The Question is Transfer The Answer is Intentionality

1. The Question is TransferThe Answer is Intentionality Orono, Maine April 19, 2012

2. Can the DQP help?Degree Qualifications Profile What is it? What are the contexts for it? What prompted it? What is it meant to accomplish? How is it being used? Orono, Maine April 19, 2012

3. How we’ll use our 180 minutes

4. Changing contexts in higher education

5. Our 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

6. Our 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

7. Our 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

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

9. 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

10. And the prospect of “hybridization” No longer restricted to plants and automobiles, hybridization is now moving into higher education, as MOOCs are combined with face-to-face instruction and advising. This may be an opportunity to inject liberal education goals into the content-driven pattern of MOOC instruction and a chance for the small private college to maximize its historic advantages in a new setting. –W. Robert Connor, November 27, 2012

11. Perhaps worth keeping in mind . . . .

12. 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)

13. Higher Employee Rewards From a federal database analyzing qualifications for 1,100 different jobs comes evidence that the highest salaries apply to positions that call for intensive use of liberal education capabilities, including-- Writing Inductive and Deductive Reasoning Judgment and Decision Making Problem Solving Social/Interpersonal Skills Mathematics --Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

14. YOUR TURN Are there other important “environmental” factors that are influencing the direction of higher education in Maine? E.g. Better (or worse) preparedness of entering students? Better (or worse) student motivation? More (or less) narrow pragmatism?

15. Changing contexts for curricular discussions

16. The Curriculum 19th Century college: common core curriculum

17. The Curriculum 19th Century college: common core curriculum • 20th Century university: breadth (general education) + depth (the major)

18. The Curriculum 19th Century college: common core curriculum  20th Century university: breadth (general education) + depth (the major)  21st Century colleges and universities: connecting liberal and professional learning

19. Same Coin, Two Sides

20. 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

21. 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

22. YOUR TURN What factors are influencing considerations of the curriculum in Maine? E.g. New uses of technology? MOOCs? Determination to link general education to the major? Increasingly mobile students? Legislative mandates? Accreditation?

23. The thread of intentionality:connecting answers to the question of TRANSFER?

24. The thread of intentionality,reflecting three premises:

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

26. 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 outcomes

27. 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

28. 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 major,

29. 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 major, every course,

30. 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 major, every course, and every class

31. The thread of intentionality

32. Four Linked Approaches

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

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

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

36. 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

37. 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

38. So . . . The DQP?

39. It’s not A Dairy Queen Parfait

40. It’s not A Dan Quayle Potatoe

41. It’s not A Daily Quorum Protocol

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

43. 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 • The outcomes defined for one degree level assumethe outcomes defined for the preceding level(s)

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

45. Example 1Communication Skills

46. Associate’s Level: The student presents substantially error-free prose in both argumentative and narrative forms to general and specialized audiences Bachelor’s Level: The student constructs sustained, coherent arguments and/or narratives and/or explications of technical issues and processes, in two media, to general and specialized audiences Master’s Level: The student creates sustained, coherent arguments or explanations and reflections on his or her work or that of collaborators (if applicable) in two or more media or languages, to both general and specialized audiences

47. Example 2Engaging Diverse Perspectives

48. At the associate level, the student describeshow knowledge from different cultural perspectives would affect his or her interpretations of prominent problems in politics, society, the arts and/or global relations.✔A basic informed application

49. At the bachelor’s level, the student constructs a cultural, political, or technological alternative vision of either the natural or human world,embodied in a written project, laboratory report, exhibit, performance, or community service design; defines the distinct patterns in this alternative vision; and explains how they differ from current realities.✔A creative undergraduate project

50. At the master’s level, the student addresses a core issue in his/her field of study from the perspective of a different point in time or a different culture, language, political order, or technological context, and explains how the alternative perspective contributes to results that depart from current norms, dominant cultural assumptions, or technologies—demonstrated through a project, paper, or performance.✔A focused professional application