Baccalaureate Core Committee: Vitalization Agenda Update

1. Baccalaureate Core Committee: Vitalization Agenda Update OSU Faculty Senate, January 12, 2012 Bill Bogley and Kerry Kincanon, BCC Co-Chairs, 2011-2012

2. May 2002---Baccalaureate Core Committee Report for OSU 2007 Strategic Planning Process “…the Baccalaureate Core is and should remain the indispensable core of the OSU undergraduate educational program.”

3. June 2010 Vitalization Agenda---Four Initiatives • Learning Goals for Graduates • First Year Skills Requirement • Experiential Learning • Shared Vision • Focus on student learning (outcomes), assessment • Faculty and curriculum development • Communication: Catalog, Web, START, CONNECT, advising,… • Shared Governance, Resources

4. June 2010 Vitalization Agenda---Progress to Date • START/CONNECT programming • Baccalaureate Core web site (soon) • First/Second-year skills requirements implemented • WR I, Speech, Math/WR II • WR III renamed Speech • Catalog updates complete • MyDegrees notations (soon) • Liaison to community colleges

5. June 2010 Vitalization Agenda---Progress to Date • Baccalaureate Core Director now serving • Part-time fixed FTE faculty members engaged • Global Learning (AA) • Service Learning (AA) • Undergraduate Research (AA) • Experiential Learning workgroup (AA, UCSEE) • Review of writing in the Core (EC) • Category Learning Outcomes Developed and Vetted by Faculty • Core Syllabus Requirements Reinforced

6. Core Syllabus Requirements All Baccalaureate Core course syllabi must: • Specify the category of the Core in which the course qualifies and • Include the (verbatim) student learning outcomes for the Core category.  Also, category student learning outcomes must be assessed in some way.  Reminders are sent to Core instructors each term.

7. For Example: …  Following the usual topmatter and required syllabus elements… … Baccalaureate Core: Math 251(H) satisfies the Skills/Mathematics requirement for the Baccalaureate Core. Consult your advisors and the OSU Online Catalog at http://catalog.oregonstate.edu/bcc.aspx for more information. This course is dedicated to helping you achieve the following general education learning outcomes, which include development of critical thinking skills. • Identify situations that can be modeled mathematically. • Calculate and/or estimate the relevant variables and relations in a mathematical setting. • Critique the applicability of a mathematical approach or the validity of a mathematical conclusion.

8. For Example (cont’d) …and departmental course-level outcomes… Math 251 and Your Major: Math 251 is required by many major programs, including mathematics. The following content-specific learning outcomes are also central to the design of this course. A successful student in MTH 251(H) will be able to: • Calculate average and instantaneous rates of change and identify instantaneous rates of change with derivatives. • Apply ideas of differential calculus to motion problems (velocity, speed, and acceleration) • Apply the algebraic limit laws and the standard rules of differentiation including the chain rule to calculate particular limits and derivatives. • Use methods of calculus to solve maximum and minimum problems. • Use methods of calculus to determine the shapes of curves. Grades: You will be assessed on the basis of exams (two midterms and a final), weekly in-class interactive quizzes (known as IQuizzes), and online homework using MyMathLab.

9. BCC 2011-2012: EC Charges • Rewrite BCC Standing Rules (Committee on Committees) • Incorporate evidence of Student Learning into (Course and) Category Review

10. …and Assessment. • Accreditation re-Visit: Fall 2012 • Baccalaureate Core Assessment: • Submit plan for 5-year Cycle: April 2012 • Evidence-based assessment of reported evidence of Core learning underway: Sep 2012 • Who is responsible for Baccalaureate Core assessment? • Baccalaureate Core Committee • Office of Assessment • Assistant Director hired: Stefani Dawn • Participating Departments (all)

11. Baccalaureate Core Assessment • 5-year Category review cycle under development • Focus on student learning outcomes • Acknowledge college assessment practices and department workloads • It must be meaningful • For departments (improve learning) • For BCC (oversee integrity of the Core) • For OSU (accreditation)

12. Baccalaureate Core Assessment • 2012: Pilot Year • Reporting Year for Synthesis Categories • Spring 2012: Departmental Reporting • Submit all syllabi for all 2011-2012 sections • One (1) one-page Learning Outcomes Assessment Report per Synthesis course. • Identify measures, departmental process(es), student progress toward outcomes: what’s working, what’s not working. • Departments collect and retain evidence

13. Baccalaureate Core Assessment • Summer 2012: Office of Assessment summarizes department findings and adds instutional data • Fall 2012: BCC reviews student learning in Synthesis categories

14. Assessment Development: Getting Ready • Communication to schools/departments on the parameters of the one-page BC Learning Outcomes Assessment Report • Winter 2012 Assessment Workshops • BC Director and Ass’t Dir of Assessment

15. Takeaways • Implementation of the June 2010 Vitalization Agenda is underway. • Syllabus requirements are now in effect and being enforced. • Core assessment is being designed and implemented NOW. • Goal: Deliver the best general education program of which we are capable. • Questions?