Northern Illinois University
Resubmission of Course for General Education Credit
Course Placement
Date of resubmission: October 13, 2010
Department: Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations
Course number, title, and credit EPFE 201, Education as an Agent for Change (3)
hours:
Time period covered by this report: 2001-2010
Form completed by: Marc VanOverbeke and Carolyn Vander Schee
Reviewed by department/school
curriculum committee:
X yes
_____ no
Check One: Core
Competency
Distributive
Area
Humanities and the Arts
Sciences and Mathematics
Social Sciences
X
Interdisciplinary
Catalog Description: A study of the complex problems facing educational and
other institutions in our multicultural or pluralistic
communities and the role of education as an agent for
change.
Delivery
When was the course most recently Fall 2010
taught?
Who teaches the course? Primary instruction is provided by (fill in the percentage
for all that apply):
Professors
Associate professors
30% Assistant professors
70% Instructors
Graduate assistants
Other (specify)
1
How many sections are offered in a 18-22 sections per semester, including 1 Honors section
typical semester and year? and 1 CHANCE section. In Fall 2010, 1 section was
offered as part of the Provost’s Themed Learning
Communities Initiative
What is the average class size? 25-30, except CHANCE and Honors sections with 15-20,
and one large section with 150-200 students
If there are multiple sections, is
there a coordinator responsible for
facilitating consistency between
sections?
Yes, a committee of faculty and professors has
responsibility for coordinating this course. This
committee generally meets each semester to discuss the
course, consider challenges, and plan new initiatives.
Members of this committee also work with new
instructors as needed to help them prepare for and teach
their sections. Members of this committee—or other
professors designated by the department chair—observe
and evaluate instructors on a regular basis. As warranted,
the department chair shares student evaluation data and
comments with this committee, and the committee then
works as necessary with instructors.
All EPFE 201 instructors are invited to annual meetings
that provide opportunities to talk about the course.
The primary goal for this committee now is to evaluate
which general education goals are most appropriate for
this course and to consider how best to assess those goals.
This work will be guided by the reports of the
baccalaureate review taskforce and the general education
committee. Future meetings and discussions, which will
include all course instructors as appropriate, will provide
an opportunity to ensure that the various sections of the
course focus tightly on the general education goals.
Relationship to General
Education
What general education goals does
the course emphasize? For
reporting purposes, highlight no
more than two goals.
The goals are provided on the following page.
General Education Goal Ai—Students develop habits of
writing, speaking, and reasoning necessary for continued
learning. Students communicate clearly in written
English, demonstrating their ability to comprehend,
analyze, and interrogate critically.
General Education Goal D—Students develop social
responsibility and preparation for citizenship through
global awareness, environmental sensitivity, and an
appreciation of cultural diversity.
2
Describe how each goal is assessed General Education Goal Ai—Assessment of this goal is
in the course? Be as specific as embedded across course assignments, including through
possible. exams, quizzes, reflection activities, short response
papers, and final position papers. This goal primarily is
assessed through a final position paper that requires
students to showcase their ability to analyze information,
reason critically, and write clearly. This position paper
assesses students specifically in the following categories:
appropriate choice and use of sources; critical analysis of
those sources; ability to marshal those sources in support
of an argument; and ability to write clearly and
grammatically.
General Education Goal D—Assessment of this goal
occurs primarily in the midterm and final exams and in the
final position paper. This paper asks students to identify a
social movement; research that movement’s history,
membership, and leadership; analyze its strategies; and
evaluate its purpose, mission, and effectiveness. This
paper requires students to think about social movements in
terms of social roles, responsibilities, and change. It
encourages students to think about the possibilities and
limitations of citizenship, and of the role that individuals,
groups, and organizations play in their communities, their
nations, and the world. It is also difficult to study social
movements without considering their effects on diverse
groups of people.
3
Provide the most recent assessment
data available on student attainment
of the general education learning
goal(s). Include associated rubrics,
assignments, embedded test
questions, etc. used for performance
assessment.
Analysis of assessment data from a sample of 50 students
from the large section of the course offered in spring 2010
is provided here. Target was for 80 percent of students to
perform at the 4 or 5 level in each of the below categories.
General Education Goal Ai—See rubric and assignment.
Final Position Paper Categories:
1. Credible and appropriate sources
2. Critical analysis of key issues
3. Well-researched and evidence to support claims
4. Attention to form and style
Results:
Outstanding
Good
Satisfactory
Needs Work
Poor
5
4
3
2
1
1
46%
28%
18%
6%
2%
2
24%
38%
34%
4%
3
46%
48%
6%
4
52%
36%
6%
6%
General Education Goal D— See rubric and assignment.
Final Position Paper Categories:
1. Movement’s purpose and mission
2. Movement’s historical backdrop
3. Movement’s leadership and membership
4. Movement’s strategies
5. Movement’s effectiveness
Results:
Outstanding
Good
Satisfactory
Needs Work
Poor
5
4
3
2
1
1
66%
24%
2%
4%
4%
2
62%
22%
12%
4%
3
38%
42%
8%
12%
4
36%
40%
16%
4%
4%
5
40%
34%
18%
6%
2%
4
How have the assessment data
collected in this course been used to
make modifications for
improvement?
