Pitt to Host Feb. 25 Lecture on Learning Patterns and Inhibitors of Learning for U.S. Students

PITTSBURGH-Institutional-based barriers to a quality education continue to hamper the progress of many U.S. students in college. Exploring the causes of these barriers and uncovering the keys to a successful college experience will be the focus of a lecture titled "Limited Learning in U.S. Colleges: Findings From the CLA (Collegiate Learning Association) Study." The event will be held at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25 in 5604 of Posvar Hall, 230 S. Bouquet St., Oakland. It is a continuation of Pitt's 2009-10 Learning Policy Center (LPC) Colloquium Series.

The free public lecture will be delivered by Richard Arum, program director of education research at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and a professor of sociology and education at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Arum's remarks will be based on the findings of the SSRC's Collegiate Learning Assessment Longitudinal Project, a study that followed approximately 2,400 students at 24 U.S. colleges from their freshman to senior years to examine learning patterns and assess inequalities in U.S. higher education institutions. Arum was a principal investigator of the study.

Arum is a coauthor of the book "Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority in American Schools" (Harvard University Press, 2003) and the forthcoming "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" (University of Chicago Press, 2010). He has authored numerous articles for the "Annual Review of Sociology," the "Sociology of Education," and the "American Sociological Review," among others. His work in education research has earned grants and fellowships from such organizations as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.

The mission of Pitt's LPC is to advance ideas that encompass both education policy and research on teaching and learning. The LPC utilizes Pitt's School of Education, Learning Research and Development Center, Institute for Learning, and other regional assets to connect high-quality learning research with education policy decision makers.

An RSVP is required and can be made at www.learningpolicycenter.org. For more information, contact Julia Kaufman at lpc@pitt.edu.

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