Peirce has long been an innovator
in higher education. From preparing returning Civil War soldiers for a
business focused education, to innovative courses to help supply the workforce
during WWI, to being an early adopter in online education, Peirce prides itself
in being a pioneer and early adopter.
As we celebrate our 150
year history of innovation, we’re continuously striving to stay on the
cutting edge of providing working adults with the education they need to
compete in today’s workforce in the most up-to-date formats.
At Peirce, we understand that earning a college degree
requires an enormous amount of commitment and dedication. Students invest both financially and
emotionally in pursuit of their degree.
Most Peirce students have one or more jobs and balance the demands of family
or other caregiver responsibilities.
Traditionally, the College has offered courses in two
formats; online and on campus. While
these formats of instruction are commonplace in higher education, they offer
the student little, if any, flexibility within a single course. In other words, our on campus students are
committed to attending class on campus for a full seven or eight weeks and our
online students must commit to attending class online for seven or eight
weeks.
Regardless of the format the student chooses, there are
limitations in terms of flexibility for either student. If our on campus students must miss a class,
there is no make-up option. If our
online students want to come to class on campus for a week or two for a
face-to-face experience, that option is not available for them either. From a scheduling perspective, students must
enroll in classes when they are offered and in their format of choice. That is … until now. Peirce is committed to
taking course delivery and instruction to the next level in order to meet the
needs of today’s learner.
We are doing so by introducing our intracourse delivery
option. Beginning in fall 2015, Graduate
Studies and Health Programs courses will be offered in Peirce’s flexible
intracourse delivery format. Other
degree programs will convert to this model by fall 2016. This instructional delivery model offers
students the flexibility of choosing on a weekly basis how they will
participate in a course: on campus, completely online, or a mix of both throughout
the duration of a course.
In addition, the College is expanding its use of
instructional technology in the classroom and exploring creative means of
delivering instruction such as the flipped classroom. In general terms, the flipped classroom is
one marked by students doing class preparation at home such that face-to-face
class time focuses on application of the ideas the student prepped for.
Peirce is leveraging innovation in higher education guided
by a very
strong strategic plan and a dedicated faculty team led by Dr. Rita
Toliver-Roberts. Dr. Roberts’s vision
for teaching and learning excellence is guiding the implementation of our
intracourse delivery model and other strategic initiatives impacting
instruction at the College.
