The Wake Forest Plan
and Its Results
• David G. Brown, VP & Dean (ICCEL)
Professor of Economics
Provost (1990-98)
• June 22, 2000
THREE BASIC THEMES
• FOCUS on key concepts!
• BE POLITICAL!
• Stress LEARNING, not technology
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3700 undergraduates
92% residential
500 each: Med, Law, MBA, PhD
$950M endowment
Winston-Salem, NC
Baptist Heritage
1300 average SAT
Click for
28th in US News & World Report Wake Forest
Top 35 Privates in Barron’s Guide Homepage
Rhodes Scholars
Soph/Senior Computer
F99: IBM 390, 128 RAM 333 Mhz,
6GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
THE
WAKE FOREST
PLAN
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Plan for 2000
Thinkpads for all
Printers for all
New Every 2 Years
Own @ Graduation
Wire Everything
Standard Software
Full Admin Systems
IGN for Faculty
Fresh/Junior Computer
IBM A20m, 8MgVideo,128RAM
500Mhz, 11GB, 3hrLithiumBattery
10-24xCD, v90modem, 15”matrix
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130,000 Ports
40+30 New People
75% Faculty Trained
85% CEI Users
98% E-Mail
+15% Tuition
~$1500/Yr/Student
4 Year Phase In
Pilot Year, Now 4 Classes
2000 Software Load
Windows 98
MS Office 2000 Pro
Acrobat Reader 4/05
Macromedia Dreamweaver
Netscape Communicator 4.72
Lotus Screencam
Waterloo Maple V 6.0
RealPlayer 7 Basic
Flash 4.0
Click here for
full list of
software load
CONCEPTS BEHIND PLAN
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Students First
2 Layers: Threshold +
Rapid Change
Communicate/Access (Not
Present/Analyze)
• Standardization
• Academic Freedom
• Nomadic Learners
CONCEPTS BEHIND PLAN
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Dominant Use After College
Empower Existing Units
Eager Faculty
Students Change Agent
Exposure, Not Mandate
Partnership
Marketable Difference
Consequences for Wake Forest
• +SAT Scores & Class Ranks
• +Retention & Grad Rates
• +Satisfaction & Learning
• +Faculty Recruitment
Personal Use of Computers
by Wake Forest Faculty
Source: 1998 HERI Survey
• 98%
• 91%
• 75%
• 41%
• 36%
• 22%
E-mail
Memos & Letters
Scholarly Research
Presentations
Data Analysis
On Line Discussion Groups
Key Elements of Approval Process
(Voted by Faculty, Students, and Trustees)
• Faculty Committee Leadership--met rigorous requirements, joint trip to
Crookston, elected policy group
• Many Implementation Centers--library, departments, deans, residence
halls, CIT, bookstore, IS
• Administrative Leadership---team
• Open Discussion & Votes
Key Elements of Approval Process
(continued)
• Regular Planning Cycle---interim report
• 37 Item Package-- salary increase goals,
liberalized leave policy, first year seminar,
scholarships, etc
• 40 New Positions---more time + more
intimacy
• Lucky Timing---sympathetic board chair,
weak computer environment, right national
press
FIRST YEAR SEMINAR
The Economists’ Way of Thinking
A Course Required of All Freshmen
COURSE OBJECTIVES
• To understand a liberal arts education
as an opportunity to study with
professors who think by their own set of
concepts
• To learn how to apply economic
concepts
• To learn how to work collaboratively
• To learn computer skills
• To improve writing and
Learning is enhanced by•
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Collaboration among Learners
Frequent student/faculty dialogue
Prompt Feedback
Application of Theory
Student Self Initiatives
Trustful relations
Personal & Individual Teaching
Brown’s First Year Seminar
• Before Class
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Video Text & Self Tests
Best URLs with Criteria
Interactive exercises
Lecture Notes in PP
E-mail dialogue
Cybershows
• During Class
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One Minute Quiz
Computer Tip Talk
Class Polls
Team Projects
• After Class
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Edit Drafts by Team
Guest Editors
Hyperlinks & Pictures
Access Previous Papers
Lecture Summary w Audio
• Other
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Daily Announcements
Team Web Page
Personal Portfolios
Exams include Computer
Materials Forever
Results: Compared to Other
First Year Courses
More Same Less
How much did you learn?
2/3
1/3
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How much time did you spend? --
2/3
1/3
How did you enjoy the course?
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3/3
Computers Enhance My
Teaching and/or Learning Via-Presentations
Better--20%
More Opportunities to
Practice & Analyze--35%
More Access to Source
Materials via Internet--43%
More Communication with Faculty Colleagues, Classmates,
and Between Faculty and Students--87%
Computers allow people---• to belong to more communities
• to be more actively engaged in each
community
• with more people
• over more miles
• for more months and years
• TO BE MORE COLLABORATIVE
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000
With Ubiquity--The Culture Changes
• Mentality shifts-- like from public phone to personal phone.
• Teaching Assumptions shift-- like from books in the
public library to everyone owns a copy of his/her own.
• Timelines shift-- like from “our class meets MWF” to “we
see each other all the time and MWF we meet together”
• Students’ sense of access shifts-- like from “maybe I can
get that book in the library” to “I have that book in my
library.”
• Relationships shift-- like from a family living in many
different states to all family members living in the same town
Comments and Questions !!!
THREE BASIC THEMES
• FOCUS on key concepts!
• BE POLITICAL!
• Stress LEARNING, not technology