This year, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has hosted exciting learning opportunities for higher education professionals. Two notable events were the Forum on Digital Innovation and the AAC&U Annual Meeting. Members of our UArizona GE team attended with the aim of discovering best practices in higher education that could enhance our GE curriculum.
In the following sections, explore key insights and takeaways from these impactful events as shared by our attendees.
Forum On Digital Innovation 2024
AAC&U hosted a Forum on Digital Innovation, which centered around the use of ePortfolios and open learning practices. According to their website, the Forum on Digital Innovation explores “the full range of evidence-based approaches, innovative strategies, and emerging domains that support and facilitate the goals of learning, equity, affordability, and access in higher education.”
Best ePortfolio Practices
Audrey Tocco, Coordinator of High Impact Practices and Student Experience
I attended most of the ePortfolio sessions with the hope of hearing how institutions are using ePortfolios to promote learning. Throughout the conference, I realized that we, in GE, are implementing many of the innovative ePortfolio practices that the presenters shared. Some practices they focused on were emphasizing reflection, facilitating the integration of learning experiences, and empowering student voice and identity through ePortfolios.
The conference helped me realize that what we are doing to promote learning in GE is nicely aligned with current best practices in ePortfolio pedagogy!
AAC&U Annual Meeting 2024
The AAC&U Annual Meeting, held this year in Washington D.C., serves as a community-building conference uniting higher education professionals from diverse institutional backgrounds. According to its website, “At the AAC&U Annual Meeting, administrators, faculty, staff, and students from colleges and universities of every type and size come together with colleagues, thought leaders, and other experts to focus on the most pressing issues and challenges facing higher education.”
Education & Democracy
Elaine Marchello, Director of Assessment
The Office of General Education & UCATT
I attended the AAC&U Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. The people who attended this conference were a very diverse group from all types of institutions and areas within higher education. This year, democracy and diversity were important topics, with a focus on DEI issues in higher education and the potential challenges that may arise during the impending presidential election. I attended sessions that discussed the state of democracy in higher education and the need to gather diverse people to work and cooperate together on necessary changes within higher education.
I attended sessions on: Assessment models for general education programs; Democracy in Question; The Citizens Campaign; Plenary: Work of Pluralism; Exemplars in Assessment: Four areas of focus: DEI; Distance education; Career readiness; General education.
A key takeaway from the conference is that General Education programs are having to step up with the training and instruction if democracy is to be perpetuated. Most students do not get exposure to the necessary skills to participate in a democratic society. Courses within a general education program can help with that training but only with instructors keeping an open mind. Many of the themes of this conference align with the civics requirement that the Arizona Board of Regents have implemented.
