitive thinking. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that, for students, learning how to think is just as if not more important than the subjects they’re learning. That’s because developing metacognitive awareness can be useful for students across disciplines and beyond.

    When students get a grasp on how to use metacognitive processes, they learn how they learn, and that’s a skill that transfers not only to other classes but to life outside of academia. Once students graduate, knowing how to learn is an immensely useful skill to have. This helps students become more effective learners and obtain new skills more easily, which can help meet academic, personal and professional goals.

    Such practices can ultimately help students better master their lives. Students who know how to think about their own thoughts can answer questions like: What does my best life look like? Or what makes me feel good about myself? 

    8 metacognition strategies to use in college classes 

    The following eight examples offer instructors some teaching strategies and tools for employing metacognitive activities in the classroom. Each exercise is designed to allow students to think about their thinking in some way.

    It’s important for instructors to remember that activities designed to promote metacognitive knowledge should be used regularly in the classroom. Sporadic use of these exercises doesn’t promote the intellectual growth that college-level students need in order to succeed in their advanced studies.

    1. Let students know the purpose of in-class questions

    Part of getting students on board with the process of metacognition is to help them identify when they are thinking about their thinking. If an instructor is using questions designed to elicit specific outcomes, then it’s helpful for that instructor to point out when those types of questions are being used as a form of explicit instruction. One obvious place to point out the possible use of such questions is in the syllabus.

    In other words, if questions are designed to encourage students to think about their own thinking and to spark more engaged discussions, then that should be explicitly acknowledged early on.

    2. Consider facilitating a diagnostic assessment

    This recommendation goes hand-in-hand with point one above. At the outset of a college course, it is often a good idea for the instructor to test students on their knowledge of a given topic.

    A set of ten to 20 questions about the subject gives the instructor an at-a-glance look at what students know at the beginning of the semester. The information from these quizzes can later be compared to student answers at the end of the semester. This helps instructors and students measure growth.

    It’s important to let students know that this isn’t graded. Its purpose is to give them and the instructor some information about students’ knowledge of the subject at the beginning of the course. This allows everyone to consider their position and to plan their studies accordingly. For some instructors, this method works so well that they regularly incorporate a version of it into their class instruction, even weekly in some cases.

    These exercises don’t have to be a point of stress for instructors, however. Platforms like Top Hat have exercises and learning tasks, such as quizzes and polls, to help students think about their thinking and keep them engaged in their classwork. These types of exercises also allow students to test their thinking and review their learning strategies in real-time because these platforms can grade student responses immediately.

    3. Get into the habit of thinking out loud

    Many instructors forget that there was a time when they sat in their students’ chairs—when they had their own way of processing the information they were learning.

    One way teachers can invite their students into the metacognitive mindset is by thinking out loud in class. It may sound simplistic, but when people think out loud, they’re processing their thoughts about a topic. Instructors who do this in front of students demonstrate metacognition in action.

    4. Assign a muddiest point essay

    Writing is another example of metacognitive abilities in action. It encourages students to think about what they’re learning and how they’re thinking about it. 

    In this exercise, the instructor asks the students to either write a short essay or come up with a bulleted list of the main points of the lecture. The instructor can assign this at the end of a class period, giving students ten to 15 minutes to write.

    The idea behind this exercise is to help teachers know where students are still having trouble with the material. Once this information is gleaned, these weak points can be addressed in the next class period.

    Even if the instructor doesn’t have them write about the muddiest point, regular writing exercises teach students to think about what they’re thinking.

    5. Leave plenty of time for class discussion

    Speaking and listening activities also give students opportunities to think about their thought processes. As a bonus, students get to learn about the thought processes of others. Classroom discussions promote student engagement. This makes learning more interesting. More interesting learning is a recipe for learning that’s also understood and remembered.

    Additionally, the instructor can go a step further by asking students to lead the instruction. For example, the professor can break the topic down into smaller subjects and assign each smaller topic to a student in the class. Students can then lead the discussion, either in front of the whole class or in smaller groups.

    6. Post-class self-assessments

    There is a reason why so many institutions do end-of-year evaluations. They give educators valuable feedback on student learning.

    The same principle applies to asking students to create a self-assessment at the end of a course. They can talk about what they thought was true about the subject compared to what they know to be true now. If the instructor has assigned them journal work, then this assessment can go in the journal.

    7. Reflective journaling

    Reflective journaling exercises provide students with a forum to monitor their own thinking and their own learning processes. Following a challenging lecture, encourage students to consider which course concepts they are comfortable with and where they could benefit from further review. This can help them plan their future studies or prompt them to reach out to an instructor or TA for extra help.

