Baccalaureate Core Committee:
Vitalization Agenda Update
OSU Faculty Senate, January 12, 2012
Bill Bogley and Kerry Kincanon, BCC Co-Chairs, 2011-2012
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.”
1
June 28, 2016
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
2
June 28, 2016
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
3
June 28, 2016
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
4
June 28, 2016
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.
5
June 28, 2016
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.
6
June 28, 2016
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.
7
June 28, 2016
BCC 2011-2012: EC Charges
• Rewrite BCC Standing Rules (Committee on
Committees)
• Incorporate evidence of Student Learning into
(Course and) Category Review
8
June 28, 2016
…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)
9
June 28, 2016
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)
10
June 28, 2016
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
11
June 28, 2016
Baccalaureate Core Assessment
• Summer 2012: Office of Assessment
summarizes department findings and adds
instutional data
• Fall 2012: BCC reviews student learning in
Synthesis categories
12
June 28, 2016
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
13
June 28, 2016
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?
14
June 28, 2016