The DQP Degree Qualifications Profile

1. The DQPDegree Qualifications Profile What is it? What are the contexts for it? How is it being used? How will you use the DQP? How can your work improve the DQP? Oakland, California ACCJC April 25, 2012

2. JOB 1Taking advantage of the opportunity to learn from one another

3. So . . . Please regard this session as an opportunity to meet other participants and to share with them your priorities, aspirations, and concerns.

4. In Other Words Please do not sit with members of your own team.

5. In Other Words Please do not sit with members of your own team. We’ll take a minute so that you can find your way to a table where you can join colleagues from other colleges.

6. In Other Words Please do not sit with members of your own team. We’ll take a minute so that you can find your way to a table of colleagues from other colleges. Thank you!

7. How we’ll use our 120 115 minutes

8. Changing contexts in higher education

9. In AACJC, you’re getting there faster

10. College Students YESTERDAY • College populations: men (and a few “coeds”) from well-to-do families • Traditional age: 18-22 • Residential predominantly • Usually a commitment to a single institution • Very limited diversity

11. College Students YESTERDAY TODAY More women than men Many non-traditional students Older More responsibilities Often part-time Usually commuting Often highly mobile Increasing diversity • College populations: men (and a few “coeds”) from well-to-do families • Traditional age: 18-22 • Residential predominantly • Usually a commitment to a single institution • Very limited diversity

12. College Students TOMORROW • Even fewertraditional (18-22) students • More students of color (by 2020, 46%) • Morelow income students • Morefirst-generation college students • More nonnative students for whom English is a second language • More mobile students, with less institutional loyalty • More part-time students • More students studying through distance education

13. Our Competition • Continued growth in for-profit academic competitors • Expansion of (narrowly) career-focused competitors • Sustained increase in online learning • Students choosing online learning instead of • Students choosing online learning in addition to • Introduction of surrogate credentials

14. And now, MOOCs . . . Perhaps the most rapidly developing and far reaching change in the higher education landscape is the emergence of online courses, open (so far) to all, without (so far) tuition charges or credit. They are usually taught by a world-renowned expert in a field to tens of thousands of students of all ages and nationalities.  –W. Robert Connor, November 27, 2012

15. Perhaps worth keeping in mind . . . .

16. Higher Employer Expectations • 91% are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past” • 90% say that their “employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past.” • 88% say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.” • 88% agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past” “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)

17. YOUR TURN What internal factors are influencing the direction of community college education in the ACCJC? E.g. Better (or worse) preparedness of entering students? Better (or worse) student motivation? More (or less) narrow pragmatism?

18. Applied Curricula Should Be More Liberal “I hear frequently from technical schools . . . that their students need a broader and more multi-faceted education.” • Carol Geary SchneiderPresident, AAC&U, November 28, 2012

19. Liberal Curricula Should Be More Applied “The drumbeat to bring applied learning into the liberal arts degrees grows ever louder.” • Carol Geary SchneiderPresident, AAC&U, November 28, 2012

20. Other contexts Having to do more with less? New uses of technology? MOOCs? Increasingly mobile students? Legislative mandates? Changes in accreditation?

21. YOUR TURN What externalfactors are most influencing the direction of community college education in the ACCJC?

22. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change

23. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes

24. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes • The “Tuning” Process

25. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes • The “Tuning” Process • System reforms and initiatives

26. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes • The “Tuning” Process • System reforms and initiatives • Changes in accreditation

27. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes • The “Tuning” Process • System reforms and initiatives • Changes in accreditation • Heightened emphasis on assessment

28. WHAT’S HAPPENING? There’s a lot going on in the effort to respond to internal and external contexts for change • AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes • The “Tuning” Process • System reforms and initiatives • Changes in accreditation • Heightened emphasis on assessment • And the Degree Qualifications Profile

29. Is there ANYTHINGthat ties EVERYTHINGtogether?

30. The thread of intentionality

31. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:

32. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:1 Learning becomes more effective when what is to be learned is clearly understood

33. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:1 Learning becomes more effective when what is to be learned is clearly understood2 Colleges can become far more effective in articulating and communicating intended learning outcomes

34. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:1 Learning becomes more effective when what is to be learned is clearly understood2 Colleges can become far more effective in articulating and communicating intended learning outcomes3 There should be clearly understood outcomes for every degree program

35. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:1 Learning becomes more effective when what is to be learned is clearly understood2 Colleges and universities can become far more effective in articulating and communicating intended learning outcomes3 There should be clearly understood outcomes for every degree program, every course,

36. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:1 Learning becomes more effective when what is to be learned is clearly understood2 Colleges and universities can become far more effective in articulating and communicating intended learning outcomes3 There should be clearly understood outcomes for every degree program, every course, and every class

37. The thread of intentionality

38. Four Linked Approaches

39. Four Linked Approaches Faculty led, discipline specific initiatives to frame incremental learning outcomes within majors, stage by stage.

40. Four Linked Approaches Documentation of learning relative to explicit outcomes for purposes of course improvement

41. Four Linked Approaches Essential Learning Outcomes of AAC&U provide a framework to guide students’ cumulative progress through college

42. The Essential Learning Outcomes Are intended to • Provide the academy with a conceptual, aspirational frame for a cumulative liberal education • Guide student and faculty understanding of essential outcomes for learning • Create the base for a consensus on cross-curricular priorities

43. The Essential Learning Outcomes Are intended to Were not meant to Define in detail what degrees (associate, bachelor’s, master’s) mean Offer an explicitly operational basis for assessing student performance Articulate the expectation that undergraduate education be incremental and cumulative • Provide the academy with a conceptual, aspirational frame for a cumulative liberal education • Guide student and faculty understanding of essential outcomes for learning • Create the base for a consensus on cross-curricular priorities

44. So . . . The DQP?

45. The Degree Qualifications Profile What is it? An effort to define in explicit terms what degrees should mean, irrespective of discipline Who’s responsible? (1) Higher education (2) Four drafters (3) Lumina Foundation for Education

46. Assumptions behind theProfile • The Profile should “describe concretely what is meant by each of the degrees addressed.” • The Profile should “illustrate how students should be expected to perform at progressively more challenging levels.” • The outcomes expressed in the Profile should be summative—and should be approachable by multiple paths • The outcomes should be illustrative, as no profile can be comprehensive

47. Organization of the Profile Five areas of learning • Integrative Knowledge • Specialized Knowledge • Intellectual Skills • Applied Learning • Civic Learning shown as interrelated, not discrete

48. Why is therea DQP?

49. Prompts for the Profile 1 • An increased emphasis on accountability • Declining state support, rising tuition • Student loan defaults • A corresponding emphasis on assessment • An increasing priority on the part of accreditors • Rise of “performance funding”

50. Prompts for the Profile 2 • Europe’s “Bologna Process” • A coordinated effort to secure European ascendency through higher education reform • An “accountability loop” assuming European and national learning outcomes frameworks • Strong examples of learning outcomes frameworks (UK, Scandinavia, Australia)