DEFINING & MEASURING INTEGRATIVE LEARNING

CIHE WORKSHOP, NEASC ANNUAL MEETINGDECEMBER 4, 2013

Martha L. A. Stassen Assistant Provost, Assessment & Educational Effectiveness

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Steven F. BloomAssociate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Lasell College

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Martha Stassen, U

Mass Am

herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell College

WORKSHOP ORGANIZATION

Together, we will focus on three key questions: How do we define integrative learning (i.e., what are our

learning goals for students)? What are the pedagogical approaches and curricular

structures that facilitate integrative learning? What kinds of student learning assessment strategies

offer useful formative and summative evidence of effectiveness?

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HANDOUT Decem

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DEFINITIONS

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, Lasell CollegeTHE UMASS AMHERST INTEGRATIVE EXPERIENCE (IE) REQUIREMENT ……addresses the challenges associated with educational fragmentation in the undergraduate experience. Positioned in the upper-division, the IE provides students with a structured opportunity to look back on their early college learning experiences (including General Education), reflect upon and make connections between those earlier experiences and the more advanced work in their major, and use their integrated learning to prepare for the demands of the world beyond the University.

The IE addresses these goals by fulfilling each of the following three criteria:

Providing a structured, credited context for students to reflect on and to integrate their learning and experience from the broad exposure in their General Education courses and the focus in their major.

Providing students with the opportunity to practice General Education learning objectives such as oral communication, collaboration, critical thinking and interdisciplinary perspective-taking, at a more advanced level.

Offering students a shared learning experience for applying their prior learning to new situations, challenging questions, and real-world problems.

These three criteria are the key ingredients for proposals to meet the IE. At the same time, it is important to note that there are many different upper-division and credit-bearing formats, options, or structures that can be proposed and approved, in light of the three key criteria.

IE activities made possible through the generosity of the Davis Educational Foundation. The foundation was established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after his retirement as chairman of Shaw’s supermarket.

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, Lasell College

THE LASELL CORE CURRICULUM: Features knowledge, dispositions, and skills that embody

Connected Learning; Crosses disciplinary and division lines to integrate a common set of

learning outcomes throughout students’ programs; Follows a developmental arc, incorporating increasingly complex

concepts, thinking, and professional applications; Engages students in reflecting on and demonstrating their

competence in the Lasell Learning Outcomes and in their growing professional skills.

Organizes institutional learning outcomes into 3 broad goals: Core Intellectual Skills, Core Ways of Knowing, Synthesis & Application

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Martha Stassen, U

Mass Am

herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell CollegeTHE LASELL CORE CURRICULUM:

CORE INTELLECTUAL SKILLS Read and respond in an informed and discerning way to

written texts of different genres Write clear, well-organized, persuasive prose Use listening and speaking skills to express ideas and

information clearly and confidently in a variety of settings Apply quantitative reasoning to solve problems effectively Use appropriate technological tools to solve problems

efficiently Collect, analyze, and synthesize appropriate data and

sources effectively, ethically, and legally Work effectively in collaborative settings

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Martha Stassen, U

Mass Am

herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell CollegeTHE LASELL CORE CURRICULUM:

CORE WAYS OF KNOWING Experience modes of self-expression and creativity

(Aesthetics & Creativity) Apply the process of scientific inquiry to comprehend

the physical world and to solve problems (Scientific Inquiry & Problem-solving)

Interpret and analyze the complex interrelationships and inequities in human societies in a global and historical context (Global & Historical Perspectives)

Evaluate and understand how individual differences and societal contexts impact human behaviors, beliefs, values, interactions, and emotional and intellectual processes (Individuals & Societies)

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Martha Stassen, U

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herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell CollegeTHE LASELL CORE CURRICULUM:

SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION

Analyze how meanings and knowledge are created by diverse cultures and how they evolve over time

Respond critically and analytically to moral issues and make informed, ethical decisions

Participate actively as a citizen in local and global communities

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CURRICULAR DESIGN & PEDAGOGY

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, Lasell CollegeD

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Martha Stassen, U

Mass Am

herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell CollegeTHE LASELL CORE CURRICULUM:

A FOUR-YEAR PLAND

ecember 2013

1st Semester 2nd Semester 3rd Semester 4th Semester 5th Semester 6th Semester 7th Semester 8th Semester

FYS 103/HON101 Core Way of

Knowing course (1 of 4)

Core Way of Knowing course

(3 of 4)

Sophomore Multidisciplinary

Course

Applied Ethics Experience

(design to be determined)

Applied Ethics Experience

(design to be determined)

Capstone OR Major Specific

Course OR Elective

(determined by major)

Capstone OR Major Specific

Course OR Elective

(determined by major)

Writing Foundation (ENG101)

Writing Foundation (ENG102)

Core Way of Knowing course

(4 of 4)

Writing Intensive 200-level Course (determined by

major)

Internship OR Major Specific

Course OR Elective

(determined by major)

Internship OR Major Specific

Course OR Elective

(determined by major)

Major Specific Course

(CWK Exploration)

Major Specific Course

(CWK Exploration)

Quantitative Reasoning Foundation

(MATH 106)

Core Way of Knowing course

(2 of 4)

Quantitative Reasoning Course

(determined by major)

Major Specific Course

Writing Intensive 300-level Course (determined by

major)

CWK Exploration Course (designated

by departments)

Major Specific Course (designated CWK Exploration

Course)

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

Major Specific Course (or elective)

/---BENCHMARK WORK---/ /-------------------------------------MILESTONE WORK-------------------------------------------/ /--------------------CAPSTONE WORK---------------/

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ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

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, Lasell CollegeD

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UMASS AMHERST IE ASSESSMENT IMPLEMENTATION

Evidence Gathering and (to varying degrees) analyzed

to date: Literature and other Universities’

Practices Review Student Focus Groups Senior Survey Item Addition IE Course Proposals & Syllabi Faculty Surveys at Workshops IE Enrolled Student Survey Enrollment Tracking & Reporting Direct Assessment of Student

Work from First Year of IE courses

Next Steps

IE Instructor Survey IE Instructor Interviews Ongoing instructor

workshops “Quinquennial” review of IE

courses by Gen Ed Council

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RESOURCESAmbrose, Susan A. & Colleagues. (2010). How Learning Works: 7

research-based principles for smart teaching.

Bransford, John D. & Colleagues. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.

Huber, Mary Taylor & Breen, Molly. “Integrative Learning: Putting the pieces together again. http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/perspectives/integrative-learning-putting-pieces-together-again

Huber, Mary Taylor & Hutchings, Pat. (2004). Integrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain. http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/sites/default/files/publications/elibrary_pdf_636.pdf.

Pellegrino, James W. & Colleagues, (eds). (2003). Knowing What Students Know: The science and design of educational assessment.

Zull, James E. (2002). The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the practice of teaching by exploring the biology of learning.

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ass Amherst &

Steven Bloom, Lasell College

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Martha Stassen, U

Mass Am

herst & Steven Bloom

, Lasell CollegeCONTACT AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Martha Stassen, mstassen@umass.edu

UMass IE Website (IE Criteria, Sample Assignments, Descriptions of Courses):

http://www.umass.edu/gened/teachingAdvising/integrativeExperience/ie.html

Steven Bloom, sbloom@lasell.edu

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