EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING GETS STAMP OF APPROVAL FROM THE BOYER COMMISSION Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 27, 2000 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING GETS STAMP OF APPROVAL FROM THE BOYER COMMISSION Arup Mukherjee, University of West Florida Diana Page, University of West Florida ABSTRACT The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching funded the Boyer Commission to investigate the state of undergraduate education at research universities in the United States. The main conclusion of the commission was that undergraduate students frequently got less than what they paid for in terms of education. The commission made a ten point recommendation built around experiential learning for improving the state of undergraduate education at these universities. INTRODUCTION Research Universities in the United States have done a credible and laudable job of finding and refining new knowledge. However, how has their performance been in the important area of undergraduate education? The Boyer Commission was set up to investigate this question. The commission found that these universities have done an inadequate job in delivering a quality education to undergraduates. In the language of the commission, undergraduate students are treated as second class citizens who are required to pay the full cost but are served leftovers. The commission developed a set of ten recommendations to improve the state of undergraduate education at research universities. First, we present background information about the Boyer commission. Then we present shortcomings of research universities in the area of undergraduate education. This is followed by a discussion of the ten point agenda proposed by the commission to fix the shortcomings that were identified. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the recommendations to experiential learning. THE BOYER COMMISSION A national commission on educating undergraduates at research universities was set up in 1995 to investigate the state of undergraduate education at research universities and make appropriate recommendations. The commission was funded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and chaired by its president, Dr. Earnest L. Boyer. SHORTCOMINGS The Boyer Commission report (1998) identified several shortcomings of research universities in the domain of undergraduate education. Undergraduate students are often taught by untrained teaching assistants. At other times, undergraduate students are taught by tenured faculty members who make no effort to engage the minds of the students. The undergraduates are lured into the research university with the promise of being taught by world class professors. But such professors almost never teach undergraduate classes. They graduate with a set of courses but do not have any idea about how one body of knowledge is used with another. The research universities, according to the commission, have failed to look after the interests of the undergraduate students. A TEN POINT AGENDA The Boyer commission suggests a ten point agenda aimed at correcting the shortcomings. The ten points in the agenda are discussed below. The first point in the ten point agenda is that research based learning should be the standard. The main idea here is that students should learn through involvement in research projects. 154 Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 27, 2000 The second point is that the freshman year should be inquiry based. The basic idea is that undergraduate students should be introduced to inquiry based learning in the very first year of college through their participation in small seminars taught by experienced faculty. The seminars should deal with topics that encourage students to ask questions so they will understand the dimensions of the issues at stake. The third point is that the follow up course work should build on the freshman year. In general, every course must be reexamined to ask how students can become active learners instead of being passive learners. The fourth point is that barriers to interdisciplinary education should be removed. Since reality is quite complex, students need to have mental flexibility. They need to view their studies through many lenses. Interdisciplinary courses/ majors help them develop this mental flexibility. The fifth point is that communication skills should be improved in every course. Students should be routinely required to complete written and oral assignments. The sixth point is that information technology should be used creative to deliver course content. The seventh point is that the final semester’s experience should culminate in a capstone project. In such a course the students would have the double advantage of independent inquiry and communicating results to others. The eighth point is that graduate students should be trained to become better teachers so that they may in turn provide good quality education to undergraduates. The ninth point is that faculty reward systems need to be changed to reward good teachers with permanent increases in their pay. Finally, the tenth point suggests that campus wide activities be provided so that students develop a sense of community. These include such activities as football games that students can identify with. When the student feels connected, their emotional needs are met and consequently they become better learners. DISCUSSION The Boyer commission report has far reaching implications for the pedagogy of experiential learning. The report gives the pedagogy of experiential learning a big “thumbs up” by proposing that undergraduate education at research universities be based