Phys.org May 2, 2023
The scientific study of higher education has not yet matured to adequately model the complexity of the task of developing, and producing the next generation of scientists, artists, political leaders, and informed citizens. How universities structure their curriculums, and how students make progress through them, differ across fields of study, educational institutions, and nation-states. To this day, a “pipeline” metaphor shapes analyses and discourse of academic progress, especially in STEM, even though it is an inaccurate representation. A team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Texas A&M University, UC Merced, Western Governors University, UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Stanford University) call for replacing it with a “pathways” metaphor that can describe a wider variety of institutional structures while also accounting for student agency in academic choices. A pathways model, combined with advances in data and analytics, can advance efforts to improve organizational efficiency, student persistence, and time to graduation, and help inform students considering fields of study before committing… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE