A One of the problems of trying to encourage faculty and administrators to embrace concepts of the learning college is that they are cynical from failed past reform efforts. This is quite understandable given our penchant for trying on a new reform idea every three or four years. There is a difference in the ideas related to the learning college and attempts of colleges to become more learning-centered. Past efforts to reform have not included these two key purposes that makes this effort significantly different from past reform efforts. There is no guarantee, of course, that the learning college will have any effect at all in changing education.
Success depends upon so many factors including leadership and the current health of the institution.
I believe the principles apply equally well to all levels of education from K through graduate school. We haven't really had enough experience in applying concepts of the learning college yet to know if that is quite true. I am impressed, however, with the reforms that are occuring throughout K through 12 schools in this country. Many of them, particularly those engaged in project-based education as championed by the Autodesk Foundation, are very promising. There are many concrete examples from these case studies that illustrate how the learning college is beginning to take shape on the national scene.