Us parlaré de l'èxit al meu campus, a la Universitat de Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), en l'educació d'estudiants de tot tipus en arts, humanitats, ciències i enginyeries. La nostra història és especial perquè hem après molt sobre un grup d'estudiants que no solen ser al capdamanut del sistema: estudiants de color, poc representats en àrees seleccionades. Aquesta història és única perquè hem après com ajudar els estudiants afroamericans i hispans, amb pocs recursos econòmics, a esdevenir uns dels millors científics i enginyers del món.
So I'll be talking about the success of my campus, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, UMBC, in educating students of all types, across the arts and humanities and the science and engineering areas. What makes our story especially important is that we have learned so much from a group of students who are typically not at the top of the academic ladder -- students of color, students underrepresented in selected areas. And what makes the story especially unique is that we have learned how to help African-American students, Latino students, students from low-income backgrounds, to become some of the best in the world in science and engineering.
Començaré amb una història de quan era petit. Tots som productes de les nostres experiències. És difícil creure que han passat 50 anys des que feia secundària a Birmingham (Alabama). M'encantava treure excel·lents, les matemàtiques i llegir. I quan el professor deia "Heu de fer aquests 10 exercicis", jo deia: "Posa'n 10 més." I tota la classe deia: "Calla, Freeman." I al final sempre rebia. Per això jo em preguntava: "Com podríem motivar els nens a voler aprendre?"
And so I begin with a story about my childhood. We all are products of our childhood experiences. It's hard for me to believe that it's been 50 years since I had the experience of being a ninth grade kid in Birmingham, Alabama, a kid who loved getting A's, a kid who loved math, who loved to read, a kid who would say to the teacher -- when the teacher said, "Here are 10 problems," to the class, this little fat kid would say, "Give us 10 more." And the whole class would say, "Shut up, Freeman." And there was a designated kicker every day. And so I was always asking this question: "Well how could we get more kids to really love to learn?"
Sorprenentment, un dia a l'església, sense ganes de ser-hi, mentre feia els deures de mates tranquil·lament, vaig sentir un home: "Si podem fer que els nens participin a la manifestació pacífica a Birmingham, demostrarem a Amèrica que els nens saben què està bé i que no i que realment volen la millor educació possible." Vaig aixecar la vista. Qui era aquell home? Em van dir que era en Martin Luther King. Vaig dir als pares: "Hi vull anar. Vull ser part d'això." I van dir: "De cap manera."
And amazingly, one week in church, when I really didn't want to be there and I was in the back of the room being placated by doing math problems, I heard this man say this: "If we can get the children to participate in this peaceful demonstration here in Birmingham, we can show America that even children know the difference between right and wrong and that children really do want to get the best possible education." And I looked up and said, "Who is that man?" And they said his name was Dr. Martin Luther King. And I said to my parents, "I've got to go. I want to go. I want to be a part of this." And they said, "Absolutely not."
[rialles]
(Laughter)
Va ser bastant dur. I a aquella edat no t'enfrontes als pares. I vaig dir: "En realitat sou uns hipòcrites. Em dieu que faci cas i que escolti. Aquest home em diu que hi vagi i ara dieu que no" I hi van pensar tota la nit. I van venir a la meva habitació l'endemà. No havien dormit. Havien estat plorant, resant i pensant: "Deixarem que un nen de 12 anys vagi a la manifestació i que segurament acabi a la presó?" I van decidir que sí. I quan m'ho van dir, primer estava eufòric. I de sobte vaig pensar en gossos i en incendis i em vaig espantar de debò. I el que sempre intento deixar clar és que de vegades fer coses que requereixen valentia no significa que siguis valent, només vol dir que creus que és important fer-les.
