A Modern University Idea I Love
Minerva Schools at KGI is a bold new concept. The idea of presenting lectures over the Internet is not new, but they way they have designed theirs means students are more involved than if they were in a classroom or lecture hall.
“We know there are tons of biases that affect how professors call on students,” says Kosslyn. “Women students don’t get called on as much as male students.” In each class, students’ faces are displayed as thumbnails across the top of the screen. For them, it’s always in alphabetical order, but “for faculty, we vary the order depending on who needs to be called on based on data we’ve collected before and how much they’ve been talking in class. It’s a decision support tool that helps them overcome the traditional biases in class.”
If students are answering a question, professors can send them silent notes to warn them that they’re veering off course. Passing notes under the table, so to speak, works both ways; students can send professors messages if they don’t feel comfortable asking a question out loud.
Also unusual is that despite not having classrooms, the students are not living at home:
Minerva students spend their first year living together in San Francisco, their second year in Buenos Aires and Berlin, their third in Hong Kong and Mumbai, their fourth in London and New York.
Full story at Newsweek.