News: Making Student Engagement Official – Inside Higher Ed via kwout
Shari Payne became the first dean of engaged learning at the 5,000-student Robert Morris University, located in Pittsburgh. This appointment is a positive step in the right direction and a recognition that learning is enriched when it is applied to real world and/or genuine settings. Engagement at Robert Morris includes formal involvement in: arts, culture and creativity; “transcultural/global” experiences, which include studying abroad; research; community service; leadership; professional experience; and independent study projects.
While it is wonderful to see academia finally recognizing that we need to move beyond static and passive traditional lectures and standardize tests toward active and dynamic learning, it is also sobering to realize that we have let learning slide so far that we have to take these steps.
