STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Exploring Process and Content for Our Field

LOOKING BACK●In 1986, community service was organized mostly via voluntary

groups (76%) - often student led!

●Placements were often supported through an informational clearinghouse (66%)

●Fewer than half of colleges and universities had a designated center

●In the 1990s when the Bonner Scholar Program was launched, it was often out of a chaplain’s office

Source: Collegiate Community Service: The Status of Public and Community Service at Selected Colleges and Universities (1986)

CHANGING CONTEXT●In 2015, over 1,100 colleges and universities have expressly

shared a commitment to civic engagement

●Of these, 94% of institutions have a dedicated coordinating unit, but 3.4 units coordinate curricular and co-curricular engagement on average at a single institution

●Across institutions, there is wide variety of vehicles for both curricular and co-curricular engagement including:

●residence-hall based service (91%)

●disciplinary CBL courses (71%)

●capstone service courses (57%)

Source: Preparing to Accelerate Change: Understanding Our Starting Line (Campus Compact Annual Member Survey, 2015)

OUTCOMES●More than half (53%) of institutions indicated that they have specific

student outcomes for community engagement. Common outcomes include those pertaining to:

●critical thinking (82%);

●civic or democratic learning (81%);

●engagement across differences (diversity) (76%);

●social justice orientation (64%);

●global learning (64%);

●policy knowledge (25%); and media literacy (21%).

●An additional 22% noted that they track student outcomes for engagement including problem solving, communication, and civic skills.

Source: Preparing to Accelerate Change: Understanding Our Starting Line (Campus Compact Annual Member Survey, 2015)

SESSION GOALSShare, engage with, and reflect on four institutions’ examples of their:

●Outcomes

●Process

●Who was involved

FUTURE AIMMove “best practice” to “common practice”

●Strategic plan

●Articulated student outcomes

●Assessment and impact evaluation

“The Great Commitments of Berea College

Berea College Mission

“To provide an educational opportunity primarily for students from Appalachia, black and white, who have great promise and limited economic resources.

To provide an education of high quality with a liberal arts foundation and outlook.

To stimulate understanding of the Christian faith and its many expressions and to emphasize the Christian ethic and the motive of service to others.

To provide for all students through the labor program experiences for learning and serving in community, and to demonstrate that labor, mental and manual, has dignity as well as utility.

To assert the kinship of all people and to provide interracial education with a particular emphasis on understanding and equality among blacks and whites.

To create a democratic community dedicated to education and equality for women and men.

To maintain a residential campus and to encourage in all members of the community a way of life characterized by plain living, pride in labor well done, zest for learning, high personal standards, and concern for the welfare of others.

To serve the Appalachian region primarily through education but also by other appropriate services.

The Great Commitments of Berea College

PROCESS● Timeline: Intermittently over the course of 2 years

● Involvement:○ Process driven by CELTS staff○ Gathered input from all stakeholder groups

■ Started with students■ Faculty, academic administrators, community

partners, students were part of HII Initiative■ Reviewed results of external center-wide

assessment, which included members of all stakeholder groups

■ Consulted with Dir. of Academic Assessment

PROCESS● Process:

○ Started with grounding in existing vision, mission, Common Commitments, CELTS Shared Values

○ Gathered ideas from existing examples○ Process dovetailed with other parallel/supportive

initiatives○ Hosted Kristin Norris of IUPUI on campus for

assessment workshops and consultations

● Highlight:○ Each SLO ties to one or more center-wide goal

PROCESS

● What’s happened since?○ Develop student awareness○ Develop faculty awareness

● What’s next?○ Review and refine; streamline○ Develop and implement assessment plan○ Develop opportunities for daily use by staff,

students, faculty

BEREA OUTCOMES

• Work and communicate effectively across differences

• Engage constructively in conflict situations

• Plan and implement community-based service activities or programs

• Demonstrate ability to think critically about social issues

• Work effectively in teams

BEREA OUTCOMES

• Integrate the values of service and social justice into career and life goals

• Use reflection as a means for learning and personal growth

• Demonstrate understanding of the importance of institutional and regional context to service at Berea College

• Act as ambassadors for service at Berea College and beyond

“ Through a blending of liberal arts and professional education, Siena College provides experiences and courses of study instilling the values and knowledge to lead a compassionate, reflective, and productive life of service and leadership.

-Siena College Mission

PROCESS• Following our Data Lab in Spring 2016, made the decision to reassess learning outcomes

• Utilized Siena College learning outcomes, previous ACE learning outcomes and AAC&U values

• About a month and a half from start to finish- with some additional editing and wordsmithing that needed to take place

• Closely aligns with mission of the college and mission of the center

INVOLVEMENT● ACE Admin and Staff - All Directors and

Program Coordinators● Process lead mostly by Director of

Programs, Allison Schultz, Director of Academic Integration, Dr. Paul Thurston and Assistant Director of ACE, Dr. Ruth Kassel

● Shared with VPAA and AVPAA and Director of Office of Institutional Effectiveness

SIENA OUTCOMES

• 1. Critical and creative reasoning. Explores problems/opportunities through the analysis of evidence from a variety of sources and perspectives; increases understanding by breaking complex topics into manageable parts; and, combines ideas in ways that demonstrate creativity and innovation.

