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Using PBL to teach the university mission.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Faculty at institutions of higher education are charged with modeling, embedding, and advancing the mission of their institution both in and outside of the college classroom. A course embedded assessment with the objective of teaching the university mission to students in a professional graduate program is described. Results suggest that problem-based learning has the potential to be a pedagogy of formation and that the university mission can be learned and articulated by students.

Introduction

A university's mission statement is a way to start the intellectual conversation about the purpose of the university and the promise the university is making to students and other stakeholders. Although made up of only a handful of sentences, a mission statement carries immense weight and responsibility (Hara, 2005). A sweep through the mission statements of major American universities reveals that institutions are places of pride, promote student success and lifelong learning, foster development of students with disciplined habits of mind, and focus on excellence. University mission statements are filled with potent words, and yet the extent to which students at any given university are capable of articulating the mission of their institution remains unknown. Is a university mission statement a string of empty words, or can it be articulated or operationalized, especially by students, and embodied in acts that really do serve society, the institution, and the students themselves?

Contemporary university landscapes around the globe are under increasing pressure to shift focus (Hoyle, 2005; Spooner & Shaw, 2005; Tynjala, Vlaimaa, & Sarja, 2003). Tynjala, Vlaimaa, and Sarja (2003) state that "The role and organization of higher education are being questioned by new student demands and a more competitive environment for universities" (p.149). Hoyle (2005) laments the pressure on community college presidents to call themselves CEOs. Spooner and Shaw describe the commercialization of college campuses as universities accept product exclusivity contracts, corporate sponsorships, and research agenda's that are corporate driven (2005). The reality is that institutions of higher learning are in the business of preparing students to become professionals. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in collaboration with the Association of American Colleges and Universities is involved in a longterm investigation of how professionals are educated in the United States (Shulman, 2005).

In order to meet the challenges of the marketplace, a professional must learn how to practice with good judgment based on a commitment to personal and social responsibility. Yet, how does professional education rise to this challenge of character building? How do education programs teach the skills and values that lead students to reason through uncertainty and act with integrity? There may he no better time than this...

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