Pixel International Conferences

This paper presents a design that harnesses the power of well-organized knowledge and of IT to transform the learning environment in higher education and enable new ways of learning for a changing population of students preparing for a changing world of work. Students would be empowered to pursue the learning goals and objectives they wish to achieve, using learning opportunities matched to their knowledge, cognitive abilities, learning style, motivation, physical abilities, and social skills. We envision a system with four components: (1) A well-structured interlinked multi-perspective, multi-source classification of concepts and skills used to specify learning goals and objectives (what students should learn) and learning outcomes (what students did learn). This classification would be developed and maintained collaboratively from many sources (educational standards, faculty, students, etc.). (2) A large database of learning opportunities / learning units, from courses to small modules, including individual lectures, assignments, and exams. This database would support individualized programs of study leading to desired credentials or satisfying a desire for knowledge. Learning units would use many innovative ways of presentation and interaction. The same content would be available in many learning units for different kinds of students. Learning units would be indexed by learning objectives, prerequisites, and student characteristics to enable adaptive selection They would be interlinked in a knowledge graph to support exploration. (3) Detailed tracking of learning outcomes for assessment. A continuously updated mastery transcript lets each student track his or her progress towards a degree, a microcredential, or preparation for a certification exam. Mastery scores come from very detailed tracking of learning outcomes; for example, the score for an exam answer and the grade for an assignment with the same learning objective combine into one mastery score. Outcome assessments allow for alerts to advisers. They provide data on how well a learning unit supports achieving a learning objective by different kinds of students. (4) An IT infrastructure that supports collaborative work on the objectives classification; authoring learning units indexed to the classification; selection of and interaction with learning units; tracking for assessment; and accessing knowledge anywhere, commenting, and collaborating in a learning community.

Keywords: Transforming Higher Education, Goal-Directed Learning and Assessment, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Mastery Transcripts, Learning Units Adapted to Learner Characteristics, Powerful Knowledge, IT Infrastructure;