A few weeks ago, I was driving back from Indiana having spent the holidays with my family. It is a 12 ½-hour drive (if one does it straight), and I opted to take two days, having a desire to indulge my love of history by visiting the site of Bethlehem Steel, now known as SteelStacks. I knew the basic story: giant of American industry, fuel that won both World Wars, enabler of the skyscraper and Golden Gate Bridge, fails to innovate against international competition, and ultimately fails. Ironically, as I am driving east, I find myself listening to an episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain in which Shankar Vedantam interviews psychologist Eric Johnson about the psychological construct, choice architecture. Coined by Thaler and Sunstein in their 2008 multimillion selling book, Nudge (Thaler won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for his work in behavioral economics), their research suggests that humans quickly become overloaded when confronted with too many choices, and commonly pick wrong, or make no pick, either of which can have negative consequences.
Whereas the Bethlehem Steel story as told by the plaques along the half-mile SteelStacks walkway gives one hints of linkages to choice architecture, my wheelhouse of application is with college students. In 2014, in my position as senior strategy officer for our student success initiatives at Indiana State University, I was the principal investigator for a $1.63 million US Department of Education First-in-the-World grant exploring social-psychological interventions for stimulating growth mindset in students, particularly in difficult courses. Here are some of the things we learned, and as informed by related research:
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- When students struggle to find purpose, they are at much higher risk of making the wrong choice—not going to class or seeking help.
- Students who start as an undeclared major can become overwhelmed when confronted with a myriad of major choices, and may make an impulsive one, or not make a choice and drop out, both with consequential implications.
- For students who do struggle, either academically or financially, what we signal in words, or in writing, that normalizes it (i.e., they are not alone) is crucial to their hearing what can aid its resolution, versus making the choice to conclude they aren’t college material and drop out. Probation letters, satisfactory academic progress (SAP) letters, and financial aid letters are especially powerful ones that can signal the right, or wrong, messages about college belongingness.
- Instructors who reinforce what a student is doing right, versus just what they are doing wrong, and who consider ways that effort can be rewarded, not simply achievement, are more likely to lead a student to seek out, and hear, advice on improving performance.
This spring will be an especially important one as we work together to chart a strategic course for WP’s future, and engage what makes the educational experience here distinctive from others in our state. Let’s consider how choice architecture can inform what we vision.
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Adult Learners. As we continue our work to increase enrollments of adult learners, we have welcomed almost 200 new students into our undergraduate WP Online programs since launching these options in November 2021. The Center for Degree Completion & Adult Learning (DCAL) and the WP Online Student Success Services team work with these learners to support their return to school, to assess potential academic credit for the professional training or experience they bring, and to create a virtual community for them to connect with each other and with campus resources. Associate Provost Kara Rabbitt, Associate Dean Ian Marshall, and DCAL Director Johanna Prado are launching a faculty and staff awareness effort through workshops, faculty forums, and other presentations, as well as a Blackboard resource site for faculty on adult learners. Look for upcoming events, including a planned visit later this semester of faculty, leadership, and students from College Unbound, a unique college in Rhode Island that is entirely dedicated to serving the adult learner population.
Charting the Academic Affairs Future. Faculty and staff are invited to a Zoom session (February 11, 12:00-12:45 p.m.) in which Provost Powers will elaborate on the themes raised by President Helldobler in his State of the University Address on February 3 and connect them to opportunities for Academic Affairs. The college deans will also speak to opportunities within and across the colleges.
What Works Conference. The WP What Works Conference, held on December 13, was organized by our faculty and staff for our faculty and staff. With strong attendance of 195, the day was full of student, faculty, and staff presentations on evidence-based practices, emphasizing opening spaces for students to tell their stories, understanding students’ background as an asset, student well-being, and a broad range of topics regarding student engagement, retention, and academic success.
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One million. The estimated fewer students who have enrolled in higher education since the start of the pandemic. Source: National Student Clearinghouse
No. 7. The ranking for New Jersey with regard to the total aid awarded in 2019-20 in the U.S., the most recent data available (approximately $650 million). Source: State Financial Aid Climbs
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A choice architect has the responsibility for organizing the context in which people make decisions.
— Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
The experience of pandemic teaching is a timely opportunity to push all of us to more effectively orient ourselves to what we should have been doing all along (e.g., more active learning, experiential learning, greater use of backward design, flipped classrooms, greater intentionality, etc.).
Research suggests that inconsistent gifts and praise can have a greater effect on motivation. While we all like to live in a predictable world, we often respond more strongly to unpredictable rewards.
— Aylet Fishback, author of Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, as quoted in Uncertain Incentives
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The Provost’s Office is Meg, Lissette, Claudia T., Claudia C., Jonathan, Kara, Sandy, and Josh. You can reach us at 973.720.2122 • provost@wpunj.edu
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