Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Stan Eisen, a biology professor at Christian Brothers University provided his students with a choice – to take a final exam or write a children’s book.

Reported by EAB, Professor Paul Nissenson enlisted the help of two professors from the institution’s psychology and sociology departments to try and increase student achievement for this required course that was causing so many students trouble. Their implemented suggestions included active learning activities, regular assessments, more close discussion and more practice problems. And with this format, the percentage of passing students improved by 23 points, all without lowering standards.

Reported by Campus Technology, a team of engineering students at Penn State University won a university competition and $30,000 to help finish developing their LionPlanner app, which uses machine learning to align a student’s career interests with their shortest path to degree completion, and shares those results with the student’s academic advisors to formalize their academic plan.

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, this approach is helping Unity project 2,000 online credit hours this upcoming year, 400 more than their goal number.

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, students at eight institutions this semester can enroll in introductory computer science and data science courses, developed by Google.

Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, about ¼ of the university’s students are first-generation, and the goal of this new Office of First-Generation Student Success is to specifically improve retention and graduation rates among these first-gen students – 25% of whom are dropping out after year one. Services include mentoring programs, motivational initiatives, and scholarship programs.

Reported by EAB, Wesleyan University has created a Career Development MOOC in partnership with Coursera. Career Decisions: From insight to impact is designed to help students think about what’s important to them, make unbiased decisions, and set the goals required to get there. Free for Wesleyan University students, other students can take the credentialed course for just $49.

Reported by Inside Higher Ed, three years letter, the initiative’s success is dependent on who you ask. First-time resident freshman enrolling directly after high school graduation spiked by 6.7 percent state-wide. But this enrollment increase can largely be attributed to Boise State University and the University of Idaho, while other 2-year institutions and community colleges have experienced enrollment declines. Lower-band academic students are also struggling to keep up academically and stay on campus.

Reported by Evolllution, Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education is leading an effort entitled, “The Sixty Year Curriculum”, studying the new educational models required to help individuals continually reskill and evolve their occupational outlook in order to effectively work through a continually increasing retirement age.

Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Uber drivers in 8 major cities who have recorded at least 3,000 miles of drive time will be able to earn their bachelor’s degree or certificate online and tuition-free from ASU.