1. CAFE 1 - GER & AA Assessment: Curriculum Mapping & Shared SLOs
Dan Kline, Director of General Education |
LIB 307 | 22 September 2017 | 10:00-11:30a

2. UAA GERs: 3 Tiers, 7 Categories, 9 Outcomes (and 37 credits & 256 courses)
Tier 1: Basic Skills (12)
Written Comm (6)
Oral Comm (3)
Quantitative Skills (3)
Tier 2: Disciplinary Knowledge (22)
Natural Sciences (7)
Social Sciences (6)
Humanities (6)
Fine Arts (3)
Tier 3: Integrative Capstone (3)
Meets GER in the major
Integration of Tier 1 in major
After completing the GERs, UAA students shall 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.

3. GER Assessment Timeline 1
Before AY12-13: AA assessment a proxy for GER assessment
Five different AA assessment plans
Four different sets of AA outcomes
AY13-14: GERA Task Force (Bill Myers) & GELO Task Force (statewide)
GERA Task Force Report
GELO adoption of LEAP Outcomes
UAA adoption of LEAP Outcomes as “General Education Values”
AY14-15: GERA Committee recommended (and Fac Senate approved):
Director of General Education
A GER assessment plan (3 outcomes over each of three years)

4. Janice Denton’s Analysis, Fall 2015

5. Janice Denton’s Challenge, Fall 2015

6. GER Assessment Principles
Compliance | Reporting | Values
Simple: We are building upon departmental and program assessment processes already in place to minimize duplicating our efforts.
Shared: We are adapting the GER process to complement other assessment efforts ongoing across the campus (and campuses) to increase collaboration across the GER and majors, programs, and disciplines.
Seeded: We are spreading GER assessment from defined GER courses across the programs, disciplines, majors, as well as two-year and four-year degrees so that general education becomes a focus of all curriculum and faculty rather than being the concern of only a few specified courses.
Systematic: We are moving through three outcomes per year and will reconsider each recursively as we move forward.
Sustainable: We are creating a shared GER assessment plan that works collaboratively with our current institutional assessment processes as part of developing UAA’s culture of learning and student success.

7. GER Assessment Timeline 2
AY15-16: Faculty-developed indicators for Rubric 1
Janice Denton’s Academic Assessment Seminar Address (Mapping GER)
Began with the AA assessment rubric/indicators
CAFE/GERA Curriculum Mapping & GER Assessment Workshops, May Soiree
Written, Oral, & Information Literacy (mapped to LEAP/VALUE rubrics)
AY16-17: Faculty-developed indicators for Rubric 2
Began with faculty materials from UAA Catalog, Curriculum Handbook, and GERC Category Templates
Social Sciences, Humanities, and Fine Arts
AY17-18: Faculty-developed indicators for Rubric 3
Natural Sciences, Quant Skills, Knowledge Integration  NWCCU Site Visit

8. Gen Ed Requirements  Programmatic Focus
From To
“Why do I have to take this stoopid course?”
Compliance / Reporting
Menu & Checklist
Course-based
Category specific
Individual responsibility
Curricular maze
Inconsistent pathways
Prerequisite issues
“There are good (pedagogically sound and curricularly coherent) reasons for you to take these courses!”
Values / Teaching & Learning
Shared Outcomes
Cumulative experience
Shared understanding
Mutual investment (GER faculty ↔ Majors/Progr/Profs)
Course-initiated and program-extended / seeded
“Umbrella” indicators
“General” education
Shared expectations & responsibility
Better communication (faculty, students/parents, others)
Closing the Loop: pedagogy & assessment

9. 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)
Now Coordinated with GER
Shared materials and artifacts
Shared rubrics (offset by one year)
Common team
New Shared AA Outcomes
Communicate Effectively
Think Critically
Evaluate Analytically
Reason Empirically

10. Rubric 1 Development, AY15-16: Written Comm, Oral Comm, Info Literacy
Rubric 1 (Written, Oral, and Information Literacy) brought in line with the AAC&U VALUE rubrics
Su16 pilot group adjusted the AA assessment rubric & adopted the AAC&U language:
4 = Mastery
3 = Proficient
2 = Developing
1 = Beginning
0 = Absent

11. Rubric 2 Development, AY16-17: Social Sciences, Humanities, Fine Arts
Rubric 2 built from faculty- developed curriculum documents (Catalog copy, Curriculum Handbook, GERC Templates)
Su17 group added a Null marker:
4 = Mastery
3 = Proficient
2 = Developing
1 = Beginning
0 = Absent
X = Null (Not Applicable)

12. Rubric 3 Development, AY17-18: Natural Sciences, Quant Skills, Knowledge Int
Rubric 3 built from faculty-developed curriculum documents (Catalog copy, Curriculum Handbook, GERC Templates)
Shared Process – All Welcome:
Fall / Winter Teaching Intensive
Three workshops each semester
Curriculum Mapping
Rubric Development
Assignment Design
May AA/GER Assessment Soiree

13. 9 GER Outcomes  10 Formally Assessed PSLOs
GER Student Learning Outcomes (UAA Catalog)
After completing the GERs, UAA students shall 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

14. Scaling Up the Process Summer ‘16: 6 Summer ‘17: 18
Number of assessors
Summer ‘16: 6
Summer ‘17: 18
Number of sections submitting student artifacts
Summer ‘16: 11
Summer ‘17: 22
Number of student artifacts available
Summer ‘16: 173
Summer ‘17: 398

15. “Closing the Loop” - Using the Data to Create Positive Change
Faculty suggestions for improvement:
Better identify courses and assignments where assessment is most useful
Gather and assess student materials in both fall and spring
Develop a better process for collecting oral communication achievement
Facilitate systematic procedures for “closing the loop”
“Report Out,” collaborate, communicate
Incentivize gen ed teaching, assessment, and improvement

16. The Team AA
Bridge (Double Duty)
GER
Bill Myers, Lead (ANC, History)
Scott Downing (KPC, English)
Jill Flanders-Crosby (ANC, Theater & Dance)
Rachael Hannah (ANC, Biology)
Mari Ippolito (ANC, Psychology)
Trish Jenkins (ANC, English)
Deb Mole (ANC, Library)
Cheryl Smith (ANC, Counseling)
Jennie Brock (ANC, Engineering)
Sheri Dennison (MatSu, English)
Rachel Graham (MatSu, Math)
Shawnalee Whitney (ANC, Communications & CAFE)
Dan Kline, Lead (ANC, English/OAA)
Paola Banchero (ANC, JPC)
Stephanie Bauer (ANC, Philosophy)
Brian Cook (ANC, Theater & Dance)
Kristin Ogilvie (ANC, Anthropology)
Kathryn Schild (ANC, Academic Innovations)
Special Thanks to Rachel Graham (Data & Spreadsheets) and Jennie Brock (Figures)

17. GER Activities – AY17-18 AA/GER Assessment
CAFE 1 – Mapping & Outcomes
CAFE 2 – Outcomes & Assignments
CAFE 3 – Rubrics & Student Work
Repeated in Spr18
May 7-8: AA/GER Soiree!
GER & Alaska Native Themed Discussion
GER & High Impact Practices
GER & Looking Ahead