Toward Seamless Educational Experiences

May 4, 2010

General Education in California

Charles Schroeder

Senior Associate Consultant, Noel-Levitz

Presentation Overview• Why seamless education? Why now?

• Creating powerful transactions

• Student engagement and effective educational practices that enhance it.

• Learning communities: Seamless, low-cost education

• Final suggestions

• Conclusion

• Helpful resources…five sections

Why now? Changes and challenges • Declining levels of academic preparation

• Dramatic demographic changes

• Rapid rise in cost of attendance

• Shifting economic agendas … current fiscal crisis

• Greater calls for access, affordability, and accountability

• Unacceptable retention and graduation rates

• High levels of student disengagement

• Fragmented curriculum with little coherence & integration

• New ways of defining “collegiate quality”

One wish to improve….

• Students

• Faculty

• Administrators

Our challenges…

“Our challenges are no longer technical issues of how to allocate rising revenues, but difficult adaptive problems of how to lead when conditions are constantly changing, resources are tight, expectations are high and options are limited. We live in an age of transformational, not technical, change. Our leadership, like our institutions, must become transformational as well.”

The Kellogg Commission

Finding opportunity in adversity?During times of diminishing resources and retrenchment:

• Can we produce more learning with fewer resources ?

• How might we connect and integrate core curriculum and core experiences?

• Can we create systems that support performance by integrating curricular and co-curricular elements in a seamless, mutually supportive and more coherent fashion?

• Should we continue to engage in business as usual and do more with less? Or, do we engage in new business and do less with less more effectively.

Meeting our challenges: Propositions

• Proposition #1: Our mission is to design a general education experience that is really empowering & transformational.

• Proposition #2: We must measure our success as educators on the basis of the quality of encounters we arrange, in and outside the classroom.

• Proposition #3: If quality lies in the encounters we arrange, then we must ensure that these encounters are powerful, even transformational ones…. not only for our students, but for us, our universities / system, as well as California and America.

Astin’s Transaction Model

I

INPUT

Entering

characteristics

O

OUTCOMES

Desired

results

E

ENVIRONMENT

Full range of

experiences

INPUT: At-risk Characteristics

• Unrealistic expectations

• Financial / affordability

• Underprepared / basic skills

• Underperforming record

• Lack motivation / intellectual

self-confidence

• First generation

• Students of color

• Lack of support system

• Math anxiety

• Low socioeconomic status

• Working excessive hours

• Inappropriate courses

• Disengaged / uninvolved

• Weak study skills

• Transition concerns

• Diverse learning patterns

The TRAILS Project ... The case for active learning

• Concrete active learners value knowledge for its practical utility and perform best in learning situations that emphasize direct, concrete experiences; moderate to high degrees of structure; and a linear, step-by-step approach.

• Abstract reflective learners prefer the global to the particular; are stimulated by the realm of concepts, ideas, and abstractions; love learning for learning’s sake; and, prefer high degrees of autonomy.

Differences or Deficiencies?

Student engagement: The key to empowering transactions

…the time and energy students devote to educationally sound activities, inside and outside of the classroom, and the policies and practices that institutions use to induce students to take part in these activities…

Two components of student engagement• What students do --- time and energy devoted to

educationally purposeful activities.

• What institutions do --- using effective educational practices to induce students to do the right things.

Our Challenge: How do we make general education and first / second-year learning experiences more seamless …where in-class and out-of-class experiences are intentionally designed to be mutually supportive and where students take full advantage of all institutional resources for learning?

ALIGNMENT …. ALIGNMENT….ALIGNMENT

Lessons from High Performing Institutions: Project DEEPDEEP: Documenting Educationally Effective Practices

Overall Goal: To discover, document and describe what high performing institutions do and how they achieved this level of effectiveness.

Selection Criteria: Much better than predicted graduation rates and much higher than predicted scores on the five NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement ) benchmarks.

Educationally effective practices

• Talent development philosophy

• High expectations for student

effort / performance

• Clear pathways to student

success

• Provide frequent, meaningful

feedback

• Enhance advising

• Human scale settings

• Use engaging pedagogical

approaches

• Redefine the classroom /

optimize campus resources

• Create performance support

systems / safety nets

• Integrate core curriculum with

core experiences

• Learning communities ---

seamless, low cost education

Learning Community Objectives

• Enhance students` transition to college.

• Make the campus psychologically small by creating peer reference groups.

• Encourage group identity development and engagement

• Provide a seamless educational experience for students by connecting faculty, students, disciplines and co-curricular experiences in a purposeful, powerful, and coherent fashion.

• Enhance students` academic and social success.

Learning Communities … Models• Paired (clustered), blocked or linked courses

• Coordinated studies (team-taught) programs

• Residential Living Learning Centers (LLC`s)

• Sponsored learning communities (WISE … Women in Science and Engineering; The World of Business; Pathways; Science and Society, etc.)