And we had a rough go of it. And at that time, quite frankly, you really did not talk back to your parents. And somehow I said, "You know, you guys are hypocrites. You make me go to this. You make me listen. The man wants me to go, and now you say no." And they thought about it all night. And they came into my room the next morning. They had not slept. They had been literally crying and praying and thinking, "Will we let our 12-year-old participate in this march and probably have to go to jail?" And they decided to do it. And when they came in to tell me, I was at first elated. And then all of a sudden I began thinking about the dogs and the fire hoses, and I got really scared, I really did. And one of the points I make to people all the time is that sometimes when people do things that are courageous, it doesn't really mean that they're that courageous. It simply means that they believe it's important to do it.
Jo volia una educació millor. No volia llibres de segona mà. Volia que la meva escola tingués bons professors, però també altres recursos. I com a resultat d'això, a mitja setmana, quan era a la presó, Luther King va dir, junt als nostres pares: "El que els nens heu fet avui afectarà els nens que encara no han nascut."
I wanted a better education. I did not want to have to have hand-me-down books. I wanted to know that the school I attended not only had good teachers, but the resources we needed. And as a result of that experience, in the middle of the week, while I was there in jail, Dr. King came and said with our parents, "What you children do this day will have an impact on children who have not been born."
Fa poc he sabut que 2/3 dels nord-americans d'avui no havien nascut encara aquell 1963. I quan senten alguna cosa sobre aquella manifestació per exemple, a la tele, és com quan jo veig la pel·lícula <i>Lincoln</i>, del 1863. És part de la història. Però, què en vam aprendre? El més important per a mi va ser que es pot confiar en els nens per dirigir la seva educació. Se'ls pot ensenyar a sentir passió per aprendre i per preguntar.
I recently realized that two-thirds of Americans today had not been born at the time of 1963. And so for them, when they hear about the Children's Crusade in Birmingham, in many ways, if they see it on TV, it's like our looking at the 1863 "Lincoln" movie: It's history. And the real question is, what lessons did we learn? Well amazingly, the most important for me was this: That children can be empowered to take ownership of their education. They can be taught to be passionate about wanting to learn and to love the idea of asking questions.
I és molt rellevant que la universitat que dirigeixo, la Universitat de Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), fos fundada l'any 1963, quan vaig anar a la presó amb Luther King. I el que va fer aquella fundació més important és que Maryland és al sud, on eren menys liberals, i va ser la primera universitat del nostre estat en què podien estudiar alumnes de totes les races. Teníem alumnes blancs i negres i en van venir més. I va ser un experiment durant 50 anys. Es tractava de veure si era possible tenir al país universitats on gent de tots els orígens pogués estudiar i aprendre a treballar en equip i a ser els millors i ajudar-se mútuament.
And so it is especially significant that the university I now lead, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, UMBC, was founded the very year I went to jail with Dr. King, in 1963. And what made that institutional founding especially important is that Maryland is the South, as you know, and, quite frankly, it was the first university in our state founded at a time when students of all races could go there. And so we had black and white students and others who began to attend. And it has been for 50 years an experiment. The experiment is this: Is it possible to have institutions in our country, universities, where people from all backgrounds can come and learn and learn to work together and learn to become leaders and to support each other in that experience?
El que és més important per a mi d'això és que vam veure que podíem fer molt en arts, humanitats i ciències socials. I hi vam començar a treballar durant els anys 60. Vam generar molt graduats en dret i en humanitats. I grans artistes. Beckett és la nostra musa. Altres es van dedicar al teatre. Vam treballar molt. El nostre problema era el mateix encara té Amèrica, els estudiants de ciències i enginyeries, els negres, fracassaven. Vaig analitzar les dades i vaig veure que un gran nombre d'altres alumnes tampoc no ho aconseguien. Per tant, vam decidir ajudar primer de tot el grup més necessitat, els afroamericans i els hispans.
