Changing Understandings of Liberal and Liberal Education

COPLAC Summer MeetingKeene, New Hampshire

June 20, 2009

Carol Geary SchneiderPresident

The Emerging National Dialogue on American Capability

Two Locations:

Campus Faculty and Leaders

Employers

AAC&U – Connecting Educators with Employers

2000-2005 – Greater Expectations

A National Dialogue About Goals and Effective Practices in College Learning

2005-2015 – Liberal Education and America’s Promise

(LEAP) A Ten-Year Effort to Make

Excellence Inclusive

Preparing Students for Twenty-First Century Realities

The Essential Learning Outcomes

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

Focused on engagement with enduring and contemporary big questions

Intellectual and Practical SkillsPracticed extensively across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance

Personal and Social ResponsibilityAnchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges

Integrative LearningDemonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

The World is Demanding More

There is a demand for more numbers of college educated workers.

There is also a demand that those educated workers have higher levels of learning and knowledge.

Why Is There a Need for Higher Levels of Learning?

In a globalized knowledge economy, the capacity to drive innovation is the key strategic economic advantage

Rapid scientific and technological innovations are changing the workplace and demanding more of all employees

Global interdependence and complex cross-cultural interactions increasingly define modern society and the workplace and call for new levels of knowledge and capability

6

Productivity Is Now Tied to Learning…

Half Life of Industries, Companies, Jobs, and Skills Decreasing

Today's Students Will Have 10-14 Jobs By the Time They are 38

50% of Workers Have Been With Their Company Less Than 5 Years

25% Less than 1 Year

Breadth, Depth, & Application of Academic Preparation is Expanding

DOL-BLS

Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success

and Earnings

“Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students’ development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities…”

Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown UniversityCenter on Education and the Workforce

The Growing Demand for Higher Order SkillsSource: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index

In a Knowledge Economy, Liberal Education Has Become the Key to American Capability

and Student Success

Employers Strongly Endorse the LEAP “Essential Learning

Outcomes” – And They Urge New Effort to

Help All Students Achieve Them

National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and

Graduates’ Work ReadinessAAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (first in 2006 and next in 2007) to interview employers (C-level suite executives) whose companies report that 25% or

more of their new hires hold at least a bachelor’s degree.

Findings are summarized in the following reports:How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in

Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability

Challenge (AAC&U, 2008)

See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research

Balance of Broad Knowledge and Specific Skills Preferred

Source: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed inToday’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

How important is it for colleges and universities to provide the type

of education described below?

This particular approach to a four-year college education provides both broad knowledge in a variety of areas of study and more in-depth knowledge in a specific major or field of interest. It also helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as intellectual and practical skills that span all areas of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.

Source: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

How important is it for colleges and universities to provide this type of education

(see previous slide)?

26%

1%4%

69%

Less/not important

Fairly importantVery important

Not sure

Business Leaders

* 76% of employers would recommend this type of education to a young person they know.

Source: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

The Salary Premium for Liberal Education Outcomes

From a federal database analyzing qualifications for 1,100 different jobs, there is consistent evidence that the highest salaries apply to positions that call for intensive use of liberal education capabilities, including (random order):

WritingInductive and Deductive ReasoningJudgment and Decision MakingProblem SolvingSocial/Interpersonal SkillsMathematicsOriginality

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

Liberal Education and Career Success

Students need to know that the marketplace richly rewards graduates who possess high levels of competence in key liberal learning outcomes.

Moreover, students who lack the hallmarks of a liberal education will not gain access to paths that require these high level capabilities.

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

Employers Seek Evidence that Graduates Can Apply Their

Learning to Real-World Problems

Employers Advise on Where to Focus Assessment Resources

One/Two Practices to Which Colleges Should Devote Resources

Source: How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? AAC&U/ Peter D. Hart Research, 2008

Implications for COPLAC

1. Give Students a Compass – and Educators Too

SHARED Responsibility for Essential Learning Outcomes

Goals/Outcomes for All Students’ College Learning

24%

42%

49%

61%

73%

87%

87%

90%

91%

92%Humanities

Science

Social sciences

Global/world cultures

Mathematics

Diversity in U.S.

Technology

U.S. history

Languages

Sustain-ability 63%

65%

66%

68%

75%

76%

79%

88%

91%

95%

99%Writing skills

Critical thinking

Quantitative reasoning

Oral communication

Intercultural skills

Information literacy

Ethical reasoning

Civic engagement

Application of learning

Research skills

Integration of learning

Among respondents from campuses WITH campus-wide goals, percent saying their institution’s common set of learning goals/outcomes addresses each area of knowledge/intellectual skills & ability

Areas of Knowledge Intellectual Skills/Ability

But Many Students Do Not Understand the Expected

Learning Outcomes

How many of your students understand your institution’s intended goals or outcomes for undergraduate learning?*

* Among members at institutions with learning outcomes for all undergraduates

Majority

Some

Almost allNot many

Current Strategies for Helping Students Understand

Intended Learning Goals

* Among members at institutions with learning outcomes for all undergraduates

In which of these ways does your institution explain intended learning goals or outcomes to students?*

Institutional catalogCourse syllabiWeb siteFaculty advisorsOrientation programStudent advising systemInstitution’s view bookFirst-year seminar/course

86%74%68%64%63%62%22%3%

2. Engage the Departments

General Education – Necessary But Not Sufficient

Every Major Plays a Crucial Role in Students’ Achievement of the Essential Learning Outcomes

3. Embed High Impact/ High Effort Practices WITHIN General Education AND

the Major

High Impact Practices

First-Year Seminars and Experiences 

Common Intellectual Experiences

Learning Communities

Writing-Intensive Courses

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

“Science as Science Is Done”/Undergraduate Research

Diversity/Global Learning

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

Internships

Capstone Courses and Projects

4. Show What Students Can Do With Their Knowledge

The Proof is In the Portfolio

Our Students’ Best Work MUST Provide the Best and Most Compelling Evidence – of Students’ Achievement and Americans’ Capabilities

A New Framework for Student Success

Shared Goals – That Build American CapabilityHigh Impact Practices that Support Essential

Learning OutcomesDisaggregated Data – That Shine a Light on

Underserved Students’ Progress and Achievement

Students’ Best Work – Sampled and Synthesized For Public Reporting

In Sum: We Need Campus-Wide Commitment—and Capacity—to Foster Essential

Learning Outcomes and Liberal Education

This is a Defining Moment…

And Making Excellence Inclusive is Absolutely Fundamental to Our Future