Toward Seamless Educational
Experiences
May 4, 2010
General Education in California
Charles Schroeder
Senior Associate Consultant, Noel-Levitz
Presentation Overview
• Why seamless education? Why now?
• Creating powerful transactions
• Student engagement and effective educational practices
that enhance it.
• Learning communities: Seamless, low-cost education
• Final suggestions
• Conclusion
• Helpful resources…five sections
Why now? Changes and challenges
• Declining levels of academic preparation
• Dramatic demographic changes
• Rapid rise in cost of attendance
• Shifting economic agendas … current fiscal crisis
• Greater calls for access, affordability, and accountability
• Unacceptable retention and graduation rates
• High levels of student disengagement
• Fragmented curriculum with little coherence & integration
• New ways of defining “collegiate quality”
One wish to improve….
• Students
• Faculty
• Administrators
Our challenges…
“Our challenges are no longer technical issues of how to
allocate rising revenues, but difficult adaptive problems
of how to lead when conditions are constantly changing,
resources are tight, expectations are high and options
are limited. We live in an age of transformational, not
technical, change. Our leadership, like our institutions,
must become transformational as well.”
The Kellogg Commission
Finding opportunity in adversity?
During times of diminishing resources and retrenchment:
• Can we produce more learning with fewer resources ?
• How might we connect and integrate core curriculum and
core experiences?
• Can we create systems that support performance by
integrating curricular and co-curricular elements in a
seamless, mutually supportive and more coherent fashion?
• Should we continue to engage in business as usual and do
more with less? Or, do we engage in new business and do
less with less more effectively.
Meeting our challenges: Propositions
• Proposition #1: Our mission is to design a general
education experience that is really empowering &
transformational.
• Proposition #2: We must measure our success as
educators on the basis of the quality of encounters we
arrange, in and outside the classroom.
• Proposition #3: If quality lies in the encounters we arrange,
then we must ensure that these encounters are powerful,
even transformational ones…. not only for our students,
but for us, our universities / system, as well as California
and America.
Astin’s Transaction Model
I E O
INPUT ENVIRONMENT OUTCOMES
Entering Full range of Desired
characteristics experiences results
INPUT: At-risk Characteristics
• Unrealistic expectations • Math anxiety
• Financial / affordability • Low socioeconomic status
• Underprepared / basic skills • Working excessive hours
• Underperforming record • Inappropriate courses
• Lack motivation / intellectual • Disengaged / uninvolved
self-confidence
• Weak study skills
• First generation
• Transition concerns
• Students of color
• Diverse learning patterns
• Lack of support system
The TRAILS Project ... The case for
active learning
• Concrete active learners value knowledge for its practical
utility and perform best in learning situations that emphasize
direct, concrete experiences; moderate to high degrees of
structure; and a linear, step-by-step approach.
• Abstract reflective learners prefer the global to the
particular; are stimulated by the realm of concepts, ideas, and
abstractions; love learning for learning’s sake; and, prefer
high degrees of autonomy.
Differences or Deficiencies?
Student engagement: The key to
empowering transactions
…the time and energy students devote to educationally sound
activities, inside and outside of the classroom, and the
policies and practices that institutions use to induce students
to take part in these activities…
Two components of student
engagement
• What students do --- time and energy devoted to
educationally purposeful activities.
• What institutions do --- using effective educational
practices to induce students to do the right things.
Our Challenge: How do we make general education and first
/ second-year learning experiences more seamless
…where in-class and out-of-class experiences are
intentionally designed to be mutually supportive and where
students take full advantage of all institutional resources
for learning?
ALIGNMENT …. ALIGNMENT….ALIGNMENT
Lessons from High Performing
Institutions: Project DEEP
DEEP: Documenting Educationally Effective Practices
Overall Goal: To discover, document and describe what
high performing institutions do and how they achieved
this level of effectiveness.
Selection Criteria: Much better than predicted
graduation rates and much higher than predicted
scores on the five NSSE (National Survey of Student
Engagement ) benchmarks.
Educationally effective practices
• Talent development philosophy • Use engaging pedagogical
approaches
• High expectations for student
effort / performance • Redefine the classroom /
optimize campus resources
• Clear pathways to student
success • Create performance support
systems / safety nets
• Provide frequent, meaningful
feedback • Integrate core curriculum with
core experiences
• Enhance advising
• Learning communities ---
• Human scale settings
seamless, low cost education
Learning Community Objectives
• Enhance students` transition to college.
• Make the campus psychologically small by creating
peer reference groups.
• Encourage group identity development and
engagement
• Provide a seamless educational experience for
students by connecting faculty, students, disciplines
and co-curricular experiences in a purposeful,
powerful, and coherent fashion.
• Enhance students` academic and social success.
Learning Communities … Models
• Paired (clustered), blocked or linked courses
• Coordinated studies (team-taught) programs
• Residential Living Learning Centers (LLC`s)
• Sponsored learning communities (WISE … Women in
Science and Engineering; The World of Business;
Pathways; Science and Society, etc.)
