Rising from the Ashes of First-Year Programs
Douglas Beckwith, Dean and Executive Director, University of Phoenix
In early 2010, the University of Phoenix and Axia College launched an innovative new ‘First Year Sequence’ for all incoming students. This 24-unit sequence of eight courses presents a gradual introduction to the complexity of learning technology. They will learn how this new approach fosters student engagement at the most critical stage of a student’s academic career. Participants will explore the Beckwith Hierarchy of First-Year Needs and discover how it applies to course design and sequencing.
Doug Beckwith is the Dean and Executive Director of Axia College, the Associates degree program at the University of Phoenix. He holds a Ph.D. in Human Sciences from Saybrook where he studied the nature of creativity, particularly in films. The title of his dissertation is Personal Values of Protagonists in Best Pictures and Blockbusters 1996-2005. In addition, he holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics with a specialty in teaching English as a Second Language from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in English and JD in law from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. In the various stages of his career, he has been a member of the Association for Training and Development (ASTD), the California Bar Association, and the Writers Guild of America.