Dan Kline, GenEd Director AY18-19 GER Forum 1: What’s the Latest in GenEd? What’s on the Horizon? Dan Kline, GenEd Director Friday, 14 September 2018 LIB 302 | 11:30-12:30

UAA GERs: 3 Tiers, 7 Categories, 9 Outcomes Tier I: Basic & Crosscutting Skills (12 cr) Written Comm (6 cr) Oral Comm (3 cr) Quantitative Lit (3 cr) Tier II: Disciplinary Knowledge (22 cr) Natural Sciences (7 cr) Social Sciences (6 cr) Humanities (6 cr) Fine Arts (3 cr) Tier III: Integrative Capstone (3 cr) Meets GER in the major Integration of Tier I in major After completing the GERs, UAA students should be able to: Communicate effectively in a variety of contexts and formats. Reason mathematically and analyze quantitative and qualitative data competently to reach sound conclusions. Relate knowledge to the historical context in which it developed and the human problems it addresses. Interpret different systems of aesthetic representation and understand their historical and cultural contexts. Investigate the complexity of human institutions and behavior to better understand interpersonal, group and cultural dynamics. Identify ways in which science has advanced the understanding of important natural processes. Locate and use relevant information to make appropriate personal and professional decisions. Adopt critical perspectives for understanding the forces of globalization and diversity. Integrate knowledge and employ skills gained to synthesize creative thinking, critical judgment and personal experience in a meaningful and coherent manner.

The Vision Thing: From GERs to GenEd Program “Why do I have to take this stoopid course?” Compliance / Reporting Menu & Checklist Course-based & discipline-focused Category specific Individual responsibility Curricular maze Overly complicated Too many courses Too many outcomes Inconsistent pathways Prerequisite issues “There are good (pedagogically sound and curricularly coherent) reasons for you to take these courses!” Values / Teaching & Learning Shared outcomes & collective understanding Cross-cutting skills & cumulative experience Mutual investment (GenEd ↔ Majors/Progr/Profs) GER-initiated & program-developed “Umbrella” indicators – seeded & mapped “General” education Shared expectations & responsibility Better communication (faculty, students/parents, others) Closing the Loop: pedagogy & assessment

GER Shared-Assessment Principles Because so many of the GER SLOs are “cross-cutting skills” valued across the curriculum, we have built the GER assessment so that it is Shared across all curricula & developed by cross-disciplinary faculty Sampled from a wide variety of student work in all courses Sustainable alongside UAA’s current robust course- and program-level assessment processes GER shared assessment offers a snapshot of collective student achievement across the breadth of UAA programs All indicators are faculty-developed based upon UAA curriculum review materials and coordinated with the AAC&U’s LEAP indicators and VALUE rubrics where possible GenEd is everyone’s business!

Faculty-Developed GER Outcomes & Indicators  Full Cycle Complete AY14-15 – Faculty Senate GER Assessment Committee recommendations (GenEd Director & three outcomes per year) & GELO task force AY15-16 – Rubric 1: Written Communication, Oral Communication, and Information Literacy. GER assessment AY16-17 – Rubric 2: Social Sciences, Humanities, and Fine Arts GER & AA assessment (shared assessment and simplified outcomes) aligned AY17-18 – Rubric 3: Natural Sciences, Quantitative Skills, and Knowledge Integration. GER, AA, AAS (shared assessment and aligned curriculum; all five UAA campuses)

AA Assessment: From Five Separate to One Shared One UAA AA Degree but Five Sets of Outcomes and Five Different Assessment Plans AY16-17: AA Program Review Single Assessment Plan fro all UAA campuses Shared Set of Simplified Outcomes (opposite) AY17-18: Now Coordinated with GER & AAS “related instruction” Shared materials and artifacts Shared rubrics Common team New Shared AA Outcomes Communicate Effectively Think Critically Evaluate Analytically Reason Empirically

Thumbnail View – GenEd Related Discussions AY18-19 Assessment Focus: Critical Thinking Workshops (Fa18 & Spr19): Mapping, SLOs, Scaffolding, Assignments Develop four shared indicators & map to AAC&U’s VALUE Rubric AKNT Refinement Diversity & Inclusion GenEd Initiative Interstate Passport ePortfolios Career Awareness (Equity & Inclusion Awareness) (High-Impact Practices) (Statewide Alignment Discussions)

Big Picture David Marshall: ”Learning Systems” approach Coordinated academic & student services efforts “Assignment Awareness” The whole institution(s) and whole student(s) Student Success Initiatives: Data-informed Decision Making ”Academic Pathways” (meta-majors)  Four categories of student FYA (First Year Advising)  “Safe Scheduling” FYE (First-Year Experience) UNIV courses & “Introduction to …” courses Tier 1 move to CTC “What do we want a UAA student to know and be able to do?”

Movement Toward Programmatic Definition GER Assessment Discussions Critical Thinking E-portfolios Course-level Inconsistencies Integrative Capstone Simplified Outcomes “Work Collaboratively” “Live Responsibly” 100- & 200-level / prereqs? Narrowed Course Offerings Coordinated / Scaffolded Assignments

Key Questions “Never waste a good crisis” What are the key criteria to guide our discussions concerning the next phase of GenEd? What structures & strengths do we already have in place to facilitate those discussions for that next phase? What is the best way to facilitate those discussions efficiently? What would you add?

The Bottom Line With nearly one-third of the baccalaureate degree and one-half of the Associate of Arts degree committed to the General Education Requirements, we must continue to communicate the pedagogical value of the GenEd and its fundamental importance to a college education and to a successful career, and we must continue to do meaningful assessment that furthers student success in all areas of their university experience. A programmatically coherent, pedagogically coordinated, consistently communicated, and curricularly (and extra-curricularly) aligned GER is central to fulfilling UAA’s mission.