    Self-reflection exercises can also be used following a summative assessment, like a test or exam. Prompt students to respond to questions like: “What about my exam preparation worked well that I should remember to do next time?” or “What did not work so well that I should not do next time or that I should change?”

    8. Model metacognitive thinking

    To develop a classroom environment rooted in metacognition, consider modeling these practices for your students. By being transparent about how you navigate new developments in your field, tackle complex concepts and relate course content to the world outside your classroom, you show students that metacognition is a lifelong process. 

    Metacognition in the college classroom

    Metacognitive activities seem relatively simple in practice. That’s why it may be easy for instructors and students to overlook how powerful they can be. Activities like quizzes, discussions and real-world case studies all help develop metacognitive skills. Essentially, students can use these activities to examine their thinking processes, including how they learn the materials in class.

    However, despite being straightforward to use in your course, the application of metacognitive activities has far-reaching implications that go beyond the confines of successful learning in the classroom. They enable students to make the best use of their lives and to develop good judgment. Once students graduate from their studies, the activities that they have done to develop their metacognition skills are useful on the job and off.

    Instructors who wish to use metacognitive activities in the classroom have a full toolbox of activities at their disposal. These activities can be as simple as doing frequent quizzes using active learning platforms like Top Hat.

    These activities can also be more involved. They can include lively classroom discussions that are designed to get students engaged in their coursework or even regular journaling activities that students can do throughout the semester.

    Finally, it is important for instructors to demonstrate to their students what this type of critical thinking and problem-solving looks like. When they do, they model the proper behavior for students. In this way, students learn to identify critical thinking in action and to mimic it until they fully grasp what it means to employ metacognition in the classroom and out.

    → Free Template: Get Linda Nilson’s recommended self-regulation activities

    Source link

  • More Gender Breakouts of Admission Data

    More Gender Breakouts of Admission Data

    I’ve written a lot about yield rates over time, and I’ve also written about differences in admission patterns among male and female applicants here and here; I’ve decided to take a fresh look at both based on some continuing discussions I’ve heard recently. 

    You have, of course, heard about the crisis of male enrollment in American colleges, which, if you look at the data, is really a crisis of enrollment at Community Colleges.  Far be it from me to insist on data, however.

    Here is the same data for women, just to point out that there are differences.  Whether we should celebrate increasing attainment among young women or decry the inability of young men to keep up is your choice. 

    Regardless, here is a detailed breakout of these patterns as they show up in admissions over time.  There are four views here: A summary on tab one (using the tabs across the top); ratios of women to men at all stages of the process and estimated applications per student; gender-specific admission rates at the highly rejectives over time; and, for anyone who wants to download the data using the little icon at the bottom, a spreadsheet format.  Note: IPEDS just started collecting application data on non-binary students, so it will be a while before any trend analysis is possible.  For 2022, I only included students who self-identified as male or female.)

    Rather than explain the interactivity, I’ve put two buttons on the first view: Hover over the Orange Plus Sign to read some caveats about the data; and hover over the lightbulb for information about how to interact.

    As always, I’d love to hear what you see.

    Source link

  • Getting Organic Engagement in a Mental Health Awareness Program – CUPA-HR

    Getting Organic Engagement in a Mental Health Awareness Program – CUPA-HR

    by Julie Burrell | July 15, 2024

    Employers have enormous sway over employee health. That’s one of the major takeaways from the CUPA-HR webinar An Integrated Approach to Fostering Workplace Well-Being, led by Mikel LaPorte and Laura Gottlieb of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. They collected eye-opening data that helped them make the case to leadership for a mental health awareness campaign. In a Workforce Institute report they cited, employees say that managers have a greater impact on their mental health than their doctors or therapists — roughly the same impact as their spouse!

    In the webinar, LaPorte and Gottlieb discussed how their robust, research-driven suite of content is helping to normalize discussions of mental health on campus. They’re even being asked to present their well-being trainings at meetings, a sign that their push for mental health awareness is resonating organically.

    A One-Stop Shop for Mental Health

    The awareness campaign centers on their wellness website, which acts as a one-stop shop for campus mental health. (Right now, the site is internal-facing only, but the recorded webinar has rich details and example slides.) There, they organize their podcast episodes, articles and curated content, as well as marshal all the mental health resources currently available to staff, students and faculty.

    They’ve also found a way to make this initiative sustainable for HR in the long term by recruiting faculty subject matter experts to write on topics such as compassion fatigue. These experts are then interviewed on their quarterly podcast, Well-Being Wisdom. Tapping into faculty experts also ensures rigor in their sources, a significant step in getting buy-in from a population who requires well-vetted wellness practices.

