Designing a university for the new millennium: David Helfand at TEDxWestVancouverED
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- Опубліковано 17 тра 2024
- Following 35 years on the faculty of Columbia University in New York, more than half of that time as Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Dr. Helfand developed a deep understanding of the problems of traditional universities. Seizing an opportunity to redesign higher education from scratch, he has served as a Founding Tutor and, since 2008, as President and Vice Chancellor of Quest University Canada. He is also President of the American Astronomical Society, the professional society for astronomers, astrophysicists, planetary scientists and solar physicists in North America.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
My son Tyson has graduated from Quest University. I am so grateful for David Helfand and his passion to educate the young minds by guiding them through their life quest.
My son will make a significant difference to some complex problems that exist today, because he understands, he is a true champion. The concept of the university and the tutors that have mentored and taught my son have made a huge impact in his success affecting his whole life. There is no question,
Quest is the answer.
I have visited QUEST, I have seen it, I have spoken to it's students and faculty and I totally get this place. It is awesome and I recommend it to any student who wishes to question and to understand. To any student who has a real passion and wishes to pursue it. I wish, wish, wish this model had been available to me when I went through my UG education.
Robert Aldridge it's my dream to go to this school
I have spent five years writing essays for college students. My clients have variously been lazy, utterly hopeless, and in some cases simply very busy. There is quite the industry in cheating.
Having seen so much of the failure of higher education, I have to applaud Helfand. His model is exactly what is needed to reinvigorate higher education.
***** Hi Liz, good question! My relationship with this industry is something of a love-hate one. On the one hand, it has provided me with a job doing something that I like, at least to a degree, and if I do say so myself I have become very good at it. I have wonderful opportunities to learn all kinds of different things, the hours are flexible and I get to choose my own clients, hooray!
On the other hand, I am conscious of the fact that I am helping people cheat, and in so doing I am undermining the academic system. In a sense, I am not unlike a tobacconist: I am selling my clients something they want, but that something is detrimental to their well-being.
So, my engagement with this is a bit ambivalent. I certainly advise anyone in school to not hire ghost-writers like me if they want to be smart, and I am planning to leave the industry for bigger and better things.
This makes so much sense. Having to prioritize courses in order to achieve good grades takes away from the purpose of learning.
Bravo for one class at a time method. I learn best and at my deepest level of enjoyment and understanding when I focus on only one subject at a time because what I study can be nourished in my memory rather then being quickly replaced by a new subject, which is then overwhelmingly replaced with another new subject, until I don't really know anything at all. I truly hope we adopt the one class at a time method as a nation.
Well I read your comment 3 years later but nothing has changed about "one at a time". Our country's education system has gone through lots of changes and turned out nothing but a mess.
I must have watched this speech 8 or 9 times. And it just seems to get more inspiring each time. Thank you, “Tutor Helfand”!
I go to Quest and it's pretty incredible
After going to a big university (University of British Columbia in Vancouver) with over 49,000 students for a year and a half with lectures ranging from 80-250 students, transferring to Quest university with a student body of less than 600 - it was totally worth it, and for the reasons that David has mentioned. I've learned much more here because there's less telling and more involvement and showing!
An absolutely fabulous concept brought back to life. A breath of fresh air and something I will be focusing on in the near future.
This is amazing!! I didn't know such a university existed.. I'm so glad it does and the students who attend it are lucky! We need more universities like this, and more professors like this! Professors (or rather tutors) who understand that the main goal of a university is education.. not any other thing!
2013 and this talk still help me 4 years later. great thinking Mr. Helfand
Thank you so much for such enriching and brilliant talk. These new ideas make so much sense. It is like you read my mind when I was thinking about the obsolete paradigm of education.
What I find brilliant in this TEDTalk is not just that he gives a concrete example of how Higher Education could work - and does in one university - but that he starts by going back to basics and asking what is the mission of a University. I have never taught in a N. American university but hear a lot about students there considering themselves as customers and having an entitlement mentality. But, in the end, maybe that's fair enough: University teaching has failed to keep up with societal change and they're not getting what they need and it's time to address this.
Bravo!!! I desperately hope that this is an idea that spreads.
Ubiquity university
Bravo! What a breath of fresh air. A gust of fresh air, actually!
Amazing, and this is such an obvious problem and obvious solution if youre really interested in learning, this has been an issue for me since my high school and probably even before. I really hope ppl begin to take concious of this
Spot on. Love it.
Great talk, David, and a great model for undergraduate teaching!
absolutely astounding..I wish I studied there..
Spot on. I have other professors speak about part of the ideas presented here. I imagine the road to implementing these ideas will come with great resistances.... But push forth and overcome.
What a beautiful model. Universities everywhere need to listen to this talk. Students need to be more involved to remember the purpose of education and the value of asking big questions and living lives in pursuit of their answers.
Teaching like a sir! I wish one day my children will be taught this way...
I am thankful every day I am here for the great people who have paved the road to the existence of this University. I am thankful every day for the students around me who ask the tough questions that cause me to reconsider all my ideas. If your thinking about it, come tour or phone in, you wont regret it:)
I am a recent graduate. I guarantee it will be one of the best decisions of your life to go there!
What a great concept! Several of my kids went to a college that began like this one, and they loved it. Unfortunately, that school morphed into something else entirely, so it is good to know there is another school available for my younger children.