• Student cohorts in small and large classes (i.e.
Freshmen Interest Groups …. FIGs).
• Transfer Interest Groups; TRIGs) …Commuter / adult
learner virtual learning communities, etc.
Benefits to Students
• Friendships and a sense of belonging
• Much higher levels of engagement …social and academic
integration
• Improved academic performance and retention (+10%)
• Greater intellectual energy and confidence
• Enhanced appreciation of diversity/ other perspectives
• Stronger intellectual connections
• Greater intellectual development
Evaluation results … NSSE
• From a study of 1.3 million students at 1100 institutions,
students, as a group, who participated in some form of
learning community scored significantly higher on all five
NSSE benchmarks …..
Level of Academic Challenge
Active and Collaborative Learning
Faculty – Student Interaction
Enriching Educational Experiences
Supportive Campus Environments
University of Missouri Impact Data*
FLC`s F.T.C.
Fall Term G.P.A. 2.89 2.66
Cumulative G.P.A. 2.83 2.65
African-American G.P.A. 2.82 2.25
All Minority 2.97 2.35
Fall-Fall Retention 87.5% 80.5%
Retention to Junior year + 11%
Retention to Senior year + 8%
Graduation rates (4, 5, 6 year) + 4-10%
*Controlled for entering ability levels
Ten suggestions for transforming the
general education experience
1. Develop a widely shared vision of student success …
focus on doing a few things for large numbers of students
2. Raise the bar – establish high expectations for everyone
3. Use multiple settings to encourage student engagement
4. Cultivate an ethic of positive restlessness and a culture of
evidenced-based quality…. “Gen. ed. learning circles”
5. Encourage collaboration – within and across academic
and institutional lines & between the campus and
community--- and create unity without uniformity ---UWM
Forge general education partnerships
through collaboration
• Create cross departmental teams to explore areas of
general ed. improvement (i.e. faculty learning circles)
within institutions and with feeder community colleges.
• Consider establishing some common institutional and
system “promising practices / standards” for engagement
in general education (i.e. experiential; fourth credit option)
• Foster alliances with area alumni who can communicate
the vocational value of general education in admissions
literature and though new student and transfer orientation.
• Catalogue and showcase effective gen. ed. pedagogical
practices that are transferable throughout the system.
Ten suggestions (cont.)
6. Draw a map for student success – include a “job
description”
7. Engage in systematic inquiry – generate timely, relevant
information to inform and improve student and general
education performance
8. Focus on students who are under engaged
9. Put money where it will make a difference in student
engagement
10. Become transformational leaders – challenge
assumptions, take risks, and encourage innovation.
Conclusion: Become transformational
general education leaders
Creating an empowering general education experience
requires transformational leadership …
…. Challenging prevailing assumptions
…. Leaving our comfort zones
…. Reaching across the aisles
…. Engaging in new business
Carpe Diem!!!
Overview of Helpful resources
• Section One: Questions for reflection and discussion for
improving the efficacy of general education
• Section Two: What we can learn from educationally
effective, highly engaged community colleges
• Section Three: Major themes from Project DEEP ; learning
community design principles and definitions
• Section Four: Best practices for transfer students
• Section Four: 12 books, monographs and websites that
incorporate promising practices for enhancing general
education, engagement, learning and success.
• Section Five: Speaker's contact information
Questions for reflection & discussion
• In what ways do students` background and talents influence
teaching & learning in general education courses.
• Are general education outcomes clear and consistently
communicated to students in ways they understand them?
Do students understand the vocational value of general
education?
• To what extent do faculty members experiment with
engaging pedagogies and share what works with
colleagues?
• What kind and how early &often do students get feedback
on their performance in general education courses?
Questions for reflection & discussion
• How often do students work with one another on group
projects and class presentations in gen. ed. courses?
• What “high risk” (30%+ D`s, F`s) general education courses
affect attrition for freshmen and sophomores?
• Are students in general education courses required to take
advantage of writing centers, math and science tutorials,
and technology support centers by the third week of class?
• What gen. ed. course “bottlenecks” inhibit time to degree?
• Are students in general education courses expected to hold
their peers accountable through peer evaluations, group
projects and study groups?
Lessons we can learn from effective,
best- practice community colleges
• SPECIALNESS : Student-centered in a “super-sized”
way! …. “it's all about the students, and everybody
knows it”… “students see inspiration in us , and we
get inspiration from them” … “philosophy of equality”
• Everybody sings from the same songbook …clear and
compelling vision and coherence (unity without
uniformity), alignment and seamlessness.
• High expectations and continuing support go hand in
hand. “Everyone understands what is expected of
them”… “Being a serious student is recognized here”
Common elements (cont.)
• We're bold, we're flexible and we take risks. “We're
like our students: we're gutsy, we`re not timid, and we`re
willing to take calculated risks. We`re strategic …so we
don't go whichever way the wind blows”.
• We forge creative partnerships …inside and outside the
institution to strengthen the learning environment.