Now what is especially important about that experience for me is this: We found that we could do a lot in the arts and humanities and social sciences. And so we began to work on that, for years in the '60s. And we produced a number of people in law, all the way to the humanities. We produced great artists. Beckett is our muse. A lot of our students get into theater. It's great work. The problem that we faced was the same problem America continues to face -- that students in the sciences and engineering, black students were not succeeding. But when I looked at the data, what I found was that, quite frankly, students in general, large numbers were not making it. And as a result of that, we decided to do something that would help, first of all, the group at the bottom, African-American students, and then Hispanic students.
El Robert i la Jane Meyerhoff, filantrops, van dir: "Volem ajudar." El Robert va dir: "Per què tot el que veig a la tele sobre els negres és negatiu si no és sobre bàsquet? M'agradaria fer alguna cosa especial i positiva." Li vam prendre la paraula i vam crear el programa de beques Meyerhoff. I el millor del programa és que hem n'après molt. El cas és que ara som qui genera més doctorats afroamericans del país en ciència, enginyeria i medicina. És tot un mèrit. Aplaudiu. És tot un mèrit. De debò que ho és.
And Robert and Jane Meyerhoff, philanthropists, said, "We'd like to help." Robert Meyerhoff said, "Why is it that everything I see on TV about black boys, if it's not about basketball, is not positive? I'd like to make a difference, to do something that's positive." We married those ideas, and we created this Meyerhoff Scholars program. And what is significant about the program is that we learned a number of things. And the question is this: How is it that now we lead the country in producing African-Americans who go on to complete Ph.D.'s in science and engineering and M.D./Ph.D.'s? That's a big deal. Give me a hand for that. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. It really is.
[aplaudiments]
(Applause)
La majoria de gent no s'adona que no només les minories tenen problemes amb la ciència i l'enginyeria. Parlem dels nord-americans. Mentre que un 20% dels negres i dels hispans que estudien ciències i enginyeries es graduaran de debò, només un 32% dels blancs que estudien el mateix aconsegueixen graduar-se i només un 42% dels asioamericans.
You see, most people don't realize that it's not just minorities who don't do well in science and engineering. Quite frankly, you're talking about Americans. If you don't know it, while 20 percent of blacks and Hispanics who begin with a major in science and engineering will actually graduate in science and engineering, only 32 percent of whites who begin with majors in those areas actually succeed and graduate in those areas, and only 42 percent of Asian-Americans.
Llavors, quin és el repte real? Evidentment, d'una banda hem de reforçar l'escola i l'institut. De l'altra hi ha l'enfocament de la ciència i l'enginyeria en els campus. Potser no sabeu que molts estudiants amb notes elevades de selectivitat i competències que van a les universitats més prestigioses del país i comencen medicina o una enginyeria, s'acaben canviant d'estudis. I la raó principal és que els exàmens del primer any no els van anar bé. De fet, als EUA anomenem el primer any d'aquests estudis filtre o curs barrera.
And so, the real question is, what is the challenge? Well a part of it, of course, is K-12. We need to strengthen K-12. But the other part has to do with the culture of science and engineering on our campuses. Whether you know it or not, large numbers of students with high SAT's and large numbers of A.P. credits who go to the most prestigious universities in our country begin in pre-med or pre-engineering and engineering, and they end up changing their majors. And the number one reason, we find, quite frankly, is they did not do well in first year science courses. In fact, we call first year science and engineering, typically around America, weed-out courses or barrier courses.
Quants de vosaltres coneixeu algú que va començar medicina o enginyeria i es va canviar els primers anys? És tot un repte. Sou la meitat. Ho sé, ho sé. I el més interessant és que molts d'ells són llestos i capaços de fer-ho. Hem de trobar com ajudar-los.
How many of you in this audience know somebody who started off in pre-med or engineering and changed their major within a year or two? It's an American challenge. Half of you in the room. I know. I know. I know. And what is interesting about that is that so many students are smart and can do it. We need to find ways of making it happen.