    Getting Organic Engagement Starts With Leaders  

    LaPorte and Gottlieb have faced the typical challenge when rolling out a new campaign: engagement. Email fatigue means that sending messages through this channel isn’t always effective. But they’ve started to look at ways of increasing engagement through different communication channels, often in person.

    Direct outreach to team leaders is key. They regularly attend leadership meetings and ask different schools and departments to invite them in for facilitated mental health activities. (In the webinar, you can practice one of these, a brief guided meditation.) They’ve developed a leader guide and toolkit, including turnkey slides leaders can insert into decks to open or close discussions. Leaders are supplied with “can opener” discussion items, such as

    • “I made a difference yesterday when I…”
    • “Compassion is hardest when…”
    • “I show up every day because…”

    Not only does this provide opportunities to normalize conversations around mental health, but it also strengthens relationship-building — a key metric in workplace well-being. As CUPA-HR has found, job satisfaction and well-being is the strongest predictor of retention by far for higher ed employees.

    Campus leaders are now reaching out to the learning and leadership development team to request mental health activities at meetings. Some of the workshops offered include living in the age of distraction, mindful breathing techniques, and the science of happiness. For more details on UT Health San Antonio’s well-being offerings, including ways they’re revamping their program this fiscal year (think: less is more), view the recorded webinar here.



    Source link

  • From a shaky start to a first-class degree, by Tracy Roberts – ALL @ Liverpool Blog

    From a shaky start to a first-class degree, by Tracy Roberts – ALL @ Liverpool Blog

    Although I was considered quite bright in the small primary school I attended, when I started high school as an undiagnosed autistic child I became incredibly overwhelmed and found the only way to cope with the extra sensory and social pressure was to coast through. I fell behind with work as I spent most of my time just trying to cope with the school environment.

    Having developed an apprehensive relationship with academia, I always hoped I might be able to access university. I had to drop my a-levels in 1995 when I was 18, so I could work full-time and move to a flat when it became obvious I needed to leave my toxic family home.

    After two failed attempts at trying to complete a degree, struggling through a lot of personal hardships, when my youngest started school I decided I wanted one last go. That was when I started Go Higher, in 2018. The incredibly kind, knowledgable, experienced and dedicated staff helped me develop the skills and confidence I needed to finally achieve my lifelong goal of gaining a degree.

    Many of us were particularly scared of the maths component, myself included. I actually ended up falling in love with maths, it is taught in such a well designed and easily accessible way. When my mother who had dementia was entering a severe decline in her condition I found the maths module gave me time to enter a logical mental space and actually helped me cope during an otherwise extremely emotional time. I even used the resources provided for the module to help my daughter develop a new confidence with maths.

    I had a shaky start but thanks to the support and advice I received on the course I ended up being awarded the academic achievement award and 99% in maths, and began my degree with the University of Liverpool in 2019. I faced many more struggles and it took me two extra years, but this time I had everything I needed to push through. No more coasting, the Go Higher provided me with a new confidence and a realisation of what I could achieve. Next week I will be graduating with a first class degree in Evolutionary Anthropology and will be receiving the Evolutionary Anthropology Prize. I have been accepted onto the MSc in Human Evolution, and am working on publishing a paper with one of the professors, based on one of my third year undergraduate assignments. At 47 years old I feel as if life might finally be opening up for me.

    For anyone who felt as if other people had access to a secret book of knowledge on how to develop their academic skills and confidence, the staff of the Go Higher team will help you access that book and guide you through every chapter.

    Source link

  • 10 Top Hat Tips for a More Engaging Semester

    10 Top Hat Tips for a More Engaging Semester

    What does the future of higher education look like? At Top Hat, we believe engagement, affordability and equity are at the heart of a great classroom experience. That’s why we’re excited to highlight a number of features in our platform and content solutions to empower students and faculty alike. Take a look at these unique capabilities in Top Hat and get ready to level up your lectures, assessments and grading strategy.

    → Free Toolkit: Get strategies, templates and videos for a successful new term

    1. Add AI-generated questions to every lecture

    Top Hat Ace, our AI-powered assistant, is the latest milestone in our mission to make education more effective, inclusive and accessible. Instructors can use Ace’s Lecture Enhancer to instantly generate assessment questions based on their lecture content. Doing so will spark engagement in class and help educators assess comprehension in the moment. Faculty can even edit generated questions as they see fit, maintaining control over the questions generated. Learn more about our AI-powered Lecture Enhancer here. In addition, educators can save time designing assignments and readings in Top Hat Pages by adding questions automatically generated by Ace.

    2. Assign homework to specific students

    Shore up learning gaps sooner rather than later. With personalized data delivered to your inbox every week, identify which students didn’t answer discussion or poll questions in your lecture and re-assign your PowerPoint slides to this group as homework. This will give students a chance to refresh themselves on your material, which may prove especially beneficial for those who weren’t able to join your class live. Learn more about assigning homework to specific students here. You can also watch the video below as we explore the difference between homework and review mode.

