Winter 2016

Adaptive Learning
QUESTION: With regard to adaptive learning, why is this
important and how does Stanford offer an education that
is more than the sum of its parts that guides students in
their journey to “prepare for appointments not yet made?”
How does adaptive learning manifest at Stanford,
and what can we do at the high school level to sow
the seeds of adaptive learning?
In speaking with our students, I was continually
JC struck by the ‘silo-ized’ nature of their education.
They are all phenomenally busy and productive,
but many of them have become so preoccupied with
keeping different balls up in the air that they have lost any
sense of why they’re here, much less any understanding of
the way in which different elements of their education can
and should intersect. I also came to believe that some of
the existing curricular requirements actually encouraged
the problem. For example, under the old system of Gen Ed
requirements, every student at Stanford had to complete
two courses in what was called “education for citizenship,”
a category that included courses in ethical reasoning.
But all those courses were taught within the Philosophy
department. So a pre-med student who opted to take a
course in medical ethics would find that the course didn’t
fulfill the requirement. Same with students majoring in
Human Biology or International Relations. Rather than
helping students recognize the ethical dimensions of
their majors and future careers, we were presenting
ethics to them as something that stood apart. So
we changed that. A few philosophers objected, arguing
- quite cogently and correctly - that the ethical training
students would receive in the new system was apt to be
less philosophically rigorous than in the old system. But to
me the trade off was worth it.
Who would have predicted in 1990 that smart
SP phones would connect all of the people of the
world in so many life enhancing ways. These
personal communication tools are so much more capable
than those conceived of in science fiction shows like Star
Trek. We will make similar strides in energy creation,
poverty reduction, human learning and child raising, medicine,
and the creation of new products and materials. We
want graduates who innovate and add to the knowledge
base as well as adapt. For example, Rico Mok (see
p. 46) credits the support of his passion for technology at
O’Dowd with inspiring him to launch his own business that
addresses a societal need.
Counseling
QUESTION: At O’Dowd, we have nine different counseling
programs that ensure our students are supported
and that we can serve diverse learning styles, adding to
the richness of our community. Can you speak to the
importance of institutional support in the areas of
advising/counseling at Stanford and how the benefit
manifests of providing that support?
Quite frankly, I think that most universities,
JC Stanford included, do at best an uneven job of
academic and career advising, let alone advising
on more personal matters. We continue to work on it,
as do most of our peer institutions, but right now I
suspect that we have more to learn from you on this
front than you from us.
SP
Diverse and inclusive learning environments are
essential to the growth of human civilization
and human capacity. Diversity and inclusion
in design and leadership groups properly led, most
often result in superior outcomes.
8 // Dragon