leap responds to new reality: the world is demanding more there is a demand for more numbers of...
TRANSCRIPT
LEAP Responds to New Reality:
The World is Demanding More
There is a demand for more numbers of college educated workers.
There is a demand for engaged and informed citizens, who are knowledgeable about themselves and the world around them
There is also a demand that those educated workers and citizens have higher levels of learning and knowledge, and some new and different skills and abilities.
Curricular and Pedagogical Innovations – Led by Faculty –
Already Are Creating a 21st Century Vision and Practice
for Liberal Education
Directly Connected to the Needs and Experiences of Today’s Diverse
Students, our Diverse Democracy, and an Interdependent Global Community
The LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural WorldFocused on engagement with big questions, enduring and contemporary
Intellectual and Practical SkillsPracticed extensively across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance
Personal and Social ResponsibilityAnchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges
Integrative LearningDemonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems
LEAP Principles of LEAP Principles of ExcellenceExcellence
Principle OneAim High—and Make Excellence
Inclusive
Principle TwoGive Students a Compass
Principle ThreeTeach the Arts of Inquiry
and Innovation
Principle FourEngage the Big Questions
Principle FiveConnect Knowledge with
Choices and Action
Principle SixFoster Civic, Intercultural, and
Ethical Learning
Principle SevenAssess Students’ Ability to
Apply Learning to complex
Problems
Frequently Confused Terms
• Liberal Education: An approach to college learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity and change. It emphasizes broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g., science, culture and society) as well as in-depth achievement in a specific field of interest. It helps students develop a sense of social responsibility as well as strong intellectual and practical skills that span all areas of study, such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and includes a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.
• Liberal Arts: Specific disciplines (e.g., the humanities, sciences, and social sciences)
• Liberal Arts Colleges: A particular institutional type – often small, often residential – that facilitates close interaction between faculty and students, while grounding its curriculum in the liberal arts disciplines.
• General Education: The part of a liberal education curriculum shared by all students. It provides broad exposure to multiple disciplines and forms the basis for developing important intellectual and civic capacities.
LEAP Goals• Spark public debate about this educational vision and about what outcomes are essential for all students; create
more informed public support for higher education and changes to improve quality
• Challenge the belief that students must choose either a liberal education or a practical education
• Help all students understand, prepare for, and achieve essential outcomes
• Document national, state, and institutional progress in student achievement of essential learning outcomes
LEAP Promotes:Essential Learning OutcomesA Guiding Vision and National Benchmarks for College Learning and Liberal Education in the 21st Century
High Impact PracticesHelping Students Achieve the Essential Learning Outcomes
Authentic AssessmentsProbing Whether Students Can APPLY Their Learning – to Complex Problems and Real-World Challenges
Inclusive ExcellenceDiversity, equity, quality of learning for all groups of students
LEAP Areas of Work• Public Advocacy—leadership through National Leadership Council, Presidents’ Trust, and work in selected LEAP states to make the case for
liberal education and importance of essential learning outcomes
• Campus Action—technical assistance and networking to support campus efforts to increase all students’ achievement of essential learning outcomes and to communicate more effectively about liberal education
• Authentic Evidence—reports on public opinion, high-impact practices that lead to essential learning outcomes, assessment approaches that deepen student learning and periodic reports of national data on student achievement
LEAP at Five-Year Mark
• 300+ individual institutions in Campus Action Network;• LEAP States Initiative: California State University, Oregon, Wisconsin, Virginia, Utah, North Dakota• 2000 Institutions Using LEAP VALUE Rubrics for Assessment of Cross-Cutting Outcomes;• National Leadership Council (inc. educators, policy leaders, business leaders) and Presidents’ Trust (inc. 90+
college and university presidents)
High Impact Practices 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
Current LEAP Projects• Give Students a Compass: A Tri-State Partnership for College Learning , General Education, and Underserved Student Success
(California State Universities, The Oregon University System, The University of Wisconsin System
• VALUE—Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education
• Developing a Community College Student Roadmap (the Roadmap Project)
Give Students a Compass
Give Students a Compass helps institutions in three state systems build capacity to support academic excellence for all students, emphasizing the success of students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Compass seeks to:
• Share and Align Essential Learning Outcomes in Systems• Re-map and align gen ed on campuses and in systems• Build high-impact practices• Develop enabling policies to support spread of high-impact practices• Align assessment approaches with outcomes• Disaggregate data on completion and learning
Funded by FIPSE and State Farm Insurance, VALUE is developing an approach to assessment based on examples of student work saved over time in an e-portfolio and completed through a student’s curriculum and co-curriculum. The project has included, to date, 12 Leadership Schools and 15 faculty teams that have developed and tested rubrics for assessing 15 cross-cutting learning outcomes
The Roadmap Project
Funded with support from MetLife Foundation, the Roadmap project is designed to help community colleges create robust and proactive programs of academic support, tied to expected learning outcomes. The Roadmap will help campuses engage students at entrance and teach them, from the outset, how to become active partners in their own quest for educational success.
LEAP Resources• Public Opinion Research: focus groups of students; focus
groups/surveys of employers
• Publications, Web sites, and Advocacy Tools - Vision and Context
- Assessment—approaches and findings- Research—practices, policies, etc.
-Student perspectives and resources
• Campus Action Network – supporting campus efforts to promote and provide liberal education for all students
National Surveys of Employers on CollegeLearning and Graduates’ Work Readiness
AAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (in 2006, 2007, and in late 2009) to interview employers (C-level suite executives and, in 2009 additional human resource professionals) whose companies report that hiring relatively large numbers of college graduates
Findings are summarized in the following reports:
How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)
How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge (AAC&U, 2008)
Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U, 2010)
See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research
Selected Core LEAP PublicationsCollege Learning for the New Global Century (2007)
Making the Case for Liberal Education: Responding to Challenges (2006)
What is a Liberal Education?: And Why Is It Important to My Future? (2011)
The LEAP Vision for Learning: Outcomes, Practices, Impact, and Employers’ Views (2011)
Selected LEAP Publicationsand Resources on Assessment
Assessing Outcomes and Improving Achievement: Tips and Tools for Using Rubrics , edited by Terrel L. Rhodes
Electronic Portfolios and Student Success: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Learning , by Helen L. Chen and Tracy Penny Light
Rubrics online at: www.aacu.org/value/rubrics
LEAP Publications on High-Impact Educational Practices
High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008) by George D. Kuh
Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes, Completion, and Quality (AAC&U, 2010) by Lynn Swaner and Jayne Brownell
