ABSTRACT

Most institutions of higher education presume that the pursuit of truth is central to their missions. However, the status of truth has been seriously challenged in contemporary society—by postmodern critiques, confusion about the goals and methods of scholarly disciplines, and the seductive power of social and other digital media. In this essay, we describe a major empirical study of higher education in the United States. While faculty and senior administrators continue to value scholarship, a majority of students in the United States adopt a transactional approach to their education; and many of them are beleaguered by mental health challenges as well as feelings of alienation. These factors constitute a significant challenge to the laudable goals of the project ‘Positive Learning in the Age of Information’ (PLATO), which focuses on student learning in higher education. The authors recommend a sharp focus on the scholarly pursuit and elucidation of truth—beginning with admission to college (onboarding), if not before; highlighted and intertwined with all course work; and foregrounded as well in all institutions on campus (library, museums, research laboratories).

摘要

大多数高等教育机构都认为追求真理是其使命的核心。然而，真理的地位在当代社会受到了严重挑战——后现代批判、对学科目标和方法的混淆，以及社交和其他数字媒体的诱惑力。在这篇文章中，我们描述了一项关于美国高等教育的主要实证研究。虽然教职员工和高级管理人员继续重视奖学金，但美国的大多数学生都采用交易方法来接受教育；他们中的许多人受到心理健康挑战和疏离感的困扰。这些因素对“信息时代的积极学习”（柏拉图）项目的值得称赞的目标构成了重大挑战，它专注于高等教育中的学生学习。作者建议重点关注学术追求和对真理的阐明——从入学（入职）开始，如果不是之前的话；突出显示并与所有课程作业交织在一起；并且在校园内的所有机构（图书馆、博物馆、研究实验室）中也有前景。