1 Ideas to Action (i2a) and Speed School: Recent Activities and Implementation Plans Speed School: Gerald Evans, Ph.D. Patricia Ralston, Ph.D. 1 Ideas to Action: Patricia Payette, Ph.D. Cathy Bays, Ph.D. November 17, 2009

Ideas to Action (i2a): Overview i2a goes to the heart of our institutional mission to foster educational excellence and meets the expectations of our accrediting body: SACS-COC. Interim report due to SACS in March, UofL’s quality enhancement plan (QEP), a multi-year initiative to guide our sustained and shared focus on continuous improvement of teaching and learning across the undergraduate experience UofL formed Task Group in 2005 to lay the groundwork for the QEP In 2007, SACS approved i2a as our QEP and the Task Group hired an i2a staff team to lead the i2a campus initiative Twin themes of i2a : critical thinking and culminating experiences In addition to discipline-specific accreditation planning (e.g. ABET), units are also aligning their planning with U.-wide accreditation efforts such as i2a 2

In 2007, the i2a Task Group adopted the Paul-Elder framework for university- wide implementation of i2a Since 2008, faculty and staff have been infusing the concepts of critical thinking more explicitly into courses, programs, projects, etc. to enhance undergraduate students’ critical thinking abilities In 2009, units and programs began curricular planning so that students integrate and apply new skills in an emerging culminating experience prior to graduation In , all undergraduate units developed an i2a implementation plan In , pilot of i2a evaluation plan and related tools and structures ( 3 Ideas to Action (i2a): Overview (cont’d)

i2a Task Group i2a Task Group: made up of unit facilitators (faculty, assoc. deans and deans) and departmental, student and faculty reps Joe Hagerty: participated in original QEP planning group “Call for Big Ideas” in 2005 and served on i2a Task Group until Spring 2009 Jerry Evans: serving as i2a Co-Facilitator from Speed School since 2007 Jim Graham: serving as i2a Co-Facilitator from Speed Speed beginning Spring

i2a program and services Faculty Learning Communities (critical thinking and culminating experiences) Collaborative Learning Community (academic staff, student affairs staff, student services) Annual SUN Grant program for faculty/staff Ongoing workshops and Information Sessions Campus-wide i2a Institute and i2a showcase events National network on critical thinking initiatives Individual and group consultations on curricular design, assessment, etc. Sharing faculty/staff exemplars of i2a infusion ( 5

Speed Faculty & Staff Participation in i2a Programming Continuous involvement and participation since inception in Spring 2008 Faculty –16 faculty –5 departments –Diverse participation: FLC, SUN grants, Presentations Staff –4 staff –Advising pilot program 6

Second Place Paul Weber Award 2009 Speed developed a multi-level CT program that spans from culminating experiences to elementary school programs Designed a 4-year project to incorporate the Paul-Elder framework across the undergraduate curriculum 7

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Papers published by faculty in EF Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Hardin, T., invited presentation "Engineering critical thinking: Faculty exemplars on course redesign and assessment from U of L's Speed School of Engineering", presented at the 29th International Conference on Critical Thinking, Berkley, CA, July 20-23, Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Graham, J.H.; Hardin, T., invited panel discussion titled "Engineering. critical thinking", presented at the Inaugural i2a Institute: Developing Critical Thinkers, Louisville, KY, May 27-29, Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Wheatley, D., "Explicit Teaching of Critical Thinking in ENGR "Introduction to Engineering”. 116th Annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Austin, TX, June 14-17, Hieb, J.E., and Ralston, P.A., “Tablet PCs in Engineering Mathematics Courses at the J. B. Speed School of Engineering”, accepted for International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology Others in progress in many departments 9

Proposal for i2a Implementation at Speed Background and Motivation: substantial progress with respect to incorporation of CT concepts in its Introduction to Engineering course, and is making a good start in its capstone design (i.e., culminating experience) courses and co-op courses, efforts with respect to the remainder of the undergraduate curriculum need to commence. Project Activities: –Review all Speed Undergrad Courses – Identify courses (and associated faculty) which would benefit from increased emphasis of CT concepts –Develop and give one-day workshop on CT for Engineering Education for identified faculty. –Perform pre- and post-reviews Time Frame: