WEST LIBERTY –West Liberty University Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Cathy Monteroso believes the goal of higher education has shifted from students obtaining knowledge to students acquiring the skills to put their knowledge to use.

Monteroso has worked in education in “some shape or form” for 35 years, beginning as a secondary education teacher. Over her career, Monteroso has served in many different roles at multiple higher education institutions.

Monteroso began her time at WLU 16 years ago as a faculty member. She has served in multiple administrative roles at the university, including as the dean for the College of Education & Human Performance.

Monteroso entered her current positions of provost and vice president of academic affairs in 2022. These two roles work hand in hand, with Monteroso’s main duty being to oversee academics at the university. She noted this includes “anything that incorporates the elements of instruction for students.”

“I oversee all of the components that a student needs academically, including the academic support services for students,” Monteroso said. “I also work with faculty on curriculum development and innovation as well as professional development.”

The most significant change Monteroso has observed during her time in secondary and higher education is how learning is facilitated for students. With students now keeping “all the knowledge in their hand” on their phones, Monteroso said the teacher’s role is no longer to give knowledge to their students.

“The learning process has become much more student-centered, where we use critical thinking elements, guide students through project-based learning and perform more field work,” Monteroso said. “Higher education has traditionally been centered around gaining knowledge. Now, we want to find out how to take that knowledge and apply it to the skills that students need in a particular field.”

This shift in education’s focus from gaining knowledge to applying skills can be seen in WLU classrooms. Monteroso said the university is focused on putting students in project-based learning situations where they must demonstrate that they can utilize the skills they were taught in the classroom.

“I have been a college coach, and there’s a big difference between an athlete performing a skill in a drill and implementing the skill on the field,” Monteroso noted. “It’s the same thing in higher education. These students need to take the skills and content that they’ve learned and implement it into real-world situations.”

Monteroso gave the university’s Loughman Lab as an example of “100% project-based learning,” as it provides students in the zoo science program the opportunity to work with crayfish.

“Our zoo science students are actually working with the crayfish and a conservationist, so they are getting real-world learning while in class,” Monteroso said. “We want to put more students in the field, including internship opportunities across all our programs.’

As the education field continues to develop more student-centered learning methods, Monteroso said the university will continue to evolve with it. This includes implementing new course content delivery methods for students and using more advanced, student-centered learning management systems.

“Technology and learning management systems have changed content delivery,” Monteroso said. “Obviously, we won’t be able to teach online without learning management systems, and they’re really revolutionizing how we teach in the classroom. We’re moving to Canvas, which is a more user-friendly learning management system for students that gives them everything they need in one location.”

Monteroso said the university is also focusing on how artificial intelligence will impact the delivery of classroom content. She said the school wants to implement the technology “ethically and efficiently.”

“I’ve been in education long enough that I remember when we began using databases to find articles,” Monteroso said. “There was a clear fear that people were going to plagiarize because it’s easy to cut a paste when something’s electronic, but we’ve been able to work through that. AI is a similar situation, and we have to give people the skills to identify what is correct content and legitimate information.”