the k-plan and kalamazoo college’s high ranking in ... · the k-plan and kalamazoo college’s...

The K-Plan and

Kalamazoo College’s

High Ranking in Baccalaureate

Origins of Doctorates

Anne Dueweke

Assistant Provost

Institutional Support and Research

Paul Sotherland

Associate Professor and Chair

Department of Biology

"When you get to the future - when you become the doctor or write

the novel - you'll find that your future nows are just as contingent, just

as uneasy, just as "present-like," as is your present today. So it turns

out that cultivating education - a sense of self that perpetually,

restlessly looks for meanings in situations and facts and ideas - is a

crucial resource for the future, because the future is a series of

contingent moments just like the present."

Andrew Abbott, 2002

Take-home Messages

More than anything else,

our version of a liberal arts education

• Seems to help students develop into independent, life-• Seems to help students develop into independent, life-

long learners

• Provides experiential components that contribute to the

intellectual and personal development of students

• Expands the foundation created by coursework

• Fosters participation in experiential education

2004 Baccalaureate Origins of PhDs Data From the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) Consortium

Ranking for all disciplines: 18th among all institutions

Kalamazoo College is among the top 30 in ten fields

Life Sciences 4th

Foreign Languages 4th th Chemistry 8th

Linguistics 16th

Physical Sciences 13th

Sciences and Engineering 12th

Psychology 14th

Computer Science 25th

Economics 17th

Mathematics 30th

Top 15 InstitutionsLeading in Production of Scientists

(From: Origin of American Scientists, 1952)

Reed

California Institute of Technology

Kalamazoo CollegeEarlham

OberlinOberlin

University of Massachusetts

Hope

DePauw

Nebraska Wesleyan

Iowa Wesleyan

Antioch

Marietta

Colorado

Cornell

Central

Reed College

California Institute of Technology

Swarthmore College

Kalamazoo CollegeUniversity of Chicago

Univ. of the Sci. in Philadelphia

Top 15 InstitutionsLeading in Production of

Doctorates in Life Sciences(From: HEDS, 2004)

Top 15 InstitutionsLeading in Production of

Doctorates in Foreign Languages(From: HEDS, 2004)

Bryn Mawr College

Grinnell College

Reed College

Kalamazoo CollegeAmherst College

St. John's CollegeUniv. of the Sci. in Philadelphia

Earlham College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Univ. of California-San Francisco

Johns Hopkins University

Grinnell College

SUNY College of Env. Sci. and Forestry

Carleton College

Haverford College

Harvey Mudd College

St. John's College

Bennington College

University of the South

Yale University

Lawrence University

Middlebury College

Mount Holyoke College

Barnard College

Haverford College

Oberlin College

Baccalaureate Origins of PhDs:

Sciences and Engineering Top 30

0

5

10

Weight ed Rank: 1971-1980 Weight ed Rank: 1976-1985 Weight ed Rank: 1981-1990 Weight ed Rank: 1986-1995 Weight ed Rank: 1991-2000

Cal i f or ni a Inst i t ute of T echnol ogy

Har vey M udd Col l ege

M assachuset ts I ns t i tute of T echnol ogy

Reed Col l ege

Swar thmor e Col l ege

Car l eton Col l ege

Uni ver si t y of Chi cago

Pr i nceton Uni ver s i t y

Ri ce Uni ver s i t y

Haver f or d Col l ege

Kal amazoo Col l ege

Why the noteworthy increase in rank?

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Gr i nnel l Col l ege

Johns Hopk i ns Uni ver si ty

Case Wester n Reser ve Uni ver si ty

Pomona Col l ege

Yal e Uni ver s i t y

Ober l i n Col l ege

Br yn M awr Col l ege

Stanf or d Uni ver si ty

Renssel aer Pol y techni c I ns t i tute

Wi l l i ams Col l ege

Ear l ham Col l ege

Br own Uni ver s i t y

Car negi e M el l on Uni ver s i t y

Har var d Uni ver si t y

Uni ver si t y of Rochester

Bel oi t Col l ege

Duke Uni ver si t y

Amher s t Col l ege

Occi dental Col l ege

The K-PlanOur experiential approach to a

Liberal Arts Education

• On-campus liberal arts curriculum

• Career Development Internships

• Study Abroad

• Senior Individualized Project

Kalamazoo CollegeSTEM Participation in Study Abroad

1998-2002 Graduates

Total Study StudyGraduates Abroad Abroad %

80% of all students participate in Study Abroad,

typically for six months at one of 50 sites around the world

BIOLOGY 190 160 84%

CHEMISTRY 66 53 80%

COMPUTER SCIENCE 39 26 67%

HEALTH SCIENCE (pre-med) 92 75 82%

MATHEMATICS 34 30 88%

3-2 ENGINEERING (Physics) 17 11 65%

PHYSICS 30 20 67%

TOTAL STEM & Study Abroad 470 376 80%

Positions of Intellectual Development

GENERIC "FORMS" "WAYS" "MODES"

POSITION PERRY BELENKY ET AL. NELSON

Received Knowing Sergeant Friday

Red Dualism "No Voice" ... "Radio Voice" ...

