Wagner's Question 2: Academic Rigor

How might our definition of academic rigor need to change in the age of the information explosion?

Today’s test- and text-book driven rigor is built upon a foundation of basic literacy and mathematical skills but is primarily content-focused. I think it creates the illusion that hierarchical classification of information is the heart of acquiring knowledge. It is based on what David Perkins of Harvard’s Project Zero calls an “export paradigm.” Students are gaining knowledge and skills for use in the future. In a society where few adults are able to delay gratification for very long, children are asked to labor over math problems so that they might some day be able to do something useful for themselves or someone else. In contrast, an import paradigm uses knowledge now in "serious endeavors."

The academic rigor we need consists of challenging, complex, interesting questions and problems that require students to use the full range of their intellectual abilities. Often these challenges will be interdisciplinary and open-ended, allowing for differences in students’ abilities, thinking styles, and interests. Such challenges will motivate students to read, write, and think mathematically because students will care about the problem and desired outcome and will be invested. But students who struggle in those areas will still be able to learn and express ideas in alternative ways as a scaffold for broader literacy.