• Student cohorts in small and large classes (i.e. Freshmen Interest Groups …. FIGs).

• Transfer Interest Groups; TRIGs) …Commuter / adult learner virtual learning communities, etc.

Benefits to Students

• Friendships and a sense of belonging

• Much higher levels of engagement …social and academic integration

• Improved academic performance and retention (+10%)

• Greater intellectual energy and confidence

• Enhanced appreciation of diversity/ other perspectives

• Stronger intellectual connections

• Greater intellectual development

Evaluation results … NSSE

• From a study of 1.3 million students at 1100 institutions, students, as a group, who participated in some form of learning community scored significantly higher on all five NSSE benchmarks …..

Level of Academic Challenge

Active and Collaborative Learning

Faculty – Student Interaction

Enriching Educational Experiences

Supportive Campus Environments

University of Missouri Impact Data* FLC`s F.T.C.

Fall Term G.P.A. 2.89 2.66

Cumulative G.P.A. 2.83 2.65

African-American G.P.A. 2.82 2.25

All Minority 2.97 2.35

Fall-Fall Retention 87.5% 80.5%

Retention to Junior year + 11%

Retention to Senior year + 8%

Graduation rates (4, 5, 6 year) + 4-10%

*Controlled for entering ability levels

Ten suggestions for transforming the general education experience1. Develop a widely shared vision of student success …

focus on doing a few things for large numbers of students

2. Raise the bar – establish high expectations for everyone

3. Use multiple settings to encourage student engagement

4. Cultivate an ethic of positive restlessness and a culture of evidenced-based quality…. “Gen. ed. learning circles”

5. Encourage collaboration – within and across academic and institutional lines & between the campus and community--- and create unity without uniformity ---UWM

Forge general education partnerships through collaboration• Create cross departmental teams to explore areas of general

ed. improvement (i.e. faculty learning circles) within institutions and with feeder community colleges.

• Consider establishing some common institutional and system “promising practices / standards” for engagement in general education (i.e. experiential; fourth credit option)

• Foster alliances with area alumni who can communicate the vocational value of general education in admissions literature and though new student and transfer orientation.

• Catalogue and showcase effective gen. ed. pedagogical practices that are transferable throughout the system.

Ten suggestions (cont.)

6. Draw a map for student success – include a “job description”

7. Engage in systematic inquiry – generate timely, relevant information to inform and improve student and general education performance

8. Focus on students who are under engaged

9. Put money where it will make a difference in student engagement

10. Become transformational leaders – challenge assumptions, take risks, and encourage innovation.

Conclusion: Become transformational general education leaders

Creating an empowering general education experience requires transformational leadership …

…. Challenging prevailing assumptions

…. Leaving our comfort zones

…. Reaching across the aisles

…. Engaging in new business

Carpe Diem!!!

Overview of Helpful resources• Section One: Questions for reflection and discussion for

improving the efficacy of general education

• Section Two: What we can learn from educationally effective, highly engaged community colleges

• Section Three: Major themes from Project DEEP ; learning community design principles and definitions

• Section Four: Best practices for transfer students

• Section Four: 12 books, monographs and websites that incorporate promising practices for enhancing general education, engagement, learning and success.

• Section Five: Speaker's contact information

Questions for reflection & discussion• In what ways do students` background and talents influence

teaching & learning in general education courses.

• Are general education outcomes clear and consistently communicated to students in ways they understand them? Do students understand the vocational value of general education?

• To what extent do faculty members experiment with engaging pedagogies and share what works with colleagues?

• What kind and how early &often do students get feedback on their performance in general education courses?

Questions for reflection & discussion• How often do students work with one another on group

projects and class presentations in gen. ed. courses?

• What “high risk” (30%+ D`s, F`s) general education courses affect attrition for freshmen and sophomores?

• Are students in general education courses required to take advantage of writing centers, math and science tutorials, and technology support centers by the third week of class?

• What gen. ed. course “bottlenecks” inhibit time to degree?

• Are students in general education courses expected to hold their peers accountable through peer evaluations, group projects and study groups?

Lessons we can learn from effective, best- practice community colleges• SPECIALNESS : Student-centered in a “super-sized”

way! …. “it's all about the students, and everybody knows it”… “students see inspiration in us , and we get inspiration from them” … “philosophy of equality”

• Everybody sings from the same songbook …clear and compelling vision and coherence (unity without uniformity), alignment and seamlessness.

• High expectations and continuing support go hand in hand. “Everyone understands what is expected of them”… “Being a serious student is recognized here”

Common elements (cont.)• We're bold, we're flexible and we take risks. “We're

like our students: we're gutsy, we`re not timid, and we`re willing to take calculated risks. We`re strategic …so we don't go whichever way the wind blows”.

• We forge creative partnerships …inside and outside the institution to strengthen the learning environment.

