ACADEMIC LEARNING COMPACTS (ALCs)
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What?
A new state mandate requiring SUS universities to develop Academic Learning Compacts (ALCs)—
student learning outcomes—for each undergraduate degree program. The state's desire is to make sure that students graduate from programs with well-defined learning outcomes that undergo assessment, and how that learning will be measured above and beyond course grades. That is basically good news, because it allows us to use our current assessment effort at UCF and within the college with some reasonable extensions. The other state option that universities fought and won was to have every student take an exit exam (like the FCAT for K-12).
Who?
· ALCs will be created for each of the baccalaureates in the SUS.
· The learning outcomes must include assessment on: (i) the knowledge and skills of the discipline, (ii) critical thinking, and (iii) communication.
· Each UNDERGRADUATE degree program must develop a reasonably comprehensive list of learning outcomes (typically this means 8 to 12 outcomes). They must be written in plain, jargon-free English.
· Measures must be developed for each learning objective. There is an expectation of direct measures (i.e., survey data alone will not be enough).
· For CECS, the ABET a-k student learning outcomes satisfy these criteria. Engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have:
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; (b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data; (c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs; (d) an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams; (e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems; (f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; (g) an ability to communicate effectively; (h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context ; (i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; (j) a knowledge of contemporary issues; and (k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
When?
· This work is done as part of our annual assessment cycle at UCF and within the college; the undergraduate program coordinator in each department is responsible for the completion of the program assessment plans. For the upcoming assessment cycle, ALCs are due November 17, 2005.
· The state requires that ALCs be made available to students and the
public. Our ALCs will be publicly available on the web. So will those of our
sister universities in
· ALCs would be reviewed, accepted or returned for revision, reviewed again, and placed on the FACTS (state) website by the state’s Department of Education staff.
Why?
While disciplines are required by the Southern Association of Colleges of Schools (SACS) to identify learning outcomes and measures of those outcomes, there continues to be great variation among programs and institutions in meeting this requirement. The SUS-wide, ALC effort would force improvement. While SACS requirements identify expectations relative to content knowledge per discipline, they do not necessarily address communication or critical thinking skills. SACS reporting requirements are not in a concise, user-friendly, accessible format for stakeholders. ALCs would be concise, user-friendly, and accessible. ALCs, have never been effected by a state system. National experts in the field of postsecondary learning assessment are highly supportive of the concept of ALCs as a state-level effort. The ALC has the potential to be a real cultural change-agent in the area of postsecondary academic services rendered and accountability.
Where?
ALCs will be linked directly to the FACTS (state) website.
How?
ALCs would receive institutional approval at the provost level, and then, in the course of insertion into the state-level database, reviewed by Department of Education staff. In addition, they would be reviewed cyclically in the context of mandated academic program reviews, and again in the context of SACS accreditation. ALCs could be evaluated by institutions and the Department of Education as exceeding, meeting, or not meeting expectations. This would provide a level of peer pressure that would help to create a continuous improvement environment.
Your Role
Your role in the classroom is crucial to the success of our students and to meeting this new state mandate. Please work with your undergraduate program coordinator to provide aggregate data on how well students are progressing in your classes in the three focus areas of the ALC: (i) the knowledge and skills of the discipline, (ii) critical thinking, and (iii) communication. Let me emphasize that even with the state's new requirements this is still assessment. The goal is to determine the areas in which we are strong and find places where we are not doing a good job so that we can fix them Failure is good, as long as it leads to program change – that is the point of assessment.