• Self-examination is the norm and the data are the
starting point. “We see assessment as learning …using
data and research to help guide us at getting better”
• Believe in active and collaborative learning --- for
everyone .“We are all teachers. We are all learners”
“We’ve moved from being `teaching-to-learning-centered’”
Learning Community Design:
Principles of Good Practice
• Faculty – student contact
• Cooperation among students
• Active learning
• Prompt feedback
• Time on task
• High expectations
• Diverse ways of learning
Chickering and Gamson, 1987
Behind LC outcomes --- The Four I`s
Student success was enhanced by :
… facilitating student's incorporation into university life and
culture
… encouraging involvement in educationally purposeful
activities in and out of class
… promoting effective interaction with faculty and peers
… assisting students in integrating diverse academic and
campus experiences
Project DEEP institutions
• Alverno College • Sweet Briar College
• Cal State-Monterey Bay • University of Kansas
• Evergreen State College • University of Maine, Farmington
• Fayetteville State University • University of Michigan
• George Mason University • University of Texas, El Paso
• Gonzaga University • Ursinus College
• Longwood University • Wabash College
• Macalester University • Wheaton College (MA)
• Miami University • Winston-Salem State University
• Sewanee (University of the • Wofford College
South)
Project DEEP : Six Conditions that
Matter to Student Success
• Clearly articulated educational purposes and aspirations.
• Unshakeable focus on student learning
• Environments adapted for educational enrichment
• Clear pathways to student success
• An improvement-oriented ethos
• Shared responsibility for educational quality and student
success
Defining Learning Communities
“Learning communities intentionally link or cluster two or
more courses, often around an interdisciplinary theme or
problem, and enroll a common cohort of students. They
represent an intentional restructuring of students` time ,
credit, and learning experiences to build community,
enhance learning , and foster connections among
students, faculty, and disciplines. At their best, learning
communities practice pedagogies of active engagement
and reflection.”
Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate
Education (2004)
Defining Learning Communities
“Learning communities are small subgroups of students
…characterized by a common sense of purpose … that
can be used to build a sense of group identity,
cohesiveness, and uniqueness that encourages
continuity and the integration of diverse curricular and
co-curricular experiences”
Alexander Astin
Achieving Educational Excellence
Practices that enhance academic /
social integration via engagement
• Transfer learning communities…TRIGS, block schedules
and departmental sponsored learning communities
• Transfer Resource / Service / Success Centers
• Clear pathways to transfer student success … pre-
enrollment FAQ`s; student transfer advocates;
departmental sponsored orientation and incorporation
programs and process; student / faculty mentors.
• Encourage formal connections with academic clubs,
transfer student associations, etc.
• Early-alert / intervention for “at-risk”
Transfer practices that enhance
curriculum planning / management
• Gain access to the institutions strategic enrollment
management team….create a comprehensive, strategic
transfer recruitment and retention plan.
• Determine, through assessment, curricular disconnects
(course availability / scheduling) & “flow through” problems
• Appoint general education liaisons for community colleges
• Establish monthly general education “transfer forums”
within and between institutions
• Develop tracking mechanisms (degree audits) and
individualized academic plans for transfers.
Resources
• Kuh, G. et. al Student Success in College: Creating
Conditions that Matter. Jossey-Bass, 2005
• Barefoot, B.O., Gardner, J.N., Schroeder, C. (et. al.)
Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence in
the First Year of College. Jossey -Bass, 2005.
• Kuh, et. al. Assessing Conditions to Enhance
Educational Effectiveness: The Inventory of Student
Engagement and Success. Jossey-Bass, 2005.
• Upcraft, M. L., Gardner, J. N., Barefoot, B.O. & Associates.
Challenging and Supporting The First-Year Student: A
Handbook for Improving the First Year of College.
Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Resources Cont.)
• National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students.
Multiple resources. www.unt.edu/transferinstitute/
• Tagg, J. The Learning Paradigm College. Anker
Publishing, 2003
• Schroeder, C. “Collaborative Partnerships Between
Academic and Student Affairs”. In Upcraft, L., Gardner, J,.
& Barefoot, B. Challenging & Supporting The First-Year
Student: A Handbook for Improving the First Year of
College. Jossey -Bass, 2005, p. 204-220.
• Project DEEP Practice Briefs (Numbers 1-16).
http://webdb.iu.edu/Nsse/?view=deep/briefs
Resources (Cont.)
• Seymour, D. Once Upon a Campus: Lessons for
Improving Quality and Productivity in Higher
Education. American Council on Education/ORYX Press,
1995 & 2002.
• Smith, B.. MacGregor, J., Matthews, R. & Gablenick.
Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate
Education. Jossey -Bass, 2004
• O’Banion, T. A Learning College of the 21st Century.
AACC / ORYX Press, 1997.
• Swing, R. L. Proving and Improving: Strategies for
Assessing the First College Year. National Resource
Center for the First-Year Experience, 2001.
Speaker's Contact Information
Dr. Charles C. Schroeder
charles-schroeder@noellevitz.com
706-216-7457