As a new year takes shape, higher education leaders should make sure they’re tracking the latest trends and developments to help ensure student success. Here are just a few to note.
Focus on higher order skills
In 2021, the spotlight was on the shift towards test-optional admissions, return to in-person or hybrid learning and the continued social and emotional wellness challenges students face. While these topics will likely remain part of broader discussions into the new year, higher education’s alignment to employability will also be a key trend in 2022.
In the coming year, I believe there will be an increased focus on developing the higher order skills that employers consider essential for post-graduation success: critical thinking, problem solving, and effective written communication. Although acquiring content knowledge remains fundamental, it will be viewed as insufficient on its own. Today’s students need to acquire skills beyond content knowledge to succeed both academically and professionally, including the ability to analyze and evaluate information, develop solutions, and articulate and effectively communicate their ideas.
Doris Zahner, Ph.D. is the chief academic officer at Council for Aid to Education, Inc. (CAE), a nonprofit developer of performance-based and custom assessments that authentically measure students’ essential college and career readiness skills. She oversees all research studies pertaining to CAE’s performance-based assessments and provides scientific oversight of scoring, equating, and reporting. Dr. Zahner holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and an MS in applied statistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. For more information, visit www.cae.org.
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