"Oppositional Voice" "Just the FACTS"

Subjective Knowing Baskin Robbins

Yellow Multiplicity "One opinion is as good as Yellow Multiplicity "One opinion is as good as

"Own Voice" any other"

Procedural Knowing Playing Disciplinary "Games"

Blue Contextual Separate ... Connected "So that's why you think (act) the

Relativism "Speak in measured tones" way you do"

Constructed Knowing Taking a Stand

Green Commitment "Some 'games' work for me

"Passion restored to voice" better in different situations"

Alumni Survey

• Sent to 826 alumni who earned a doctorate

• Return rate of 53%

• About 75% of respondents experienced K-Plan

• Data presented today are from this group only

So…what did we find?

What attracted students to Kalamazoo College?

• K-Plan and Study Abroad

• Strong liberal arts education

• Overall academic reputation

• About 50% were attracted by reputation in the sciences.

• About one-third were attracted by strength of preparation for graduate school

• Students were moderately to very certain about

their intended major at matriculation.

• Intended majors were predominantly in the

sciences – Biology, Chemistry, English, Health

Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.

• Interestingly, predominant majors at graduation

were the same with the addition of Psychology.

Approximately one-quarter of the students had

earning a doctorate as a long-term goal when

they entered college.

Of those remaining, 52% decided while in

college to earn a doctorate after graduation.

Valuable to Very Valuable Contributors to Success in

Graduate School

• Coursework in the major

– Rigor (90%)– Rigor (90%)

– Content (84%)

• Senior Individualized Project (87%)

• Relationships with faculty (72%)

• Rigor of coursework outside the major (74%)

Write Effectively

Valuable for Success in Graduate School - 92%

Crswrk CarDev StAbr SIP

Contribution to Development

0

20

40

60

80

100

Think Critically



Contribution to Developm

ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Think Analytically Conduct Research EffectivelyThink Analytically




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Conduct Research Effectively




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Synthesize/Integrate

New Ideas/Information




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Solve Unscripted Problems

Have Self-Confidence




0

20

40

60

80

100

Acquire Skills/InformationSolve Unscripted Problems




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Acquire Skills/Information




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Consider Issues/Problems

Adapt to New Situations




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Speak Second Language




ent

0

20

40

60

80

100

Consider Issues/Problems

from Various Points of View




0

20

40

60

80

100

Compared with peers in graduate

school, our graduates felt adequately

prepared in their content area.

Our graduates also felt they had better

than average preparation in academic

skills.

Developing a commitment to

further study was enhanced

primarily by the following:

• Coursework (primarily in the major)

• Faculty encouragement and relationships with faculty

• Meeting with academic success

• Experiences encountered while carrying out the Senior Individualized Project

Enhanced On-Campus Learning

CarDev StAbr SIP

% of alum

ni

0

20

40

60

80

100

Instilled or Enhanced a Love of the DisciplineInstilled or Enhanced a Love of the Discipline


% of alum

ni

0

20

40

60

80

100

Did participation by other students on campus

encourage you to participate?

Yes YesYes YesYes Yes

Career Development Study Abroad

Yes Yes

Did participation by other students on campus

enhance your experience?

Yes Yes Yes

Career

Development

Study Abroad SIP

Study Abroad did not detract from success in

graduate school for 65% of the respondents.

Of those who said it did detract somewhat from

graduate school success, 83% indicated the

trade-off was definitely worth it.

Inferences

Through the K-Plan we

• Create an environment that encourages students to

learn experientially

• Provide experiential components that enhance

traditional classroom learning

• Foster development of students who embody critical

thinking and connected knowing and who are self-

directed, life-long learners

Through the K-Plan we

also strive to nurture

President Hoben’s

“Fellowship in Learning”

…and…”to this fellowship, this self-discovery, with its

attendant joy of purposeful living, Kalamazoo College

welcomes succeeding generations of students and

sends them out into the wide, wide world possessing

something of the likeness and life of their Alma Mater –

the scholar’s spirit to human welfare.”

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