Higher Education Quality Council of OntarioIn Ontario, higher education enrolment forecasting is important business. This is not surprising. Enrolment growth drives money to institutions, generates investment by government and delivers ever higher participation and attainment rates for Ontarians. What will postsecondary enrolment in Ontario be in 10 years and how should we plan for it? To find out, we look […]
There is much discussion regarding what skills universities should teach their graduates and what skills employers believe recent graduates should possess, but what do students think they should get out of university? The Canadian University Survey Consortium surveyed over 18,000 graduating students from 36 universities across Canada and asked them this question. From a […]
As Yogi Berra said, “Predictions are hard, especially when they are about the future.” But if there is any issue that should dominate the future of higher education, it’s quality – quality of the student experience, quality of our graduates, quality of our postsecondary institutions and quality of our higher education systems. Ultimately, quality is […]
In 2005, the federal government introduced the Canada Learning Bond (CLB) to help lower-income families get a head start on saving money for their child’s postsecondary education. The CLB includes an initial payment of $500, followed by up to 15 annual payments of $100 (maximum payment of $2,000). Eligible families must open a Registered Education […]
Some high school math courses are very meaningful to specific career paths. Engineers need calculus, economists need analytical geometry and I am not sure who needs discrete geometry. But let’s consider the vast majority of career pathways. What math is most important to most careers? And are we ensuring that our students are achieving the […]
As a contract faculty member at an Ontario college, summers off is a luxury I can’t afford. But I’m eagerly awaiting my next spring/summer teaching contract, which trumps any vacation I might have planned (beyond the occasional weekend getaway). Why? In part because spring/summer teaching allows me to both pay my bills and hone my […]
Cue the tumble weeds, cowboys and whiskey-slinging saloons, and imagine a land that is both wild and full of potential. It’s the wild west of learning outcomes and like gold they are a hot commodity in an increasingly data-driven postsecondary sector. But there is still a great deal of unexplored territory – particularly in assessment. […]
From essays to learning portfolios, there’s a growing number of ways to assess learning outcomes. In the third HEQCO webinar on learning outcomes assessment in higher education, Lori Goff (manager of program enhancement at McMaster University) asked the audience, “Which types of assessments do you primarily use in your course?” and listed a variety of […]
Money talks. Ontario universities are dependent on revenue sources to deliver on their teaching and research missions. Government is a major revenue source, and has an obligation to drive public policy outcomes and exercise appropriate stewardship through its investment. And so the funding formula matters, for it is the mechanism through which an alignment of […]