I quines 4 coses vam fer per ajudar les minories i ara fem per a tots els estudiants? Número 1: altes expectatives. Hem d'entendre com es preparen els estudiants (notes, nivell d'exigència, habilitats en exàmens, actitud, la passió i les ganes de treballar) i així els podrem ajudar a aconseguir el seu objectiu. Important. Però, a més, hem d'entendre que cal treballar per canviar les coses. No m'importa que siguis molt llest o que t'ho creguis. Ser llest vol dir estar a punt per aprendre, tenir ganes d'aprendre i de fer bones preguntes.
So what are the four things we did to help minority students that now are helping students in general? Number one: high expectations. It takes an understanding of the academic preparation of students -- their grades, the rigor of the course work, their test-taking skills, their attitude, the fire in their belly, the passion for the work, to make it. And so doing things to help students prepare to be in that position, very important. But equally important, it takes an understanding that it's hard work that makes the difference. I don't care how smart you are or how smart you think you are. Smart simply means you're ready to learn. You're excited about learning and you want to ask good questions.
El premi Nobel I. I. Rabi va dir que quan era petit els pares dels seus amics els preguntaven: "Què has après avui a l'escola?" En canvi, la seva mare, jueva, deia: "Izzy, has fet una bona pregunta avui?" Perquè les altes expectatives i la curiositat van unides i s'ha d'animar els joves a ser curiosos. I a causa de les altes expectatives vam trobar estudiants amb qui treballar per veure com els podríem ajudar, no per sobreviure i prou, sinó per ser els millors, per destacar.
I. I. Rabi, a Nobel laureate, said that when he was growing up in New York, all of his friends' parents would ask them "What did you learn in school?" at the end of a day. And he said, in contrast, his Jewish mother would say, "Izzy, did you ask a good question today?" And so high expectations have to do with curiosity and encouraging young people to be curious. And as a result of those high expectations, we began to find students we wanted to work with to see what could we do to help them, not simply to survive in science and engineering, but to become the very best, to excel.
Hi va haver un cas interessant. Un alumne que volia fer medicina va aprovar just el primer curs. Li vam dir: "Hauràs de repetir perquè necessites una base sòlida si vols avançar." Cada curs és una base per al següent. Va repetir el curs. Aquell alumne es va graduar a la UMBC i va ser el primer doctorat negre per la Universitat de Pennsylvania. Avui treballa a Harvard. No és bonic? Un aplaudiment per a ell.
Interestingly enough, an example: One young man who earned a C in the first course and wanted to go on to med school, we said, "We need to have you retake the course, because you need a strong foundation if you're going to move to the next level." Every foundation makes the difference in the next level. He retook the course. That young man went on to graduate from UMBC, to become the first black to get the M.D./Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He now works at Harvard. Nice story. Give him a hand for that too.
[aplaudiments]
(Applause)
D'altra banda, les notes no ho són tot. Els exàmens són importants, però no el més important. Una alumna tenia molt bones notes, però en els exàmens no tant. Però hi havia un factor molt important; no va faltar cap dia a l'escola. Tenia passió. I ara té un doctorat en medicina de Hopkins. ës professora de psiquiatria a la facultat i doctora en neurociència. Té una patent amb el seu tutor per un ús de la Viagra per a diabètics. Un gran aplaudiment per a ella. [aplaudiments] Per això són importants les expectatives.
Secondly, it's not about test scores only. Test scores are important, but they're not the most important thing. One young woman had great grades, but test scores were not as high. But she had a factor that was very important. She never missed a day of school, K-12. There was fire in that belly. That young woman went on, and she is today with an M.D./Ph.D. from Hopkins. She's on the faculty, tenure track in psychiatry, Ph.D. in neuroscience. She and her adviser have a patent on a second use of Viagra for diabetes patients. Big hand for her. Big hand for her. (Applause) And so high expectations, very important.