    3. Make your discussion and poll questions media-rich

    Give students an interactive assessment experience. You may know how to add videos or simulations to your Pages, but you can also directly embed media into your quiz questions. Not only will students get a more dynamic, immersive learning experience, they’ll get an opportunity to consume your course material in a different medium. Plus, using videos in your quiz questions makes for a more engaging alternative to the static Scantron or multiple-choice test. Learn more about using videos in questions or discussions here.

    4. Offer line-by-line feedback on document submissions

    Enjoy feedback functionality that will be familiar to those who regularly use Google Docs. Using our file submission question, students are able to upload PDFs, lab templates or spreadsheets to Top Hat. Take your feedback to another level by offering annotated comments at various points in PDF or image submissions. This level of detailed commentary allows students to fully understand their own learning gaps, while giving you an opportunity to flag specific areas for improvement in advance of a high-stakes assessment. Learn more about how to leave detailed feedback in PDF file submissions here.

    5. Measure comprehension of the same concept over time

    If you’re preparing students for an exam and want to check their understanding of tricky concepts multiple times, this feature is for you. Compare student comprehension over a period of your choosing by keeping a record of responses to the same question asked more than once. After enabling this feature, you’ll be able to compare responses submitted on date X with date Y, seeing what percentage of students answered a particular way and letting you adapt your instruction accordingly. Explore how to create multiple question report sessions for your next quiz here. You can also watch our video below to see how to segment question results over time.

    6. Annotate your slideshow with whiteboard sketches

    Sometimes, visually explaining a new concept can be easier than describing it in words. Top Hat’s Whiteboard Sketch tool allows you to insert blank slides into your slideshow, which you can then draw on in real time. For instance, complement a presentation on mitosis by drawing out the various stages live, answering student questions along the way. This tool doesn’t just allow for richer, more detailed discussions, it ensures students get a visual depiction of challenging concepts before moving on to your next topic. Learn how to embed interactive elements into your slides here.

    7. Embed iFrames to create a truly interactive learning experience

    Tailor your learning materials to the needs of Generation Z. When creating assessments, homework or customizing chapter readings in Pages, use iFrames to link to media such as podcasts, websites, simulations and GIFs. Open the interactive toolbar in your page, select the iFrame option and paste your desired link in the field. Learn how to embed iFrames in your course content here. You can also watch our video below for guidance on creating course materials using Pages.

    8. Use Presenter View to view personal notes and real-time responses

    In a single view, get all the information you need to deliver a high-quality presentation. Use Presenter View to get a second screen that’s only accessible to you. View lecture notes that you added into your slide deck and get a live report of students’ responses as they answer questions live. Plus, preview which slide is next—and shift your conversation with students accordingly. Explore the power of Presenter View in helping you deliver an impactful slideshow here.

    9. Keep your course textbook fresh and relevant with in-app content updates

    Give students a learning experience that mirrors the world around them. Incorporate the latest content updates without losing any customizations in your interactive Top Hat textbook. You’ll be alerted whenever new author-created content is available for your text and will be given a chance to review all updates before accepting or rejecting them. This functionality ensures that educators have access to the latest content when it becomes available, on their own terms. In-app content updates are currently available in beta format for select Top Hat textbooks. Discover how our content enhancements make it easy to keep any textbook up-to-date here.

    10. Provide AI-powered study support 

    Make sure every student has in-the-moment study support. Students can use our AI-powered study assistant to clarify challenging concepts, generate examples of specific topics and quiz themselves in advance of a test. Ace delivers relevant responses built from the context of your uploaded materials, making it easy for students to review lectures and study notes in one place. Read more about our personalized study assistance here. You can also watch the video below for a closer look at our AI-powered study tools.

    → Free Toolkit: Get the Most Out of Top Hat

    Source link

  • Biden Administration Releases Spring 2024 Regulatory Agenda – CUPA-HR

    Biden Administration Releases Spring 2024 Regulatory Agenda – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | July 11, 2024

    On July 5, the Biden administration released the Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Action (Regulatory Agenda), providing insights on regulatory and deregulatory activity under development across more than 60 federal departments, agencies and commissions. The Spring 2024 Regulatory Agenda is the first of two that will be released during the calendar year, and it sets target dates for regulatory actions in the coming months.

    CUPA-HR’s government relations team reviews each Regulatory Agenda that is released and has put together the following list of noteworthy regulations included in the current edition.