• 2. Collaborative action. Applies knowledge, disciplinary expertise and professional skills to collaboratively work with diverse partners to produce meaningful, sustainable, and beneficial change in their local, regional, and global communities.

• 3. Ethical reasoning. Recognizes ethical issues in a variety of settings; considers the ramifications of actions to individuals, communities and the environment; relies on Franciscan Concerns for diversity, heritage, justice, and nature to make informed decisions and guide sustainable action.

SIENA OUTCOMES• 4. Oral and written communication. Develops and expresses ideas in

professional settings which effectively increases knowledge, fosters understanding, and promotes change in attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.

• 5. Teamwork and leadership. Contributes toward goals, interacts with others in a respectful manner, manages processes, and motivates others to achieve collaborative objectives in a variety of situations and cultural contexts.

• 6. Reflection and lifelong learning. Explores and integrates knowledge gained across a variety of experiences to understand preconceptions and privileges, and how these shape perspective; applies knowledge to improve competence and transfers learning to new situations.

“A Richmond education prepares students for lives of purpose, thoughtful inquiry, and responsible leadership in a diverse world.

-University of Richmond Mission

PROCESS

Bottom-up / Grassroots

Process as important as the product (culture of inquiry)

Iterative (What is the answer?)

PROCESSConducted data lab to identify big outcome categories (March 2012)

● People, privilege and diversity, self-efficacy, complexity, context, action

Contracted with private firm to host focus groups (April 2012)

● Students and site supervisors participated● Refined big outcome categories

Conducted data lab to draft student learning outcomes (May 2012)

● Small groups reviewed focus group summary report and drafted three learning outcome statements

Finalized student learning outcomes and rubric (November 2012)

INVOLVEMENTIntentional Impact Working Group (5 staff) drove process

● Secured artifacts, planned data labs, contracted focus groups, drafted SLOs and rubrics

CCE staff participated by providing feedback (9 staff)● Produced artifacts, participated in data labs, drafted

initial outcomes, tested rubrics

Alan Newman Research conducted focus groups (24 students and 10 community partner staff)

UR OUTCOMES1. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement helps students understand the ways that difference, privilege, and power work in their own lives and in our society.

2. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement broadens and deepens students’ thinking about complex and interconnected social issues affecting our world today.

3. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement prepares students for active citizenship. (civic identity, active participation, well-being)

4. The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement prepares students for lives of active learning. (self-motivated, communication and professional skills)

“The mission of Warren Wilson College is to provide a distinctive undergraduate and graduate liberal arts education. Our undergraduate education combines academics, work, and service in a learning community committed to environmental responsibility, cross-cultural understanding, and the common good.

-Warren Wilson College Mission

PROCESS• Collective agreement within CCE staff and its

advisory committee to shift to a new model; coupled with the College’s strategic planning process (2009-2010)

• Benchmarking study including interviews with 15 schools and literature review of models (Fall 2010)

• Surveys and focus groups with students, faculty, staff, and community partners (2010-2011)

• Model development, member checks, and final approval through Shared Governance (2010-11)

• Plan for Implementation (2011-12)

INVOLVEMENT• Committee formerly known as the Service Program Advisory Committee (now the Community Engagement Advisory Committee)

• Students, staff, faculty, and community partners

• Final approval required from the various elements of shared governance

WARREN WILSON OUTCOMES

POINTS OF ENGAGEMENT AND GROWTH (PEGs)

Self-knowledge○ Explore and clarify interests, passions, skills, and values.

Understanding of complex issues○ Examine why a social/environmental issue exists and how service

addresses it.

Collaboration for community impact○ Provide significant and substantial engagement with an issue

and/or partner agency that involves initiative and communication.

Commitment to community engagement○ Demonstrate a sense of civic responsibility through intentional

engagement in the community.

PROCESS

• Requirement phased in each year, beginning Fall 2012

• Annual assessment through student surveys after each PEG and evaluations from community partners

• Continuing to refine and build upon our assessment so that both the requirement and assessment are do-able

DATA LABVisit the four stations with the common recipe card and make notes about…

● Common ingredients

● Missing ingredients (for distinctive flavor)

● Other insights

GROUP INSIGHTS

● What are we learning about the development of SLOs? (common, missing, other?)

● What else do we wish we knew about the development of SLOs but have yet to answer?

NEW RESOURCES3 rubrics now for civic work...see Bonner wiki

● Civic engagement (AAC&U)

● Civic knowledge (through Massachusetts)

● Civic values (through Massachusetts)

Foundation plans to work with a team of Institutional Research representatives to articulate common set (recommended)

GROUP WORKFour groups…

● If your institution does not have student learning outcomes (tied to CE)

● If your institution is in the process of crafting student learning outcomes (tied to CE)

● If your institution has student learning outcomes (tied to CE) but not yet assessed

● If your institution has student learning outcomes (tied to CE) and has begun or done assessment