by:
  Kris Bulcroft,
  Carmen Werder, and
  Glenn Gilliam

  Lessons Learned from the Students

In conclusion, the insights and perceptions of students provided in Part II of the Carnegie Campus Conversation Project and in the subsequent Teaching and Learning Academy agenda have been invaluable in the organizational change process at Western Washington University.

The data collected at the rally are currently being analyzed and will be used to help forge a new general education curriculum within two to three years. A task force on general education reform consisting of faculty, students, student affairs professionals, and community stakeholders will study the survey results as the new curricular architecture is developed. Thus, the student voice will have a powerful impact on designing learning opportunities that lead to the outcomes identified by the students themselves.

Some of the most critical lessons learned from the students include an understanding that any curricular reforms that attempt to enhance learning in the majors or within general education must provide opportunities for reflection about learning itself.

Second, students seek learning environments that foster connections across complex ideas and build upon communities of learners. Third, students become more engaged in their own learning when they understand the institutional mission and organizational structure. Fourth, the scholarship of teaching requires that the outcomes for learning be articulated and measured, and these outcomes are greatly enhanced when the learners themselves are involved in the process. And lastly, all students are potential leaders for change and when given the opportunity to work for institutional goals that seek to optimize learning, they are an engaged and influential part of the change process.

• Introduction
• Campus Conversation at Western Washington University (Parts I & II)
• Where are the Students?
• Leadership Inside Out
• The AAHE Summer Academy
• A Web of Connections
• The Teaching and Learning Academy
• A New Course on Learning
• Diffuse Leadership
• A Public Rally for Learning
• Lessons Learned from the Students
• References
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