Número 2: construir una comunitat d'estudiants. Sabeu que en ciència i enginyeria hi sol haver competència. No s'ensenya a treballar en grup. I això és el que volem canviar perquè s'entenguin entre ells, perquè confiïn en els altres i s'ajudin, per aprendre a fer bones preguntes i per aprendre a explicar conceptes amb claredat. Ja sabeu que és diferent treure un excel·lent que ajudar algú a que avanci. I sentir aquesta responsabilitat és un punt clau. Per això és important crear una comunitat.
Secondly, the idea of building community among the students. You all know that so often in science and engineering we tend to think cutthroat. Students are not taught to work in groups. And that's what we work to do with that group to get them to understand each other, to build trust among them, to support each other, to learn how to ask good questions, but also to learn how to explain concepts with clarity. As you know, it's one thing to earn an A yourself, it's another thing to help someone else do well. And so to feel that sense of responsibility makes all the difference in the world. So building community among those students, very important.
Número 3: calen investigadors per formar investigadors. Ja siguin artistes que formen artistes o siguin alumnes de ciències socials, sigui quina sigui la disciplina; en una ciència o enginyeria calen científics o enginyers com a formadors. Per això els nostres alumnes van sovint al laboratori.
Third, the idea of, it takes researchers to produce researchers. Whether you're talking about artists producing artists or you're talking about people getting into the social sciences, whatever the discipline -- and especially in science and engineering, as in art, for example -- you need scientists to pull the students into the work. And so our students are working in labs regularly.
En tinc un exemple molt bo. Durant una tempesta de neu a Baltimore, fa uns anys, un home del campus amb una beca de l'Institut Mèdic Howard Hughes va tornar al laboratori després d'uns dies i els estudiants no volien sortir-ne. S'havien proveït de menjar. Treballaven al laboratori i veien la feina, no com a deures, sinó com la seva vida. Treballant en recerca sobre la SIDA. Estaven estudiant una proteïna impressionant. I tots estaven concentrats en la feina. No es pot demanar més.
And one great example that you'll appreciate: During a snowstorm in Baltimore several years ago, the guy on our campus with this Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant literally came back to work in his lab after several days, and all these students had refused to leave the lab. They had food they had packed out. They were in the lab working, and they saw the work, not as schoolwork, but as their lives. They knew they were working on AIDS research. They were looking at this amazing protein design. And what was interesting was each one of them focused on that work. And he said, "It doesn't get any better than that."
I número 4: quan teniu la comunitat les altes expectatives i els investigadors formant investigadors, necessites personal a la facultat disposat a involucrar-se dins i fora de l'aula. Mai no oblidaré aquell que va convocar una reunió: "Hi ha un noi negre a classe que sembla que no li interessa el que fem. No pren apunts. Hem de parlar amb ell." L'important és que es fixava en cada estudiant per veure qui s'implicava i qui no i deia: "A veure què hi puc fer. Deixa'm parlar-ho amb els altres." Era molt proper. Aquell jove avui és doctor en neuroenginyeria a Duke. Un gran aplaudiment per a ell.
And then finally, if you've got the community and you've got the high expectations and you've got researchers producing researchers, you have to have people who are willing as faculty to get involved with those students, even in the classroom. I'll never forget a faculty member calling the staff and saying, "I've got this young man in class, a young black guy, and he seems like he's just not excited about the work. He's not taking notes. We need to talk to him." What was significant was that the faculty member was observing every student to understand who was really involved and who was not and was saying, "Let me see how I can work with them. Let me get the staff to help me out." It was that connecting. That young man today is actually a faculty member M.D./Ph.D. in neuroengineering at Duke. Give him a big hand for that.
[aplaudiments]
(Applause)
L'important és que hem desenvolupat un model que ens ajuda a saber què funciona no només amb una avaluació final. Hem après que hem de redissenyar els plans d'estudis. Ja hem redissenyat el de química i el de física. Ara estem estudiant els d'humanitats i de ciències socials perquè molts estudiants s'avorreixen a classe. Sabíeu que molts estudiants, a l'escola i a la universitat, no volen només seure i escoltar algú que parla. Necessiten motivació.
