Applying Rigorous Analysis to General Education Reform Eric Ruckh, David Sill, and Michael Palmer
Mar 27, 2015
Applying Rigorous Analysis to General Education Reform
Eric Ruckh, David Sill, and Michael Palmer
• BRIDGE and AQIP are central to SIUE
• Simultaneous processes
• Culture of rigor in scholarship of teaching and learning
AQIP
• Higher Learning Commission of North Central Association
• Alternative process for maintaining accreditation
AQIP Process
Systems PortfolioSystems Appraisal
Strategy ForumAnnual Updates
Action Projects
Systems Portfolio
• Regularly updated—100 pages
• Overview and nine categories, including:– Helping Students Learn– Understanding Students' & Stakeholders'
Needs– Valuing People– Leading and Communicating
• Systems appraisal every four years
General Education Reform Started with the Objectives Project
• 2003—AAC&U’s Greater Expectations Institute
• 2004—AAC&U’s General Education Institute
• 2005—BRIDGE (Baccalaureate Reform through Integrated Design of General Education)
BRIDGESecretarial
Support
Provost FacultySenate
InformationKnowledge
IntegrationLinkage
CommunicationWriting
Speaking
ApplicationCitizenship
Design Teams
FacultyConversations
BRIDGE 2005-2007
• Phase I—Eleven design teams completed proposals by March 15, 2006
• Phase II—Three design teams (May 2006)– Distribution model– Core curriculum– Learning communities
• March 29, 2007--All faculty meeting
• Fall 2007—Faculty Senate action
Comparison—Systems Portfolio and BRIDGE designs
• Do they reflect the same culture?
• What are the underlying assumptions and frameworks?
• What can we learn from a rigorous analysis?
• Can theory and research improve practice?
Systems Portfolio
Theoretical Frame
Loosely from Michel Foucault
Structure of a text:
• Aims/Purpose
• Order/Relation
• Field/‘Unsaid’
Assumptions
Exercise
• Examine Page from Systems Portfolio– What are its aims? What relations does it
establish? What are its unsaid assumptions?
• Examine Page from a design proposal– What are its aims? What relations does it
establish? What are its unsaid assumptions?
• Comparison--Alignment– What is important or significant?
Report out
• What did you find?
• Were there any surprises?
Theoretical FrameIn Application
• Aims/Purpose
• Order/Relation
• Field/‘Unsaid’
Assumptions
Comparison of
the two texts
Reflective Questions:• What are the underlying assumptions and
frameworks of your institutional culture?
• How do you know them?
• Do your institutional projects align with your university’s culture?