The Future of Education

Completion of a university degree in the United States today is increasingly seen as completion of the game level of education that a high school diploma was just a few decades ago. As a result, a greater percent of students are entering universities less prepared for the rigor of post-secondary academic work. In response, universities are implementing a multitude of strategies to address this issue. One university in the state of Georgia in the United States developed an Academic Support Center offering a combination of strategies to support the students enrolled at the institution. Included in these are peer tutoring, peer supplemental instruction, 24/7 online tutoring, success workshops and advising services. Prior to the development of the center, tutoring and academic support at the university were largely nonexistent and the end of course grades and retention rate of the students suffered as a result. As of spring 2019, the university relocated the Center on the main floor of the library, in the center of campus. This was completed after a significant renovation and the creation of a Learning Commons for students, faculty and staff to use collaboratively. The Learning Commons was developed as a result of surveys of students’ needs and desires to have a more central space to study and conduct research. The Academic Support Center is the Learning Commons first tenant and the university plans to expand the Commons and include additional departments as tenants.  We will discuss the We will discuss the process by which the Learning Commons idea was developed funded and constructed on at this university and the future plans for developing this collaborative space.

Keywords: Academic Support Center,Learning Commons, Collaborative Learning;

References:
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