    Department of Education

    Office for Civil Rights – Discrimination Based on Shared Ancestry or Ethnicity in Response to EO 13899 on Combating Anti-Semitism and EO 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities

    The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is targeting December 2024 for the release of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and OCR’s enforcement responsibilities for cases involving discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. OCR is issuing this NPRM in response to a 2019 Trump Executive Order (EO) and a 2021 Biden EO.

    The NPRM has become a higher priority for OCR, given the recent political activity on campus related to the war in Gaza and related scrutiny from Congressional Republicans of higher education’s response to protests on campus. In the Regulatory Agenda announcement, OCR explains the need for this rulemaking by stating that they have “received complaints of harassment and assaults directed at Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other students based on their shared ancestry or ethnicity.”

    Office for Civil Rights – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams

    According to the Regulatory Agenda, the Biden administration has pushed its final rule on transgender students’ participation in athletic programs to its “long-term actions,” with an undetermined date for when the final rule will be published. In the Fall 2023 Regulatory Agenda, the final rule was previously targeted for March 2024.

    OCR released an NPRM on this topic in April 2023. Under the NPRM, schools that receive federal funding would not be permitted to adopt or apply a one-size-fits-all ban on transgender students participating on teams consistent with their gender identity. Instead, the proposal allows schools the flexibility to develop team eligibility criteria that serves important educational objectives, such as fairness in competition and preventing sports-related injuries. The department further explained that the eligibility criteria must take into account the sport, level of competition, and grade or education level of students participating, and the criteria would have to minimize harm to students whose opportunity to participate on a team consistent with their gender identity would be limited or denied.

    The move to push the final rule to “long-term actions” with an undetermined publication date is likely a result of recent challenges to the Biden administration’s Title IX final rule and the upcoming election. Shortly after the Title IX rule was published, over two dozen states joined lawsuits challenging the regulations, with many citing the inclusion of protections for gender identity and sexual orientation as top concerns with the final rule. Since then, the Title IX final rule has been blocked from going into effect on August 1 in 14 states.

    Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

    Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting

    In December 2024, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) anticipate releasing a final rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) on pay equity and transparency in federal contracting.

    The joint agencies published a pay equity and transparency NPRM in January 2024. In the NPRM, the agencies propose to amend the FAR to implement a government-wide policy that would:

    1. prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering job applicants’ previous compensation when making employment decisions about personnel working on or in connection with a government contract (“salary history ban”), and
    2. require these contractors and subcontractors to disclose on job announcements the compensation to be offered (“compensation disclosure” or “pay transparency”).

    As part of its justification for publishing the NPRM, the proposal noted that 21 states, 22 localities, and Washington, D.C., have put bans into place that prohibit employers from asking job applicants for their salary, and 10 states have pay transparency laws in place, with several other states working toward implementing such laws.

    Department of Homeland Security

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – Modernizing H-1B Requirements and Oversight and Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers

    According to the Regulatory Agenda, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) anticipates releasing at least one more final rule to modernize the H-1B and F-1 visa programs in December 2024.

    In October 2023, USCIS issued an NPRM to simplify the application process for H-1B visas, increase the program’s efficiency, and strengthen the program’s integrity measures. In February 2024, USCIS issued a final rule to implement a new beneficiary-centric selection process for H-1B registrations, but it did not finalize all of the provisions that were originally included in the NPRM. When publishing the February 2024 final rule, DHS indicated that it planned to publish a separate final rule to address the remaining aspects from October’s proposed rule. The separate final action listed in the Spring Regulatory Agenda will likely be the remainder of the provisions from the NPRM.

    CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of updates to these regulations and additional policies as they are introduced.



    Source link

  • Top 12 Marketing Project Ideas

    Top 12 Marketing Project Ideas

    What are the benefits of working on MBA marketing projects?

    MBA marketing projects let students use their book knowledge in real business situations. They learn skills like market research, data analysis, and strategy making. Plus, they make professional contacts that could help their careers later.

    What are some popular topics for MBA marketing projects related to branding and positioning strategies?

    Popular topics include checking brand value and making strategies for changing or refreshing a brand. Students also work on creating marketing plans to improve a brand’s image and stand out in the market.

    How can MBA marketing projects help students understand consumer behavior and develop effective retention strategies?

    These projects look into what makes customers loyal and how they make buying decisions. They focus on managing customer relationships, improving customer happiness, and making a brand stand out from others.

    What are some emerging trends and innovative strategies that MBA marketing projects might explore?

    Projects might look into digital marketing, using artificial intelligence in marketing, and how social media fits into marketing plans. They also cover using games in marketing and how data changes marketing strategies.

    Where can MBA students find inspiration for their marketing project topics?

    Students can get ideas by looking at industry trends, studying case studies, and doing market research. Talking to professors, industry experts, or going to marketing events can also give them new ideas and insights.

