What is LEAP? Roundtable Discussions October 19 & 20

LEAP Liberal Education & America’s Promise

AAC&U Initiative Begun 2005, continuing through 2015 What is LEAP?3 Key liberal education outcomes for every college students Generating research on these outcomes Designations – LEAP college or university Worcester is a LEAP University – LEAP state Massachusetts is discussing becoming a LEAP state

AAC&U Initiative LEAP Campus Action Network (CAN) – More than 300 colleges and universities – Share best practices – Strengthen educational achievement on campus – Improve ability to communicate value of a liberal education What is LEAP?4 Sent a team in 2009 Jillian Anderson, Daron Barnard, Andrea Bilics, Lori Dawson, Linda Larrivee, Ray Lewis, Bonnie Orcutt, Emily Soltano

Engaging Departments Institute (EDI) Action plan developed at EDI Action plan What is LEAP?5

LEAP Vision for Learning Starting in School…  Curriculum focused on essential learning outcomes  Comprehensive, individualized  Learning-centered advising  Participation in service learning and civic engagement activities  Culminating projects assessed for achievement of essential learning outcomes Deepening Through Challenging Studies in College, including …  Broad integrative learning  Big questions  Analytical, applied, and integrative learning across all major fields  Active involvement with diverse communities  Real-world problems, and social responsibility What is LEAP?6

LEAP Vision for Learning Enriched by Student Engagement in High-Impact Educational Practices …  First-year seminars and experiences  Common intellectual experiences  Learning communities  Writing-intensive courses  Collaborative assignments and projects  Undergraduate research  Diversity and global learning  Service and community-based learning  Internships  Capstone courses and projects What is LEAP?7

LEAP Vision for Learning With a constant focus on the Essential Learning Outcomes …  From school through college  Across general education and majors, curriculum and cocurriculum  At progressively more challenging levels  Evaluated consistently through milestone and capstone assessments  For all students – including and especially those from underserved communities What is LEAP?8

Essential Learning Outcomes Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies, students should prepare for twenty-first century challenges by gaining:  Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World  Intellectual and Practical Skills  Personal and Social Responsibility  Integrative and Applied Learning What is LEAP?9

Liberal Education An approach to college learning that seeks to empower individuals and prepare them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change What is LEAP?10 Emphasizes broad knowledge of the wider world as well as in-depth achievement in at least one specific field of study Develop sense of social responsibility, strong cross-disciplinary intellectual and practical skills, and demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings

General Education Part of a liberal education curriculum that is shared by all students What is LEAP?11 Broad exposure to multiple disciplines, forms the basis for developing important intellectual, civic, and practical capacities

Framework for Excellence 7 Principles in framework for Excellence  Aim High – Make Excellence Inclusive  Give Students a Compass  Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation  Engage the Big Questions  Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action  Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning  Assess Students’ Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems What is LEAP?12

High-Impact Practices (HIPs)  First-year seminars  Learning communities  Service learning  Study abroad  Student-faculty research  Senior culminating experience – capstone courses, internships What is LEAP?13

Already Underway  First-year seminars  Learning communities  Theme Semester  Big questions  Service learning & civic engagement  Real-world problems  Personal responsibility  Integrated learning  Davis grant What is LEAP?14

LASC & LEAP What is LEAP?15

Program Learning Outcomes Biology What is LEAP?16

Future Discussions  Value Rubrics – next roundtable  Assessment across disciplines  LASC assessment  NSSE data  HIPs and student engagement  Faculty-student relationships What is LEAP?17