The Road to Student Academic

and Career Success

Faculty Senate

September 4, 2013

Anne L. Birberick and Michael J. Kolb

Outline (academic & career success)

• National Context

• NIU Context

• The Road to Student Success

• Why Should We Integrate

Learning?

• Timeline

• Questions

National Context

• Changing Designs for College Learning

– The 20th Century University

• Breadth + Depth

• Breadth = General Education

• Depth = Major Coursework

• Course-centered Curriculum

• Every Course is an Island

• Absence of Shared Expectations About the Goals for Advanced Work

National Context (designs)

• Changing Designs for College Learning

– The 21st Century University

• Rethinking Educational Practices and Purposes

• Goals across the Educational Experience

• Learning-Centered

• Capabilities Developed Over Time

National Context (designs)

• The 21st Century University, cont.

– Integrative Learning

• Academic Learning with

Field-Based Learning

• General Education with Majors

• Liberal Arts with Professional Schools

• Freshman Seminar to Capstone

• Curriculum with Co-Curriculum

Carol Geary Schneider, “Making the LEAP: Connecting Liberal Education with 21st Century Challenges.” Plenary Address at AAC&U Institute on Integrative Learning, July 2013.

6

Employer Prioritize • Critical Thinking

• Complex Problem-Solving

• Written and Oral Communication

• Applied Knowledge in Real-World Settings

Sources: http://www.aacu.org/leap/ , www.naceweb.org

National Context (surveys)

Employer Desire Team structure

Verbal and written communication

Decisions and problem solving

Process information

Organize and prioritize

Employers Seek

•Team work • Science in real-world settings • Writing and speaking well • Complex problem solving • Develop workable solutions • Understanding of global contexts • Creative problem solving • Applying knowledge in new settings • Understanding statistics • Ethics and integrity

National Context (dynamics)

• 21st century Workplace Dynamics – 1/3 of the entire US labor force changes jobs yearly

– 10-14 job changes by the time a worker is 38

– 50% of workers have been with their company less than 5 Years

– 30 million workers are in jobs that did not exist last quarter

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

NIU Context

• Adoption of NIU Baccalaureate Mission Statement and 8 Student Learning Outcomes (2010-2011)

– The 3 “Cs”:

• Critical Thinking, Communication, and Creativity

• Development of NIU Value Rubrics (SLOs)

http:/www.niu.edu/bacreview

NIU Context

• Baccalaureate Goals

– Foundational context for student learning – History and modern society

– Society and global perspective

– Unity and diversity of the American experience

– Focuses our educational commitment – Think critically, create, and communicate

– Engaged learning environments

– Succeed in a diverse, global society

– Integrate the Curriculum – General education

– Major’s studies

– Co-curricular activities beyond the classroom

NIU Context (baccalaureate)

• Baccalaureate Goals (The Three “C’s”)

– Critical Thinking, Communication, and Creativity

• The Eight Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) – Global interconnections

– Intercultural competencies

– Interconnection of human life/natural world

– Critical, creative, and independent thought

– Communicate clearly and effectively

– Collaboration with others

– Quantitative and qualitative reasoning

– Synthesize knowledge and skills

See: http://www.niu.edu/bacreview

NIU Context (baccalaureate process)

Task Force Membership Student Learning Outcome Teams Business Marketing Management, Marketing

Education Leadership, Educational Psychology, & Foundations Educational Technology, Research and Assessment

Literacy Education, Kinesiology and Physical Education, Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations

Engineering and Engineering Technology

Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Technology

Health & Human Sciences Allied Health and Communicative Disorders Health and Human Sciences

Nursing

Liberal Arts & Sciences English, Foreign Language and Literatures, Geography English, Communication, Public Administration, History

Communications, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Geography, History, Math

Visual & Performing Arts Art, Music Music

Administrators & Support Staff

University Honors Program, Community College Relations Assessment Services, Division of Public Administration Career Services, Planning & Assessment, Student Affairs Libraries, Faculty Development, Libraries, International Programs, Vice Provost, Catalog Editor

Timeline

2007-2008 - Goals prioritized (Strategic Plan, Curricular Innovations Task Force)

2009 – Open forums and feedback (1293 participants)

2010-2011 – Goals approval (Committee on the Undergraduate Curriculum)

2012 – Creation of rubrics (SLO Teams)

2013 – Testing the rubrics

Draft Value Rubric: SLO #2 Global Criteria Capstone

4

Milestones 3 2

Benchmark 1

Cultural Self- Awareness

Articulates insights into own cultural rules and biases.

Recognizes new perspectives about own cultural rules and biases.

Identifies own cultural rules and biases. Shows minimal awareness of own cultural rules and biases.

Knowledge of Cultural Worldview Frameworks

Demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the complexity of other cultures in relation to history, politics, communication styles, economy, or values, beliefs and practices.

