The U.S. higher education system faces three major crises. First, college students and their parents are questioning the value of a college degree, and enrollment is declining. Second, the coronavirus pandemic has increased the popularity of online and distance learning. Third, the rise of generative AI and other technologies has made theoretical knowledge much more accessible to everyone. These are placing unprecedented competitive pressures on the traditional higher education/university system, as it is no longer the dominant vehicle for transmitting highly specialized knowledge.
David E. Goldberg, a pioneering AI scientist and advocate for educational change, says the blueprint or operating system for modern universities is more than 900 years old and needs to be updated. I am. Its origins date back to the founding of the University of Bologna in Italy in 1088, when scholars were rediscovering knowledge of the Roman Empire that had been lost during the Dark Ages. Universities were founded as professional communities where knowledge and theory were central, with application and practice remaining mostly as exercises for students or learners. This 'technical rationality' model was criticized by Donald Schon in his 1983, calling for a shift towards practice-oriented 'reflection in action'.
In 2023, Mr. Goldberg published his book. A Field Manual for a Whole New Education: Rebooting Higher Education for Connection and Insight in a Digital WorldThis is what he has collected over the decades as an educator and co-founder/co-director of the Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education (iFoundry), a bottom-up incubator for educational change based at the University of Illinois at Urbana. This provides an overview of the solution. Champaign.
To fix the higher education system, Goldberg outlined five key changes that must occur to bring about substantive change.
shane's shift
Baseball legend Yogi Berra is often quoted as saying: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.” Schön's shift away from technical rationality, or the practice of simply applying theory to practice, to It's a transition to practice, a complex conversation skill also known as practical conversation that allows you to come up with practices. their customers. Conversation in practice consists of noticing, listening and questioning skills (NLQ)
brain shift on stick
Goldberg argues that human practitioners are humans with big brains, as well as emotions and bodies. This shift recognizes the importance of emotion and embodiment for good practice, especially the former, since emotions and “body knowledge” are two things humans have but AIs do not. It means that it is as important as theoretical knowledge.
Wittgenstein's shift
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein spent most of his career refuting his doctoral thesis that language is merely descriptive. Wittgenstein's subsequent argument is that language itself is a creative process and that language has the effect of changing the world in which we live. Goldberg believes that language is a fundamentally important and part of creative practice, and uses speech act theory as a starting point for his discipline. Respect and a sophisticated perspective on real language.
little bet shift
Traditional higher education systems emphasize the role of causal certainty and planning in directing practical events in the world. But Goldberg says the system needs to be able to accept lack of knowledge, uncertainty, and experimentation as normal. He uses Sarasvathy's theory of effectiveness to create a systematic approach to entrepreneurial thinking and behavior. These small experiments and small bets help learners gain a clearer understanding in uncertain situations with limited knowledge.
co-inverse shift
Solving problems once and for all is one of the main goals of traditional education. However, this is not possible for many complex problems. Goldberg recognizes this complexity through his theory of co-contradiction or polarity, which are opposites that need each other. There are no clear answers about which is better: teamwork or individual work, research or teaching, direction or freedom. Because both are necessary. Awareness of co-contradiction allows people to understand diverse and complex ways of solving problems.
Goldberg argues that all five shifts are contradictory in themselves, meaning that the skills emphasized by the traditional higher education system can and should be integrated with shift skills. It emphasizes that it means something, and as a result improves your skills in all kinds of practices. These changes apply to learning, creating more well-rounded students who become experts in application and practice, rather than focusing solely on theory, and lacking the true understanding and intentionality that humans possess. It creates a huge advantage over AI.
“The triple crisis affecting higher education is that the system is failing the students it educates, the parents and governments who pay the tuition, the employers who hire the graduates, and the societies that use the services provided by employers. “We have shown that we are no longer able to adequately serve them,” Goldberg said. “The rise of AI has raised concerns that humans will be replaced, as they can collect and assemble far more knowledge into text than humans.” Five shifts are needed to reframe and develop skills in students that emphasize what humans can do and what AI cannot do, so they can remain competitive in the future.”
