Development of Student Learning Outcomes for GE: lessons from a collaborative approach A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Campus profile: Enrollment of 21,500 1,100 full and part-time faculty (591 T/TT) ≈55% transfers A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

GE Governance: GE committee (senate sub-committee) is responsible for: – Review of new GE course proposals – Implementing and ensuring compliance with GE policy (syllabi review) – Recommending changes in GE policy A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Lower DivisionUpper Division Area A Communication/ Critical thinking A1-Oral Communication A2-Written Communication A3-Critical Thinking Area B Natural Sciences B1-Physical ScienceIB - Integrative Sciences B2-Life Science B4-Quantitative Reasoning Area C Arts and Humanities C1-ArtsIC - Integrative Arts and Humanities C2-Humanities C1 or C2 Area D Social Sciences D1-American HistoryID Integrative Social Sciences D2 –American Government MI Multicultural / International D3-Social Science Area E Lifelong Learning E-Lifelong Learning Units39 units12 units 51 total units CSU Fresno GE Pattern

CSU Fresno GE pattern: Iterative writing across the curriculum A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

History of GE Outcomes at Fresno State: A set of learning outcomes was passed in 2003 – Written by one faculty member – 97 outcomes over 16 areas (1-10/area) A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Some were not measureable: “Students deal with human social, political, and economic institutions and behavior and their historical background” Or “Students will be prepared to function in an international, multicultural society” A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Some were really course intentions: “Students will prepare at least six written presentations which receive oral or written critiques by the instructor.” or “Students will study the influence of major social, cultural, economic and political forces on societal behavior and institutions” A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

AAC&U, General Education and Assessment: Engaging Critical Questions, Fostering Critical Learning, Miami Fl Mar 1-3, 2007 A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Premise: “In order to have a meaningful assessment of the GE program we need to start with a set of Student Learning Outcomes for each area that faculty truly embrace, implement and assess.” A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Fall 2007 workshops Faculty were invited to workshops to write outcomes by area (16 total). Workshops led by individual GE Committee members – Major obstacles: Lack of knowledge of the GE program Lack of knowledge of the requirements of EO 595 Even committee members didn’t always have a firm grasp on material Without a starting point, they lacked focus A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Fall 2007 workshops Faculty were invited to workshops to write outcomes by area (16 total). Workshops led by individual GE Committee members – Major obstacles: Lack of knowledge of the GE program Lack of knowledge of the requirements of EO 595 Even committee members didn’t always have a firm grasp on material Without a starting point, they lacked focus A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Spring 2008 Brought A1, A2 & A3 to meet with GE committee to work on outcomes – Worked for some areas (A2), while not others (A3) – Generally not enough time in a 2 hr meeting to have meaningful discussion A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

EO 1033 June 18, 2008 (requires outcomes based on LEAP framework) A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

LEAP Framework: Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world Intellectual and practical skills Personal and social responsibility Integrative learning A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Fall 2008 – Formation of GE Student Learning Outcomes Taskforce Office of the Provost committed 9 WTU release time for 3 faculty (20% time / member) Recommendations were sought from Deans and GEC Chair interviewed candidates – Chair of GEC (College of Agricultural Sciences) – One Faculty from History (College of Social Sciences) – One Faculty from Linguistics (College of Arts and Humanities) A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Spring 2009 – Task Force Charged with: Work with faculty to develop learning outcomes for each area that fit within Leap Framework A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Spring 2009 – Task Force Charged With: Suggest a plan for assessing these outcomes A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

The Process: Task force members wrote a first draft of outcomes which reflected EO 1033 and campus program description Generally limited to 3 outcomes per area Drafted the first area together, subsequent areas separately 2 hr meetings weekly A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Workshops: 2 hour workshops in each major area (A, B, C, D, E & MI) Invited: – All faculty who had taught in the area (past 2 yrs) – All department chairs with courses in the area Draft of outcomes went out with invitation along with EO1033, program description and LEAP framework Invitation stressed importance of SLOs derived from the faculty as well as eventuality of assesment Comments via were welcomed A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Workshops: At least two taskforce members and usually Dean of Undergraduate Studies attended each workshop Edits and suggestions were projected on screen A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Revisions: Outcomes from workshop were distributed to same list of GE faculty with a three week comment period Comments were reviewed and incorporated Final draft was distributed to all faculty with another two week comment period A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Approval Process: General Education Committee approved final draft in May Executive Committee reviewed in fall 2009 with a few minor edits Academic Senate reviewed on March 8 and 22 with approved with one edit A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

What Contributed to Our Success : Administration placed resources behind the effort EO 1033 A leadership team with knowledge of assessment Providing faculty with a draft as a starting point Transparency and openness to all input Stressing need for this to come from the faculty who are experts in the area A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Assessment Plan: Centralized vs localized (dept level) models Discussed with Institutional Research & campus learning and assessment team A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Departments Will Provide: The assignment (s) or piece(s) of student work to be assessed The rubric or assessment method to be used to measure the outcome The metric used to asses if a student has met the outcome A schedule for assessing each outcome (minimum of one learning outcome per year per course) A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Reporting: Departments will provide a summary of assessment results as well as changes made as a result of assessment data in annual reports IRAP will compile and analyze data for GEC GEC will asses program based on aggregate data A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010

Future of GEC Move away from indirect compliance measures like syllabi review Move toward examining assessment data Evidence of how courses will meet outcomes and assessment plans will be required for new course approval A Lawson General Education in California Conference, CSU Fullerton May 4, 2010