• Self-examination is the norm and the data are the starting point. “We see assessment as learning …using data and research to help guide us at getting better”

• Believe in active and collaborative learning --- for everyone .“We are all teachers. We are all learners” “We’ve moved from being `teaching-to-learning-centered’”

Learning Community Design: Principles of Good Practice• Faculty – student contact

• Cooperation among students

• Active learning

• Prompt feedback

• Time on task

• High expectations

• Diverse ways of learning

Chickering and Gamson, 1987

Behind LC outcomes --- The Four I`s

Student success was enhanced by :

… facilitating student's incorporation into university life and culture

… encouraging involvement in educationally purposeful activities in and out of class

… promoting effective interaction with faculty and peers

… assisting students in integrating diverse academic and campus experiences

Project DEEP institutions

• Alverno College

• Cal State-Monterey Bay

• Evergreen State College

• Fayetteville State University

• George Mason University

• Gonzaga University

• Longwood University

• Macalester University

• Miami University

• Sewanee (University of the South)

• Sweet Briar College

• University of Kansas

• University of Maine, Farmington

• University of Michigan

• University of Texas, El Paso

• Ursinus College

• Wabash College

• Wheaton College (MA)

• Winston-Salem State University

• Wofford College

Project DEEP : Six Conditions that Matter to Student Success

• Clearly articulated educational purposes and aspirations.

• Unshakeable focus on student learning

• Environments adapted for educational enrichment

• Clear pathways to student success

• An improvement-oriented ethos

• Shared responsibility for educational quality and student success

Defining Learning Communities “Learning communities intentionally link or cluster two or

more courses, often around an interdisciplinary theme or problem, and enroll a common cohort of students. They represent an intentional restructuring of students` time , credit, and learning experiences to build community, enhance learning , and foster connections among students, faculty, and disciplines. At their best, learning communities practice pedagogies of active engagement and reflection.”

Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate Education (2004)

Defining Learning Communities

“Learning communities are small subgroups of students …characterized by a common sense of purpose … that can be used to build a sense of group identity, cohesiveness, and uniqueness that encourages continuity and the integration of diverse curricular and co-curricular experiences”

Alexander Astin

Achieving Educational Excellence

Practices that enhance academic / social integration via engagement• Transfer learning communities…TRIGS, block schedules

and departmental sponsored learning communities

• Transfer Resource / Service / Success Centers

• Clear pathways to transfer student success … pre-enrollment FAQ`s; student transfer advocates; departmental sponsored orientation and incorporation programs and process; student / faculty mentors.

• Encourage formal connections with academic clubs, transfer student associations, etc.

• Early-alert / intervention for “at-risk”

Transfer practices that enhance curriculum planning / management• Gain access to the institutions strategic enrollment

management team….create a comprehensive, strategic transfer recruitment and retention plan.

• Determine, through assessment, curricular disconnects (course availability / scheduling) & “flow through” problems

• Appoint general education liaisons for community colleges

• Establish monthly general education “transfer forums” within and between institutions

• Develop tracking mechanisms (degree audits) and individualized academic plans for transfers.

Resources• Kuh, G. et. al Student Success in College: Creating

Conditions that Matter. Jossey-Bass, 2005

• Barefoot, B.O., Gardner, J.N., Schroeder, C. (et. al.) Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence in the First Year of College. Jossey -Bass, 2005.

• Kuh, et. al. Assessing Conditions to Enhance Educational Effectiveness: The Inventory of Student Engagement and Success. Jossey-Bass, 2005.

• Upcraft, M. L., Gardner, J. N., Barefoot, B.O. & Associates. Challenging and Supporting The First-Year Student: A Handbook for Improving the First Year of College. Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Resources Cont.)• National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students.

Multiple resources. www.unt.edu/transferinstitute/

• Tagg, J. The Learning Paradigm College. Anker Publishing, 2003

• Schroeder, C. “Collaborative Partnerships Between Academic and Student Affairs”. In Upcraft, L., Gardner, J,. & Barefoot, B. Challenging & Supporting The First-Year Student: A Handbook for Improving the First Year of College. Jossey -Bass, 2005, p. 204-220.

• Project DEEP Practice Briefs (Numbers 1-16). http://webdb.iu.edu/Nsse/?view=deep/briefs

Resources (Cont.)• Seymour, D. Once Upon a Campus: Lessons for

Improving Quality and Productivity in Higher Education. American Council on Education/ORYX Press, 1995 & 2002.

• Smith, B.. MacGregor, J., Matthews, R. & Gablenick. Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate Education. Jossey -Bass, 2004

• O’Banion, T. A Learning College of the 21st Century. AACC / ORYX Press, 1997.

• Swing, R. L. Proving and Improving: Strategies for Assessing the First College Year. National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience, 2001.

Speaker's Contact Information