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ERIC Number: EJ1094930
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-1822
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Leap Challenge: Transforming for Students, Essential for Liberal Education
Schneider, Carol Geary
Liberal Education, v101 n1-2 Win-Spr 2015
At the centennial annual meeting of the "Association of American Colleges & Universities" (AAC&U) in January 2015, there was an announcement to participants of the release of the "LEAP Challenge." The key concept at the center of the LEAP Challenge is that all college students need to prepare to contribute in a world marked by open or unscripted problems--problems where the right answer is far from known and where solutions are necessarily created under conditions of uncertainty. How would students be prepared to reach this challenge? The best way was to actively involve them in working on problem-centered inquiry from the time they enter college until they successfully complete their degrees (two-year and four-year degrees alike). The "challenge" was to engage students in complex problems and questions and to ensure that they develop facility in evidence-based inquiry, analysis, and decision making. The focal point of the LEAP Challenge preparation is for each student to complete a "Signature Work," that is a significant project--extending across an entire semester or more--that represents the student's own best work on a question or problem that matters to the student and to society. Signature Work could take many different forms, depending on the individual student's goals, interests, and choice of concentration. However, whatever the form and whatever the subject matter, students' Signature Work should always include significant writing and significant reflection on their own journeys of exploration and discovery. It should always be done with faculty mentors so that students can benefit directly from faculty members' wealth of experience in scholarly inquiry and exploration.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Survey of Student Engagement
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A