Evinces a high level of knowledge of the complexity of other cultures in relation to history, politics, communication styles, economy, or values, beliefs and practices.

Possesses some knowledge of the complexity of other cultures in relation to history, politics, communication styles, economy, or values, beliefs and practices.

Shows minimal awareness of the complexity of other cultures in relation to history, politics, communication styles, economy, or values, beliefs and practices.

Empathy

Interprets intercultural experience multiple perspectives and demonstrates ability to act in a supportive manner that recognizes the feelings of another cultural group.

Recognizes intellectual and emotional dimensions of more than one perspective and sometimes uses more than one perspective in interactions.

Identifies components of other cultural perspectives but responds with own perspective.

Views the experience of others but does so through own cultural perspective.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Articulates a complex understanding of cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication

Recognizes and participates in cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication.

Identifies some cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication and is aware that misunderstandings can occur based on those differences.

Has a minimal level of understanding of cultural differences in verbal and nonverbal communication.

Curiosity

Asks complex questions about other cultures, seeks out and articulates answers to these questions that reflect multiple cultural perspectives.

Asks deeper questions about other cultures and seeks out answers to these questions.

Asks simple or surface questions about other cultures.

States minimal interest in learning more about other cultures.

Openness and Tolerance

Initiates and develops interactions with culturally different others. Suspends stereotyping in valuing interactions with culturally different others.

Begins to initiate and develop interactions with culturally different others. Begins to challenge stereotyping in valuing interactions with culturally different others.

Expresses openness to most if not all interactions with culturally different others. Has difficulty avoiding stereotyping in interactions with culturally different others, is aware of own tendency of stereotyping, and expresses a willingness to change.

Receptive to interacting with culturally different others. Has difficulty recognizing stereotyping in interactions with culturally different others..

The Road to Student Success

• Prioritize the SLOs

• Employ High Impact Practices (HIP) that Help Students Develop Essential Outcomes

• Promote Engaged Learning Practices

• Design Assessments that Put Students’ Own Work at the Center

• Integrate Curricular and Co-Curricular Learning

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Road to Student Success

General

Education

Co-Curricular

Activities

Major

Studies

Baccalaureate

Experience

Road to Student Success

Road to Student Success (HIPs)

• High-Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) – First-Year Seminars and Experiences

– Common Intellectual Experiences

– Learning Communities

– Writing-Intensive Courses

– Undergraduate Research

– Diversity/Global Learning

– Collaborative Assignments and Projects

– Service Learning and Community-Based Learning

– Internships

– Capstone Courses and Projects

George D. Kuh LEAP Report, October 2008 / AAC&U

Road to Student Success (engage)

• Employers Support Engaged Learning Practices

– Research

– Senior Projects

– Internships

– Collaborative Research

– Scientific Inquiry

– Ethical Questions

– Flipped Classrooms

“It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success.” Hart Research Associates for AAC&U, April 10, 2013.

Why Integrate Learning?

• World Itself is Demanding More

– Disruptive Global and Social Change

– Diversity as a Daily Reality

– An Economy Dependent upon Knowledge and Innovation

– Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions

• Highlight Value of NIU Degree

Actions and Timeline (fall 2013)

• Engage All Stakeholders

– Calibrate NIU Value Rubrics (SLOs)

• 30-40 volunteers

• Test each rubric against a single assignment

Actions and Timeline (fall 2013)

• Engage All Stakeholders

– General Education Visioning Task Force

• Revitalize and reframe curriculum

• Faculty and student survey – Survey Monkey

– 15 and 10 minutes respectively

– Anonymous

– Aggregate data used to help develop strategy

– Launches in September

Actions and Timeline (fall 2013)

• Provost’s Office

– Campus Audit/Mapping of Curricular/Co-Curricular Activities to Baccalaureate Outcomes

– Research Electronic Portfolio Platforms

– Tracking of HIPs and Engaged Learning

Actions and Timeline (spring 2013)

• Continue to Engage Stakeholders

– Disseminate final SLO language

– Share Mapping and Aggregate Survey Results with Campus

– Focus Groups on General Education

• Continue E-Platform Development

Questions

Sources

Randy Bass, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education.” Educause Review, March/April 2012: 24-33.

”How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy?“ Results of a national poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2007.

“It Takes More Than A Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success.” Hart Research Associates for AAC&U. April 10, 2013.

George D. Kuh LEAP Report, October 2008 / AAC&U

Carol Geary Schneider, “Making the LEAP: Connecting Liberal Education with 21st Century Challenges.” Plenary Address. Institute on Integrative Learning and the Departments. AAC&U. July 2013.

National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2012 Job Outlook Survey.

What Do Employers Want From College Graduates? Liberal Education. Vol. 99, No. 2. Spring 2013. AAC&U

THANK YOU!