     

    Source link

  • Dr. James Lang’s 4 Tips for a Great First Day of Class

    Dr. James Lang’s 4 Tips for a Great First Day of Class

    What goes into a great first lecture? Ask any educator and they’ll highlight three resounding themes: prioritize community, foster connection and build excitement. The good news is that designing a high-impact first lecture doesn’t involve a complete rewrite of your existing lesson plan. Rather, it’s about making simple adjustments to help students form a great first impression.

    Dr. James Lang, acclaimed author of Small Teaching and featured speaker at Top Hat Summer Camp 2024, shares actionable strategies to deepen engagement during week one of your course. We’ve rounded up his ideas below.

    → Student Engagement Toolkit: Enjoy FREE teaching tips, templates and more!

    1. Focus on community building

    Set the table for long-term success by getting to know students and in turn, help them get to know you. Consider sharing what made you want to teach your specific subject and the most rewarding part of teaching. Dr. Lang also suggests intentionally forging personal ties with students. Simple practices could involve showing up to class early and greeting students as they file in. You might also use your first lecture to stream a relevant TED talk, podcast snippet or music video that relates to your course material. Helping students see that there’s more to the first day than reviewing the syllabus will surely leave them feeling inspired and primed to learn. What better feeling could there be as an educator?

    2. Ensure activities model your course structure

    The early stages of your course represent an important opportunity to instill the right behaviors. Dr. Lang’s advice? Begin as you intend to continue by modeling the kind of learning environment you seek. For instance, if your course revolves around peer-to-peer discussions, consider including a collaborative exercise during your opening session. If active learning is important, give students a problem to solve or have them respond to a series of polling questions. Dr. Lang shares other discipline-specific examples of how to break the ice between students.

    History English Math
    Take a page out of Dr. Cate Denial’s book. The Bright Distinguished Professor of American History at Knox College, who teaches a problem-based course, randomly places students in small groups. She then provides each group with a document package about a specific event. Students then work together to develop stories about what occurred during the event. Finally, they share their stories with the wider group. The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate that in the pursuit of truth there are often numerous ways historical events can be interpreted.  Any English instructor can vouch for the importance of discussion and critical analysis. Consider holding a prior knowledge brainstorm to spark conversation among students. For example, if your course covers 21st Century British literature and culture, you might ask students to respond to the following prompts: a) what do we mean by the word ‘British?,’ b) what are your impressions of British culture and c) are you familiar with any British writers? This is a great way to surface prior knowledge, clarify common misconceptions, and get students thinking about the journey ahead.  You might also use your opening class to get students reflecting on their past experiences in your subject. Dr. Robert Talbert, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University, uses open-ended questions to encourage students to reflect on their learning. He shares the following prompts: a) what is something that you are good at doing? And b) how did you get good at the thing you are good at doing? Math is a challenging subject. This exercise gets students thinking about their approach to learning while sending a subtle message that you are invested in their success. 

    3. Pose ‘big’ questions to students (and yourself)

    Framing your course as a BIG question to explore over the term is a powerful way to pique curiosity, build excitement, and communicate the value of what students will learn. Starting your course with a BIG question is also a great opportunity to engage students right away in a meaningful discussion. Here’s an example from a course on science fiction:

    “Can you be confident that the person sitting next to you on the bus is really a human rather than some remarkable replica conjured up by a mad scientist or, perhaps, an alien from another planet? What evidence is needed to conclude that the person casually looking at her mobile device is human? How have we constructed the conceptual boundary between what we qualify as human and what we categorize as robotic, animal, android, or alien? What, in the end, makes the human “human”?”

    If you’re struggling to craft a big question for your course, Dr. Lang suggests thinking through the following prompts:

    • What deep questions drove the development of my discipline?
    • What questions drove the creation of my course?
    • What intriguing questions have arisen over time?
    • What questions remain unanswered in my field?

    To drive a first day discussion around your big question, you might ask your students to pair up and answer the following: What do you know about this subject? How might this relate to other things you’ve studied? How would you answer this question? What other questions does this bring to mind?  Once students have had an opportunity to discuss, regroup as a class and ask a handful of pairs to share their insights.

    4. Try out the Annotated Syllabus method

    Your course syllabus serves as the roadmap for the term. While important to review, Dr. Lang advises it shouldn’t be your first priority and counsels against simply reciting each section. Instead, he suggests using the Annotated Syllabus methodology. Conceptualized by Dr. Remi Kalir, Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Colorado Denver, the Annotated Syllabus is a tool to generate a broader conversation about your course.

