Why focus on learning? Isn’t teaching what academic institutions are all about?
Traditionally, universities and colleges have measured institutional effectiveness by measuring teaching, not learning. Teaching is the activity most associated with educational institutions, but learning is the desired outcome. An outcomes orientation focuses attention on what students ought to have learned, thus rendering the enterprise of teaching more purposive, accountable and mission-centered. A teaching-centric perspective to academic administration emphasizes activity and is largely incidental to learning outcomes. In the language of systems thinking, the emphasis must shift from inputs (SAT scores) and transformation (contact-hours, courses, credits) to output (knowledge, skills, competencies). Increasingly, thanks to the internet, students are encouraged to learn on their own, drawing from a variety of sources (with guidance from the professor), much like they do in their daily lives.
