| I have no idea how many people are now on this list; perhaps this email goes out to about 8 people. Who knows. In any case, as SFU continues on that seemingly inevitable path toward the world of "learning outcomes" and the "audit culture" that also seemingly inevitably accompanies it, it might be good to at least present some criticisms of learning outcomes. There's an interesting piece in the recent Times Higher Education that presents an alternate vision to that presented by the SFU administration. I agree with much of what it says and especially agree with its closing lines: "If individual academics want to use learning outcomes, of course, that is their prerogative. But what we need is a genuinely pluralist academic culture where courses are taught in a manner that engages with issues that are integral to their discipline. Academics are grown-up people who do not need the language police to instruct them about what kind of verbs to use. And students should be treated as grown-ups who can be allowed to embark on a journey of discovery instead of directed to a predetermined destination." I remind everyone that there is still time to provide feedback on the recent report on learning outcomes. The link to provide feedback to the VPA: http://www.sfu.ca/vpacademic/committees_taskforces/LOAWG/reportloa.html best, Chris Pavsek contemporary arts |