    Prior to the next class, ask students to work through the following prompts: What do students feel needs further clarification? What are their sentiments around your course policies? What are their opinions about readings and assignments? What advice do you have in order to be successful in the course? The goal is to strive for commentary that is “inquisitive and constructive.” Above all, an Annotated Syllabus invites feedback that may otherwise go unheard. Students are made active participants from the get-go and are more accountable for reading the document before coming to class.

    Source link

  • HR and the Courts — July 2024 – CUPA-HR

    HR and the Courts — July 2024 – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | July 10, 2024

    Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira.

    University of California and UAW Agree to End Grad Student Strike

    The rolling strike of University of California graduate students at several campuses, protesting the university’s handling of Israel-Hamas war protests is formally over as a result of the university and union agreement to extend the injunction granted by a California state court at the university’s request. The university successfully argued that the rolling strike violated the collective bargaining agreement’s no-strike provision. The UAW represents 38,000 grad students at several University of California campuses.

    UC student workers walked off their jobs at six campuses in May and continued a rolling strike until the court enjoined the strike activity. The university breach-of-contract litigation continues, as there remain issues to be decided by the court as to the breadth of the no-strike provisions and the university’s claim for damages resulting from the breach of the no-strike provisions.

    University Prevails in Title IX Lawsuit Alleging Student Sex Harassment at a Private Party Off Campus

    A federal judge recent ruled that a plaintiff student failed to provide evidence that the university had substantial control over the context in which the assault or sex harassment occurred to make the university liable under Title IX. The judge concluded that even though the university had control over the alleged harasser because of an alleged student code violation, this was not enough to substantiate jurisdiction under Title IX (Roe V. Marshall University Board of Governors (2024 BL 215044, S.D. W. Va. No. 3:22-cv-00532, 6/24/24)).

    When the harassment occurs off campus, the judge ruled that the court must find some nexus between the “out of school conduct and the school.” The court concluded that the incident in question took place at a private party at a private residence and the party was not sanctioned, hosted or sponsored by the university or an entity affiliated with the university. Moreover, permission for the party was not sought from the university, and the university was unaware of the party until it was over.

    The university’s Title IX office determined, four days after the incident, that the matter should be handled by the university’s Office of Student Conduct, which the judge concluded was consistent with Title IX regulations at the time. The student conduct office immediately issued an no-contact order between the student and the alleged harasser and conducted a six-week investigation.

    The male student (alleged harasser) was ultimately placed on probation and required to participate in an alcohol education program, do 20 hours of community service, and accept responsibility for violation of the student code. The plaintiff (alleged victim) was also put on probation and required to participate in an alcohol education program and complete 10 hours of community service, after admitting to underage drinking. In dismissing the case against the university, the judge also concluded that the male student (alleged harasser) also faced possible independent criminal penalties.

    Two Conservative Groups Are Bringing Court Challenges to Large Employers’ Workplace DEI Programs

    America First Legal, led by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, has filed at least 15 lawsuits alleging that employer DEI programs are illegal under Title VII and has sent more than 30 letters asking the EEOC to probe employer DEI programs at large employers, including Morgan Stanley and IBM Corp. Academic institutions could be their next target.

    The second organization, American Alliance for Equal Rights, led by conservative activist Edward Blum, has claimed that these DEI programs violate Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which affirms that all citizens are equally protected by the law. The organization has used the 1866 statute in challenging DEI programs at law firms, including Winston and Strawn, Morrison Foerster, and Perkins Coe. The 1866 statute is broader than Title VII. Plaintiffs suing under the 1866 statute avoid the Title VII damage cap and the requirement that a charge be filed with the EEOC before filing suit.

    Transgender Woman Reaches Settlement of Claim That She Was Wrongly Denied Medical Coverage

    A transgender woman plaintiff sued her employer’s group insurance plan, alleging that she was wrongly denied medical coverage for facial hair removal, which she claimed is an extremely important part of gender-affirming care. The plaintiff alleged that the care is deemed medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The lawsuit claimed that the denial, based on the conclusion that the surgery was cosmetic and unnecessary, was inconsistent with the evidence presented that the treatment was medically necessary (Cox V. WSP USA Inc. Group Insurance Plan (N.D. Cal. No. 3-24-cv-01312, 6/6/24)).

    The plaintiff sought $5,000 in out-of-pocket expenses plus $20,000 for future services. The case was dismissed after the parties stipulated to the judge that they had reached an undisclosed settlement.

    Supreme Court Raises the Bar for the NLRB to Obtain an Adverse Injunction Against an Employer for Unfair Labor Practices

    The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the federal courts should give no more weight to an NLRB request for injunctive relief against employers allegedly violating the NLRA unfair labor practice provisions than it would give other litigants in injunction cases (Starbucks Corp, V. McKinney (U.S. No. 23-367, 6/13/24)). The Supreme Court essentially held that a defending employer is entitled to discovery over the NLRB’s alleged evidence before the court can issue an injunction. In the past, the NLRB has been able to maintain secrecy over this information when seeking extraordinary relief (e.g. an injunction requiring reinstatement of employees allegedly terminated for supporting a union).

