1. General Education for the 21 st Century: Mapping the Pathways; Supporting Students’ Signature Work Carol Geary Schneider President, Association of American Colleges and Universities 2016 AAC&U Institute on General Education and Assessment Opening Plenary Session June 4, 2016

2. Overview Liberal and General Education: Clarifying Our Terms The Historical and Contemporary Landscape for Curricular Change A 21 st Century Vision for High Quality Learning and Liberal Education GEMs Design Principles—Cornerstone to Capstone—for 21 st Century General Education Signature Work: Mapping the Pathways to Support Students’ Inquiry Learning

3. Clarifying Our Terms Liberal Arts/Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Liberal Education Inclusive Excellence See handout

4. General Education, Then and Now The Nineteenth Century College The Twentieth Century University A Common Core Curriculum (All learning is “general” and “liberal” education”) Breadth + Depth (Breadth = General Studies; Depth = Majors; for many, “liberal education” becomes synonymous with “general education”)

5. The Twenty-First Century Academy A Curriculum in Transition: Rethinking educational purposes and practices to better prepare students for global interdependence innovation in the workplace civic engagement in a diverse democracy complexity and rapid change

6. AAC&U’s Work on Quality Learning 2000-2005 – Greater Expectations – A National Dialogue About Goals and Best Practices for College Learning 2005-Ongoing – Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) Campus Action Public Advocacy Useful Evidence The LEAP Challenge (launched in 2015)

7. A 21 st Century Vision for High Quality Learning—and Liberal Education—Now is In View

8. The Key Elements in a 21 st Century Framework for High Quality Learning Widely Expected Learning Outcomes High Impact Practices that Foster Achievement AND Completion Evidence on “What Works” for Underserved Students Authentic Assessments That Raise—and Reveal—the Level of Learning

9. Learning Aims and Outcomes 80% of colleges, universities, and community colleges have identified intended learning outcomes

10. Learning Aims and Outcomes There is very broad agreement across all parts of higher education—2-year, 4-year, public, and private—on the learning and skills students need most

11. The LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes Express This Agreement Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World Intellectual and Practical Skills Personal and Social Responsibility Integrative and Applied Learning

12. The Emerging Vision for Quality Adapts the Strengths of Liberal and General Education for a Global World and Reaffirms the Role of College in Educating Citizens for a Diverse Democracy

13. Yes, But What About the Economy? Students—and Everyone Else—Think College is Mainly About Jobs…

14. Employers Strongly Endorse the Essential Learning Outcomes And They Urge New Effort to Help All Students Achieve Them

15. HART RESEARCH ASSOTESCIA It Takes More Than A Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success Key findings from survey among 318 employers Conducted January 9 – 13, 2013 for

16. HART RESEARCH ASSOTESCIA Falling Short?: College Learning and Career Success Selected findings from online surveys of employers and college students Conducted November 3 – December 3, 2014 for

17. Employers Say Innovation, Critical Thinking, and a Broad Skill Set are Key for Meeting Challenges in the Workplace 95% of employers report that their companies put a priority on hiring people with the intellectual and interpersonal skills to help them contribute to innovation in the workplace 93% of employers say that candidates’ demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major 91% of employers say that, whatever their major, all students should have experiences in solving problems with colleagues whose views are different from their own Source: “It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2013). See more at https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research

18. Broad Learning is Expected—80% of Employers Say All Students Should Have Broad Learning in the Liberal Arts and Sciences See more at https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research

19. It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for Having both field-specific knowledge and skills AND a broad range of skills and knowledge Having a range of skills and knowledge that apply to a range of fields or positions Having knowledge and skills that apply to a specific field or position Narrow Learning is Rejected Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company?

20. It Takes More Than A Major – January 2013 – Hart Research for If you were advising your child or a young person you know about the type of college education they should seek to achieve in order to achieve professional and career success in today's global economy, would you recommend they pursue an education like the one described below? I would advise a young person to pursue [a liberal education] Would not Depends Three in four employers would recommend the concept of a liberal education to their own child or a young person they know “ This approach to a college education provides both broad knowledge in a variety of areas of study and knowledge in a specific major or field of interest. It also helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as intellectual and practical skills that span all areas of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem- solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real- world settings."

