Academic Advising as Teaching: Focusing on Student Learning

1
Academic Advising as Teaching Focusing on
Student Learning

• Charlie L. Nutt, Ed.D.
• Associate Director
• National Academic Advising Association
• Kansas State University
• cnutt_at_k-state.edu

2

• Academic advising is essential in fulfilling the
  teaching and learning mission of higher
  education. Through academic advising, students
  learn to become members of their higher education
  community, to think critically about their roles
  and responsibilities as students, and to prepare
  to be educated citizens of a democratic society.
  Academic advising engages students beyond their
  own aspirations, while acknowledging their
  characteristics, values, and motivations as they
  enter, move through, and exit the institution.
• NACADA Concept Task Force, 2005.

3
GOALS OF ACADEMIC ADVISING AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL
PROCESSES

• Helping students clarify their values and goals
• 2. Leading students to better understand the
  nature and purpose of higher education
• 3. Providing accurate information about
  educational options, requirements, policies
  and procedures

4

• 4. Planning an educational program consistent
  with a students interests and abilities
• 5. Assisting students in a continual monitoring
  and evaluation of their educational progress
• 6. Integrating the many resources of the
  institution to meet the students
  special educational needs and
  aspirations

5
Advisor-as-Teacher

• Facilitator of communication
• Coordinator of learning experiences
• Referral agent who connects students with all
  of an institutions resources and cocurricular
  opportunities that can help them be successful

6
Characteristics of Effective Advising As
TeachingI. Curriculum What of Advising

• The curriculum of academic advising ranges from
  the ideals of higher education to the pragmatics
  of enrollment. The content of this curriculum
  includes, but is not limited to,
• the institutions mission, culture, and
  expectations
• the meaning, value, and interrelationship of the
  institutions curriculum and co-curriculum
• modes of thinking, learning, and
  decision-making
• the selection of academic programs and courses
• the development of life and career goals
• campus resources, policies, and procedures
• and the transferability of skills and knowledge.

7
II. How Advising Is Done (Pedagogy)

• Preparing for the Advising Experiences
• Facilitating the Advising Experiences
• Documenting the Advising Experiences

8
Student Learning Outcomes

• These outcomes, defined in an advising
  curriculum, articulate what students will know,
  value, and do as a result of academic advising.
  The following is a sample.
• Students will
• craft a coherent educational plan based on
  assessment of abilities, aspirations, interests,
  and values
• use complex information from various sources to
  set goals, reach decisions, and achieve those
  goals
• assume responsibility for meeting academic
  program requirements
• articulate the meaning of higher education and
  the intent of the institutions curriculum
• cultivate the intellectual habits that lead to a
  lifetime of learning
• behave as citizens who engage in the wider world
  around them

9

• It is essential in regard to the learning
  process, the advisors
• Articulate to the advisee the curriculum and
  expected learning outcomes
• Providing a clear set of behaviors or
  expectations same as one does in his/her
  classroom
• Holding advisee responsibility for his
  responsibilities
• Providing opportunities for advisee to
  demonstrate his/her learning and achievement of
  outcomes
• An Advising Syllabus is one way to do so