General Education Goal Ai—Based on spring 2010 data,
it is clear that some students struggle with parts of
Learning Goal Ai. They have trouble identifying
appropriate sources (74% performed at target) and
analyzing those sources in terms of the goals of the paper
(62% performed at target). In part this may reflect the fact
that many students waited until late in the semester to start
their paper, and, thus, did not have enough time to
properly identify and analyze sources.
To address this issue, instructors now require students to
identify their paper topic early in the semester. Further,
students are required to hand in a paragraph detailing the
ways in which they will investigate and address their
topic. These requirements have been incorporated into the
course’s final assessment criteria. These changes should
encourage students to begin working on the paper earlier
in the semester, and it will give instructors an opportunity
to work with students who are struggling to identify a
topic, find sources, and use those sources effectively in the
paper.
General Education D—Some students also struggle to
articulate the goals, membership, strategies, and
effectiveness of their chosen social movement. Only 76%
of students met the target for criterion 4, and 74% for
criterion 5. The changes mentioned above will help to
address these issues. Additionally, during class
discussions and lectures, when instructors focus on social
movements, they are more specific in linking their
discussions of membership, leadership, purposes and
effectiveness with the final paper requirements. In this
way, instructors model for the students the kind of work
they will have to do in their papers.
Additionally, instructors have built more time into class
sessions so that students can discuss their papers and
research with each other in small groups. There also is
more structured time built into the course for students to
meet with instructors, in addition to regular office hours,
to discuss their papers. This peer interaction, along with
additional sessions, should help all students better focus
and structure their papers.
5
Pedagogy
Describe how the course is taught. The course is taught in a variety of ways across the
Provide a recent syllabus. different sections. Common instructional strategies
include lectures, book club groups, hands-on activities,
writing and reflection activities, videos, and guest
speakers. A representative syllabus is attached.
If there are multiple sections of the A standard syllabus is not used, but all new instructors are
course, is a standard syllabus used? provided with representative syllabi that they can adapt for
their section.
How does the course address issues Each section of the course usually incorporates different
of accessibility for students with teaching styles—including lectures, discussions, videos,
diverse learning styles? and music—to help students approach the topic and make
sense of it in multiple ways. Most instructors post lecture
notes, videos, and other material online for students to
review before and after class sessions, and many of the
readings are available in audio formats. There also are
multiple assessments where students can show their
knowledge of the subject and receive additional support as
necessary: class discussions, in-class writing reflections,
take home writing activities, online quizzes, exams, and
papers. Additionally each instructor has different
instructional strengths and styles, and students often
choose an instructor who best reflects their learning styles.
All instructors work with the Center for Access-Ability
Resources as needed to ensure that all students have the
opportunity to be successful in the course.
To what extent, if any, does the
course incorporate a multicultural
perspective in philosophy, content,
methods, or people?
Instructors use a variety of methods to promote a
multicultural perspective. Movies, music, discussions,
lectures, and readings emphasize diverse ways of knowing
and understanding the world. Instructors choose readings
to emphasize different ways of thinking about a topic and
making sense of it. Many of the social movements at the
heart of the course focus on racial, cultural, and ethnic
diversity, as well as on women and gender, special
education and disabilities, socio-economic status, and
sexuality. In particular, the course addresses social
movements (both current and historical) related to African
Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and
Latinos and Mexican Americans, in addition to
movements centered on urban and rural poverty and socioeconomic status.
6
General Education Goals
The General Education program at NIU will help students attain a sound liberal education and
acquire sufficient general knowledge and intellectual versatility to enable them to become
informed and resourceful members of society.
The four broad learning goals of the general education program are:
a.
Students develop habits of writing, speaking, and reasoning necessary for continued
learning.
i.
Students communicate clearly in written English, demonstrating their ability to
comprehend, analyze, and interrogate critically.
ii. Students communicate in a manner that unites theory, criticism, and practice in
speaking and writing.
iii. Students perform basic computations, display facility with use of formal and
quantitative reasoning analysis and problem solving, and interpret mathematical
models and statistical information.
iv. Students are able to access and use various information resources.
b.
Students develop an ability to use modes of inquiry across a variety of disciplines in the
humanities and the arts, the physical sciences and mathematics, and the social sciences.
i.
Students demonstrate a knowledge of the historical and prehistorical development
of societies and cultures, and of the relations of such development to the present.
ii. Students demonstrate an ability to articulate the significance of the arts and an
ability to apply analytical and interpretive skills to the critical examination of the
social/cultural values and aesthetic qualities found in the arts and popular culture(s).
iii. Students demonstrate a knowledge of the cultural traditions and philosophical ideas that
have shaped societies, civilizations, and human self-conceptions.
iv. Students demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method and an ability to use
scientific methods and theories to understand the phenomena studied in the natural and
social sciences.
c.
Students develop an understanding of the interrelatedness of various disciplines by integrating
knowledge from several disciplines and applying that knowledge to an understanding of
important problems and issues.
d.
Students develop social responsibility and preparation for citizenship through global awareness,
environmental sensitivity, and an appreciation of cultural diversity.
7