    Supreme Court to Determine Employer Burden of Proof to Obtain an Exemption From FLSA Minimum Wage and Overtime Provisions

    The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to resolve the split in appellate courts on the precise evidentiary burden applicable to employers attempting to justify an exemption to the application of the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime provisions. Right now the circuits are split over whether an employer must prove an exemption by “clear and convincing evidence” rather than the lesser standard of “preponderance of the evidence.” The Supreme Court will resolve this split and decide which standard is applicable to employers going forward (E.M.D. Sales Inc. V. Carrera (U.S. No. 23-217, petition granted 6/17/24)).

    The issue involves whether the defendant firm’s sales personnel fall inside the “outside sales exemption.”  The company lost the case at trial, where the federal court held that it did not meet the “clear and convincing” standard, while numerous other appellate courts have applied the less stringent “preponderance of the evidence” standard.



    Source link

  • Changes in AP Scores, 2022 to 2024

    Changes in AP Scores, 2022 to 2024

    Used to be, with a little work, you could download very detailed data on AP results from the College Board website: For every state, and for every course, you could see performance by ethnicity.  And, if you wanted to dig really deep, you could break out details by private and public schools, and by grade level.  I used to publish the data every couple of years.

    Those days are gone.  The transparency The College Board touts as a value seems to have its limits, and I understand this to some extent: Racists loved to twist the data using single-factor analysis, and that’s not good for a company who is trying to make business inroads with under-represented communities as they cloak their pursuit of revenue as an altruistic push toward access.

    They still publish data, but as I wrote about in my last post, it’s far less detailed; what’s more, what is easily accessible is fairly sterile, and what’s more detailed seems to be structured in a way that suggests the company doesn’t want you digging down into it.

    But based on a series of tweets by Marco Learning, based on research by its founder John Moscatiello, I set about scraping the data off the website, as on this page for 2024, this page for 2023, and this page for 2022. After first making a mistake because of the way the data are formatted and laid out, I’ve done manual checks and double-checks on this, especially on the exams where the results look way out of whack with what you would expect.

    Marco Learning’s take was that this was intentional on the part of the College Board, and that it would continue on other exams in the future.

    They also pointed out that this would save students a lot of money in college tuition, and of course, that’s true; if the tests were correctly designed, and students did better, that would be good news.  But the question is really: Should they be getting credit for these results?  Do the changes in performance mean that students are more qualified, or that the tests are easier?  And in some subjects, does giving credit for some courses actually set students up for failure in subsequent classes?

    This is problematic because College Board has spent a lot of money lobbying state legislatures to pass laws requiring public universities grant credit for AP exams (usually a 3 or above).  The assumption on college campuses is that–despite some mistrust of the College Board and their methods–they have good psychometricians who ensure test design meets rigorous standards that ensure a grade of 4, for instance, means the same thing today as it did five years ago.

    But the incentive to enforce that rigor is gone, since states have effectively endorsed the outcomes of these exams as valid and worthy.  College Board can now shift to growing market penetration, as they do when they encourage school districts to push AP, and encourage even students who might not be prepared to take AP classes.

    And, of course, as always seems to be the case, there is some measure of hypocrisy in the current statements of College Board compared to things they’ve said in the past. Remember the book “Measuring Success” which was written in large part by College Board staff members and fans, and railed against grade inflation, using data that suggested otherwise? (College Board disavows any formal connection to the book, but their Communications Staff Members were thanked in the foreword.)

    Paul Tough, in his book “The Years that Matter Most” pointed out that College Board’s own conclusions contradict the evidence they published:

    The data are below, in three views: And before I allow you to leap to conclusions, there are a lot of things that might explain why scores in some exams are swinging so wildly in a year, but College Board’s refusal to publish this data in an easily, machine-readable format makes that insight really hard to get at (and they won’t do it themselves, as they never respond publicly to criticism like this.)

    At a bare minimum, when College Board exam results show wild swings like this (especially if they are intentional) I think they owe it to actively notify every university that accepts scores, and every state legislature they’ve lobbied to approve the tests, of the changes.

    View one (using the tabs across the top) shows thermometer charts: Choose any class using the drop down box.  You’ll find big changes in some of the classes, and some that seem perfectly tuned over time.

    View two shows the same data in a format some might find easier.

    View three shows all exams that have three years of data (thus, excluding African-American Studies and Pre-Calc) for a wider view of the program.

    Source link