EDUCATION & Is going to college worth it? #PewResearch says Yes!

by ANDREA CAUMONT, Pew Research, 5/19/15.

A new Pew Research Center report on higher education contains a number of findings about the rising value of a college degree (as well as the rising cost of not going to college). College-educated millennials are outperforming their less-educated peers on virtually every economic measure, and the gap between the two groups has only grown over time. Here are six key findings that provide a compelling answer to the question: Is going to college worth it?

1A college education is worth more today. There’s a wider earnings gap between college-educated and less-educated Millennials compared with previous generations.

2College benefits go beyond earnings: In addition to earning more, college-educated Millennials also have lower unemployment and poverty rates than their less-educated peers. They’re also more likely to be married and less likely to be living in their parent’s home.

3College grads are more satisfied with their jobs: College-educated Millennials are more likely to see themselves on a career path, rather than just working at a job to get them by.

4The cost of not going to college has risen. Millennials with just a high school diploma are faring worse today than their counterparts in earlier generations by almost every economic measure examined.

5College grads say college is worth it: About nine-in-ten college grads in every generation say college has been, or will be, worth the investment. Despite a steep rise in college tuitions, Millennials agree.

6College majors matter. Among all grads, science or engineering majors are the most likely to say their current job is very closely related to their field of study and the least likely to say that a different major would have better prepared them for the job they really wanted.

Read more at … http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/11/6-key-findings-about-going-to-college/

LEARNING & The Ultimate #InfoGraphic Guide To Note-Taking

by YONG KANG CHAN, LifeHack.com 4/24/15.

According to the infographic produced by Westminster Bridge Student Accommodation (WBSA), if you don’t organize and review your notes within the first 9 hours, 60% of what you have learned will be forgotten. Writing down and reviewing your notes is important because you may not have any ideas how to apply what you have learned at the point when you receive the information. Reflecting on them later may be more effective…
Read more at … http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-ultimate-guide-note-taking-infographic.html?n=1&ref=tp

RESEARCH & Crafting Research in the Service of Theological Education #WesleySem

by Joel B. Green, Theological Education Volume 46 Number 1 (2010), p. 10

What is scholarship? Three or four years ago, I was involved in putting together a definition, and this is the language we drafted:

Scholarship means engaging in original research as well as stepping back from one’s investigation in order to look for connections, build bridges, and communicate one’s work effectively.

Accordingly, the term scholarship recognizes discovery, integration, application, and teaching as separate but overlapping dimensions. You may recognize that, with this definition, we were borrowing from Ernest L. Boyer’s book, Scholarship Reconsidered, and especially from the conversation about assessing faculty scholarship that Boyer’s work stimulated.8 We defined an activity as scholarly if it met certain criteria:

• if it requires disciplinary expertise;

• if it is performed in a manner characterized by clear goals, adequate prep- aration, and appropriate methodology;

• if its results are appropriately documented and disseminated; and

• if its significance extends beyond the context of the individual but some- how contributes to the field of inquiry and is subjected to peer evaluation.

This includes books, but not only books. In fact, all kinds of cultural products can arise out of that way of thinking about scholarship.

Download the entire article here: Green on Seminary Research Agendas.pdf

EDUCATION & Do Academically Marginal Students Benefit from College? The Data Says Yes.

Read more at … http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/09/do-academically-marginal-students-benefit-from-college-the-data-says-yes/

EDUCATION & California State Universities Oust Christian Organizations #InterVarsity

by: Scot McKnight, 9/9/14

While many Christians don’t like this I see something golden here: this may enhance local church ministries in university and college towns. There is no reason to moan that universities and state-sponsored schools don’t have a right to do this, for they do.

RNS by Kimberly Winston

(RNS) A well-established international Christian student group is being denied recognition at almost two dozen California college campuses because it requires leaders to adhere to Christian beliefs, effectively closing its leadership ranks to non-Christians and gays.

California State University, which has 23 campuses, is “de-recognizing” local chapters of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, an evangelical Christian group with 860 chapters in the United States. The university system says InterVarsity’s leadership policy conflicts with its state-mandated nondiscrimination policy requiring membership and leadership in all official student groups be open to all.

Read more at … http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2014/09/09/california-and-christian-organizations/

GRAD SCHOOL & Should You Get an MBA (or maybe an MDiv)?

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: “This Harvard Business Review article points to the great benefits of a graduate degree. If you’re considering an M.A. or M.Div. from Wesley Seminary you should read this. It will bring clarity and direction.”

Read more at … http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/09/should-you-get-an-mba/

COLLEGE & Education is worth the debt of admission, says New York Fed study

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/24/college-education-worth-it-jobs-debt-work