And so the significance is that we have now developed this model that is helping us, not only finally with evaluation, assessing what works. And what we learned was that we needed to think about redesigning courses. And so we redesigned chemistry, we redesigned physics. But now we are looking at redesigning the humanities and social sciences. Because so many students are bored in class. Do you know that? Many students, K-12 and in universities, don't want to just sit there and listen to somebody talk. They need to be engaged.
I els l'estem donant. Si mireu el lloc web del nostre Centre de Descobriment de la Química hi trobareu gent que ve de tot el país a veure com estem redissenyant els plans, centrant-nos en la col·laboració, l'ús de tecnologia, l'ús de problemes de les empreses biotecnològiques del campus, i no donant la teoria als estudiants, sinó fent que s'hi barallin. I funciona tan bé que a la universitat estem redissenyant més i més plans d'estudis.
And so we have done -- if you look at our website at the Chemistry Discovery Center, you'll see people coming from all over the country to look at how we are redesigning courses, having an emphasis on collaboration, use of technology, using problems out of our biotech companies on our campus, and not giving students the theories, but having them struggle with those theories. And it's working so well that throughout our university system in Maryland, more and more courses are being redesigned.
S'anomena <i>innovació acadèmica</i>.
It's called academic innovation.
I què significa tot això? Significa que ara, no és només per ciència i enginyeria, sinó que tenim programes per a les arts, les humanitats i les ciències socials, per a formació de professorat i especialment per a dones i les TIC. Si no ho sabeu, hi ha hagut un descens d'un 79% en el nombre de dones que estudien ciències informàtiques des de 2000. El que vull dir és que el que pot suposar un canvi és crear una comunitat d'alumnes i dir a les minories, a les dones i a tots els estudiants: "Pots fer-ho." I, sobretot, donar-los l'oportunitat de fer comunitat, amb els professors motivant-los i nosaltres valorant què funciona i què no. I si un estudiant és conscient del que vol, és sorprenent com els somnis i els valors poden aconseguir-ho tot.
And what does all of that mean? It means that now, not just in science and engineering, we now have programs in the arts, in the humanities, in the social sciences, in teacher education, even particularly for women in I.T. If you don't know it, there's been a 79-percent decline in the number of women majoring in computer science just since 2000. And what I'm saying is that what will make the difference will be building community among students, telling young women, young minority students and students in general, you can do this work. And most important, giving them a chance to build that community with faculty pulling them into the work and our assessing what works and what does not work. Most important, if a student has a sense of self, it is amazing how the dreams and the values can make all the difference in the world.
Quan era a la presó de Birmingham amb 12 anys pensava: "Com serà el meu futur?" No sabia que un nen negre de Birmingham podia arribar a ser president d'una universitat amb estudiants de 150 països on els estudiants no només sobrevivien, sinó que volien aprendre i els agradava ser els millors, on algun dia canviarien el món.
When I was a 12-year-old child in the jail in Birmingham, I kept thinking, "I wonder what my future could be." I had no idea that it was possible for this little black boy in Birmingham to one day be president of a university that has students from 150 countries, where students are not there just to survive, where they love learning, where they enjoy being the best, where they will one day change the world.
Aristòtil va dir: "L'excel·lència mai no és casual. És el resultat de la intenció, l'esforç i l'execució intel·ligent. Representa l'opció més sàvia entre moltes alternatives." I va dir una cosa que em posa la pell de gallina. "L'elecció, no l'atzar, determina el teu destí." L'elecció, no l'atzar, determina el teu destí, els somnis i els valors.
Aristotle said, "Excellence is never an accident. It is the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. It represents the wisest option among many alternatives." And then he said something that gives me goosebumps. He said, "Choice, not chance, determines your destiny." Choice, not chance, determines your destiny, dreams and values.
Moltes gràcies.
Thank you all very much.
[aplaudiments]
(Applause)