I hope all his ideas can be taken by any university worldwide!
looking forward to going to Quest!
Brilliant!!! I was totally engaged.
Quest University is closing its doors for good. Lack of BIPOC among its Faculty members was a big miss. You may have diversity among your students, but if those students cannot relate to those instructors/mentors that is a problem. I work in academia since 2011 and that's how I see it.
Isn't it a funding issue that's closing its doors?
@@marikstongue5663 misuse of funds plus financial decisions, corruption and bad leadership. QU never had long term commitment with its staff. Moreover, their staff fit certain profiles. I am an advocate for JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and QU ws not one of them.
Amazing speech, will love to make a similar university concept a reality one day.
Brilliant!👏🏼👏🏼
Beautiful, eloquent speech~
I like the fact that he is passionate about collaboration & focusing on learnings instead of the capitalization of university students.
Kudos ~!
Wow...thank you TEDx
mhmm, your welcome
Question & Evolve....👍
I wish more universities used the block schedule.
I need this tutor so badly
Great ideas. I would suggest online courses to get content taught and reduce the cost of education. I would add another goal for education: teach students to become lifelong self reliant learners. Students would learn to obtain relevant information in a chosen subject area, structure/organize the information into meaningful sections, and deliver this information using an effective educational method. The best method to learn this skill is by engagement, having students repeatedly do this in each subject area.
Insightful and inspiring speech! However,the following wise sayings are definitely not from Confucius, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
that's right - it is attributed to Xun Kuang, Confucian Philosopher and is a paraphrase of what he wrote - it is, however, an apt idea to use for Quest :)
I want to go to that university.
Tell me and I'll forget
Show me and I'll remember
Involve me and I'll understand
Brilliant!!
Most professions out there do not require years of "education" to meet the demand of the job. Instead of college or University students taking classes irrelevant to the field of study they are interested in, they should only have to take the classes that are related to the major. Also, these classes should be practical in nature, and not just theoretical. This alone would save students thousands of dollars, and it would expedite the training for the job to months to a few years at most.
Trade schools have been doing this for years.
Last year I watched this and was stoked to apply to Quest in Grade 12. Now, I'm in Grade 12 and I just watched this again, and of course I'm stoked to start my application!!
THIS!
What a wonderful example of realizing the 50+20 vision of Management Education for the world (50plus20.org). Hats off!
COLLABORATION RATHER THEN COMPETITION - BUDDHA
Great talk! But... to be honest, I'm a bit skeptical over the success of this program. I'm sure it is largely driven by the most enthusiastic, driven, animated, and dedicated professors. Over my educational career, I might have encountered possibly 3(out of houndreds of instructors) of these rare breeds?
***** I would agree with that. But the difference with his system is that it encourages professors to be like that. That is, he encourages teachers to teach, rather than spit out research.
Well...3 years later and I'd say it was a success
Life skills
@10:52 did he mean 2 faculty and 19 students?
No, classes here are not always full. That is changing though with larger incoming classes. Word is getting out about this place! :)
come!! :)
رووووووووع
TELETHON2022!
Sir Ken?
Hope I get admitted to this place.
I wish that Quest offered graduate programs :(
I guess I'll have to get my PhD somewhere else and then go teach at quest :)
Their mission is to only teach UG - I agree with you but how about a spin-off Grad School....I'd enrol in a heartbeat
Graduate programs teach like this with students developing a focused research project and direct face to face communication with the faculty advisor.
And it is still way to expensive for any normal person to attend without having a high debt afterwards
I didn't know this school was founded by santa!
8:43 🤣🤣
universty should teach working skills so that people can work
my guess is it does not involve safe spaces
+Robert Baur But what if those mean white supremacists suppress my views :(
+Robert Baur What is the issue with safe spaces? I have trouble understanding why people want those who are suffering or have gone through traumatic experiences to NOT feel safe...
hey you never know
Karl Marx is at it again, disrupting stuff!! 😄 Love this!
Not a practical Idea, bcuz It doesn't seems to solve the problem stated : "We are here for Degree not education"...... Talk is about : "These are the way old universities are designed, lets design new University in new way" ... but How the new design solves the base problem is not clear.
This guy, as a presenter, looks and talks similar to Karl Marx, just an interesting thought
Have you seen Karl Marx speaks in a presentation?
It's 2019, things are mostly the same :(
Worst tbh. I'm deadass waiting to explain why after 7 semesters I plan to leave this holiday break. Meanwhile, it's back to the hood but college has been a total sham with the future utility of none given automation and artificial intelligence, geopolitical unrest, global economic unrest, etc.
And Quest university is bankrupt now and will most probably close or merge with another uni.
Santa is real!
You and QU kept replacing those tutors on a regular basis. They were changed on a regular basis and there was no diversity among your faculty. That is the reason your system failed (plus the entitlement).
Undergrad tuition of $31,000 is a tough pill to swallow
that is half of the price of most places in the US.
+Peetreee Scholarships up to $24,000 and Financial Aid on top of that! Plus equal treatment for International Students (i.e. same tuition, same scholarship/financial aid opportunities)
9 years ago and like most interesting things it hasn't happened. YUCK!
Shit, its Santa Claus!
Hope I get admitted to this place.