Update 2003

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Update 2003 General Education Initiative
Avron Abraham, Ph.D. Chair Faculty Senate
Committee on General Education Karen Bauer,
Ph.D. Office of Undergraduate Studies
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General Education Initiative

• 10 Goals
• Initial implementation
• 3-Year pilot period (2000-2003)

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• Current Initiatives
• First Year Experience
• Pathways
• LIFE
• First Year Seminar
• Capstone Experience
• Assessment

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Objectives of Assessment Plan

• Meet institutional need to examine impact
• of pilot period
• Formative and summative purposes
• Institutionally-developed instruments
• Continual adjustments made

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Two Major Branches of Assessment

• Faculty, students, and peer mentors perceptions
  of specific programmatic initiatives
• Institutionally-developed surveys
• Direct evidence about the effects of the General
  Education Initiative
• GPA, PGI analyses
• UNIV101 final projects
• Writing prompts
• Major selection and course-taking patterns

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Assessment 2000-03

• Examines
• value of LIFE and Pathways
• breadth of capstone learning experiences
• Offers insight into value of interdisciplinary
• and connected learning
• Includes both direct and indirect measures
• All evaluation reports available
• evaluation reports
• More assessment still to be completed

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L!FEWhat is it?

• Learning Integrated Freshman Experience
• Living-learning communities for first year
  students co-enrolled in thematically linked
  courses with support structure
• Enrichment activities that link learning to
  practice
• Single-semester all in one package (more if
  they want)
• L!FE Web

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LIFE Summary Enrollment Data Semester
Clusters Students Fall 00
11 123 Spring 01 10
49 Fall 01 17
178 Winter 02 1
11 Spring 02 7
49 Fall 02 22
207 Winter 03 1
17 Spring 03 3
21 TOTAL 72
655
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Learning Integrated Freshman Experience

• Students learned more about campus, met faculty,
  made friends, had good academic start
• Some LIFE students enjoyed it so much they
  continued in the spring (but most believed they
  received the greatest benefits from fall
  attendance)
• Faculty contacts said they do it because they are
  rewarded by interactions with students
• UNIV 101 course meets objectives, but some
  students and faculty want more academic focus

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02F SAT GPA Comparisons
02F gpa significantly higher for LIFE students.
Honors students not included.
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Pathways to DiscoveryWhat is it?

• Credit-bearing courses that are introductions to
  cross-cutting ideas (pathway to disciplines,
  majors, experiences, and resources)
• Variety of means of delivery
• Focus on Goals 1, 2, 3, 6
• Pathways
• Science and Religion

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Pathways to Discovery Summary Enrollment
Data Semester Courses
Students Fall 00 7
386 Spring 01 3
174 Fall 01 9
641 Spring 02 3
137 Fall 02 8
356 Spring 03 4
208 TOTAL 34
1902
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Pathways CoursesStudent Evaluations

• Students think courses have enhanced their
  communication, info technology, problem-solving
  skills, and integration of ideas
• Greatest difference between Pathways and other
  courses is the amount of group work

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Pathways Courses Faculty Survey Responses

• Highly interested and dynamic group of faculty
• Like the peer interactions that occurred
• Like watching students grow, learn, develop
  confidence
• However course development very time consuming
• Feel squeezed with other department instructional
  needs

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Capstone Experience What Is It?

• Capstone Experience The Capstone Experience
  requires students to integrate, synthesize and
  reflect on what has been learned across a course
  of study.
• The Capstone may be a traditional course, senior
  seminar, field experience, internship, career
  preparation experience, research, travel,
  exhibition or portfolio.
• The Capstone may be discipline-centered or
  interdisciplinary experiences.

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Capstone Survey

• 03S Survey received from 45 programs
• Predominant focus on seminar, writing, and career
  preparation
• Many see the capstone seminar critical to senior
  level students education
• Top-ranked goal to foster integration
  synthesis in the major
• A few departments challenged with how to serve
  the needs of large majors

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• Other Concurrent Initiatives
• Service based Learning
• Task Force on Oral and Written Communication
  Skills
• Global Citizenship
• Instructional Development and Support
• Grant Program
• Summer Institute
• ITUE
• PRESENT Teaching, Learning, and Technology
  Center

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• Recommendations
• Programmatic Initiatives
• Implementation Process

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• Programmatic Initiatives
• Information garnered through assessment
• Importance of group work
• Faculty student relationship
• Applications to real world
• Interdisciplinary nature
• Making U of D manageable to incoming
  first year students

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Programmatic Initiatives

• Information garnered from faculty input
• Recognition
• Assure course - Gen Ed goal alignment over time
• Instructional Development and Support
• Expand faculty base

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Programmatic Initiatives

• The Future
• Encourage innovation and build on 10 goals
• Creating consistent terminology
• Multicultural and Globalization
• Communication task force and E110/2nd writing
• Quantitative reasoning
• Ethics (academic and professional)

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Implementing the General Education Initiative
Creating a Unified Vision

• University
• College
• Department Program
• Students
• General Public

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• Implementation Process
• Centralized Coordination
• Faculty Senate Committee
• Faculty Involvement Instructional Development
• Faculty fellows program
• Gen Ed grant program
• Summer institute
• Ongoing assessment
• Quantitative and qualitative measures
• External review

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Faculty Senate Report September 2003