21. The Key Elements in a 21 st Century Vision for High Quality Learning Widely Expected Learning Outcomes Practices that Foster Achievement AND Completion Evidence on “What Works” for Underserved Students Assessments That Raise—and Reveal—the Level of Learning

22. Practices That Foster Achievement and Completion First-Year Seminars and Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing-Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community-Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects

23. When Students Are Engaged in High Impact Practices, They Are… More likely to complete More likely to achieve intended outcomes, with particular benefits for underserved students See handout

24. High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, by George D. Kuh (AAC&U, 2008) Five High-Impact Practices: Effects, Impact, and Research Challenges, by Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner (AAC&U, 2010) Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-Impact Practices, by Ashley Finley and Tia McNair (AAC&U, 2013)

25. High Impact Practices Put Students’ Own Active Learning at the Center High Engagement (Peers, Mentors, Unscripted Questions) High Effort (By Students) High Reward (Ownership of Learning)

26. The Key Elements in a 21 st Century Vision for High Quality Learning Widely Expected Learning Outcomes Practices that Foster Achievement AND Completion Evidence on “What Works” for Underserved Students Assessments That Raise—and Reveal—the Level of Learning—VALUE

27. How Do We Help Students Achieve the Essential Learning Outcomes?

28. A New Tool for Curricular Redesign: The Lumina Foundation’s Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) See handout

29. Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) First edition published in the fall of 2014, after beta testing on 400 campuses

30. The DQP Builds From the Vision that Higher Education Already Has Created—And That Employers Endorse

31. The DQP Shifts Our Collective Attention to What Students Actually Do: Research, Projects, Papers, Performances, Creative Work…Applied Learning

32. The DQP Makes HIPs Expected, Not Optional

33. GEMs: Applying the DQP to Liberal and General Education GEMs—General Education Maps and Markers: New Design Principles for General Education from First to Final Year

34. What the DQP/GEMs Recommends for General Education Cornerstone to Capstone Proficiencies Practiced and Demonstrated— Across all Learning Experiences Inquiry-Centered Learning Clear Connections to Majors and to the Wider Society …And MULTIPLE High Impact Practices

35. What GEMs Adds to the DQP/Quality Discussion Equity Practices That Work for Underserved Students Deeper Engagement with Big Questions and Problem-Centered Inquiry Digital Innovation Expanded Possibilities for Communities of Inquiry and Practice—e.g. Research, Service, and Action

36. What GEMs Adds to the DQP/Quality Discussion Student Agency: Preparing Students to Take Responsibility for Their Learning

37. What GEMs Recommends—And Where General Education Needs to Go…

38. Signature Work and The LEAP Challenge Making Integrative “Signature Work” An Expected Part of the College Curriculum—and the Best Evidence of What Students Can Do With Their Learning

39. Signature Work Signature Work Should Prepare Students to Grapple with Complex Questions Where “The Right Answer” Is Not Yet Known and Where Students Have to Use All the Strategies of Inquiry, Analysis, and Collaboration to Construct a Course of Action and Take Responsibility for the Results

40. Preparing Students for Signature Work To succeed in designing and executing signature work, students need preparation and frequent practice across the multiple years of college. And that, ultimately, is the point of the LEAP Challenge. Our designs for general education should prepare students to integrate and apply their learning—to questions that matter

41. Signature Work and General Education Suppose We Envisioned General Education as Guided Preparation for Students to Identify and Work on a Signature Topic and Related Work—Courses and Projects

42. Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and Students’ Signature Work The First-Year Experience Should Introduce Illustrative Questions and Problems The Entire Educational Experience Should Build Capacity to Grapple with Significant Questions The Students’ Portfolio Should Demonstrate Deep Engagement with One or More Significant Problems—Problems That Matter to the Student and Problems That Matter to the Wider Society

43. Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry and Students’ Signature Work (continued) Disciplinary Inquiry is Still Foundational But Students Also Need Experience in Connecting Their Disciplines with Other Perspectives and Voices And, Both for Citizenship and for Work, Students Need Active Engagement in Their Own Inquiry- Centered Studies and Projects

45. Critical Questions for Liberal Education and General Education Will We Use the Digital Revolution as An Opportunity to Flip the Classroom—And Even the Curriculum? More Time for Collaborative and Cross-Disciplinary Projects, Investigation, and Research? More Opportunities for Community-Based Learning? More Opportunities to Work with Faculty on Significant Problems and Questions? More Student Engagement with Significant Problems That Matter to Them and Matter to Society?

46. Fulfilling the Promise of General and Liberal Education: Together, We CAN Teach Students to Connect Their Learning—Across the Curriculum and Co-Curriculum—AND With the Needs of the Wider Society