on research based learning. The main idea is that students would be involved as junior partners in research projects and would participate in framing study questions, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting results in oral and written form to others. In other words, the main source of learning would be experiential rather than passive learning of information delivered to students in the form of lectures. Another major recommendation of the commission is to provide undergraduate students with an integrating experience in the form of a capstone project. In general, students would be expected to apply all their skills to a practical problem. CONCLUSION The main conclusion of the Boyer commission was that undergraduate students were frequently “shortchanged” in terms of education. The commission made a ten point recommendation based on the pedagogy of experiential learning for improving the state of undergraduate education at these universities. REFERENCES REINVENTING UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: A Blueprint for America’s Research Universities. 1998. The Boyer Commission Report on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University, Stony Brook, State University of New York (http://notes.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf) 155 http://notes.cc.sunysb.edu/pres/boyer.nsf Table of Contents Volume 27, 2000 Internet International: A Simulation Exercise for Understanding Technological Innovation and customer Service In a Rapidly Growing Internet Server Company Simulations and Learning: Dialog and Directions Endnote Activity: A Tool for Integration of Course Content and Communication Skill Practice Incorporating Video as a Teaching Strategy in Interpersonal Communication Vision Quest: An Alternative Approach to Industry Analysis for MBA Courses in Strategic Strategic Management: An Evaluation of the Use of Three Learning Methods Trainer, Mentor, Educator: What Role for the College Business Instructor in the Next Century? Using the Internet and Shareware to Facilitate Computer Simulation in Distance Learning Classes Visual Modeling of Business Simulations Teaching about Information with Management Games A Self-Evaluation Based on the Discussion and Decision in Experts' Business Gaming The Restaurant Game Using Journals to Enhance Computer Simulation Based Learning Exercises to Facilitate Better Student Writing in the Undergraduate Strategy Class Identifying, Resolving, and Managing Common Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace: An Experiential Approach Integrating the Digital Revolution into the Classroom The Wheel of Learning: An Integrative Business Curriculum Experiment The Changing Nature of Simulation Research: A Brief ABSEL History Perspectives on Simulation & Gaming's Review Process Experiential Learning Across Disciplines: Mixing International Business and Accounting Simulating Governmental Effects on Economic Development Internationalizing the Introduction to Business Course Using an International Text and Domestic Simulation with a Twist Using Stock Value as the Performance Measure in a Business Simulation Game Introducing Cross-Elasticities in Demand Algorithms Validating a Model of Currency Valuation An Exercise for Exploring the Relationship between Jungian Psychological Types and Organizational Politics Exercise: Preparing Financial Reports Using the Group Categorizing Technique Effect of Trust and Cultural Beliefs on Negotiation Processes: Data from an Experiential Role Play Experiential Learning Gets Stamp of Approval From the Boyer Commission Talent Search 2000 - An Experiential Activity to Help Strengthen Skills in Employee Recruitment and Selection Clemson University's Collaborative Learning Environment Initial Data on a Test Bank Assessing Total Enterprise Simulation Learning Changing the Assessment Paradigm: Using Student Portfolios To Assess Learning from Simulations How We Learn and Why We Don't: The Cognitive Profile Model: A Workshop in Teaching to Reach Your Students Knowing Thyself: A Portfolio Approach to Student Self-Assessment Collaborative Learning and Web-Based Instruction in a Cognitive Apprenticeship Model Teamwork Attributes in a Classroom Simulation Virtual Teams: Meeting the Next Challenge for Experiential Education New Age Learning: Nuance or Nonsense Developing Charisma: An Experiential Exercise in Leadership Problems and Solutions in Going Web-based with an Agribusiness Simulation Creating a Comprehensive Web-Enhanced Classroom Your Class is in Session, Now What? The Challenges of Teaching On-line An Application of Process Control Charts for Attributes as a Form of Classroom Assessment for Experiential Learning Work Goals and Life Aspirations: Do You Have What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur An Exercise to Develop Initiative: Possible Dream? The Ball Point Pen Assembly Company Management Game Review System Development Total Enterprise Simulations and Optimizing the Decision Set: Assessing Student Learning Across Decision Periods Facilitating Learning in the New Millennium with the Complete Online Decision Entry, System (CODES) The Marketing Management Experience The Right Venue for Your Simulation One More Time: Overall Dominance in Total Enterprise Simulation Performance A Profile of ABSEL Conference Attendees Learning Readiness: An Underappreciated Yet Vital Dimension in Experiential Learning Active Learning in a Professional Undergraduate Curriculum The Problem Is - They Think Differently! Cultures Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions: Putting Managers Together in a Business Simulation The Global Business Game: A Strategic Management and International Business Simulation