Goal Team 2 - 2010-11 – Initiative Reports – May 25, 2011
An Initiative is a significant action we are taking to accomplish our mission. Detailed reports on each Initiative are available on the Big Meeting 2009-10 web page, under the section on Goal Team reports on Initiatives and Issues:
http://valenciacc.edu/strategicplan/big_2009.cfm
Note that there is no Initiative #1 due to the way in which the spreadsheet was numbered.
Initiative 2 – Curriculum Mapping – Nick Bekas
Initiative 3 - Program outcomes and assessment plans for A.A., A.S., A.A.S, & B. S. – Kurt Ewen
Initiative 4 - Improve success in math – John Niss (Suzette Dohany and John Niss updated in 2011.)
Initiative 5 - Holistic grading of ENC 1101 essays – Randy Gordon (Della Paul was to update in 2011. An excerpt from a 2011 report by Kurt Ewen is included here.)
Initiative 6 - Assessing writing in Gordon Rule Humanities – Kurt Ewen. Kurt Ewen created an Initiative Report (attached).
Initiative 7 - General Education Student Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Curricular Alignment – Kurt Ewen (An excerpt from a 2011 report by Kurt Ewen is included here.)
Initiative 8 - Develop data model – Roberta Brown (Nick Bekas and Kurt Ewen will update in 2011 as this work moves forward. Still in developmental stages.)
Initiative 9 - Enrollment Plan – Cheryl Robinson (Ruth Prather will update in 2011)
Initiative 10 - New Student Experience – Kurt Ewen (Kurt Ewen created an Initiative Report (attached).
Initiative 11 - Developmental education initiative – Nick Bekas (Nick Bekas updated the report for 2011)
Initiative 12 - Course outlines to be produced through a second round of outcomes review – John Niss (Cheryl Robinson updated for 2011.)
The team asks that we define mapping and alignment- Nick Bekas will provide these definitions.
The team added these Initiatives –
Initiative 13 – Grow Bridges – Nick Bekas created an Initiative Report after consulting Student Affairs staff
Initiative 14 – Faculty Development – Ruth Prather to work with Wendy Dew to create an Initiative Report, and the report will include the use of technology. Report will be completed in Summer 2011.
Initiative 15 – Senef Honors College – Cheryl Robinson and Valerie Burks created an Initiative Report. (Attached.)
Initiative 16 – CCSSE/ Student Engagement – Kurt Ewen created an Initiative Report (attached).
Goal Team 2 – Initiative #2
Curriculum Mapping
Nick Bekas
Initiative 2 (excerpted from DEI 2011 Report)
Developmental Education Curriculum Mapping and Alignment Project
All developmental education courses were revised but will not be fully implemented until fall, 2011. Full implementation of the revised courses did not occur during the spring 2011 term. Therefore, data is not available at this time to report on the impact of the course outline activity. Assessment of the revisions will be conducted during the next academic year; data correlating outline revisions to student outcomes will be available during the next reporting period.
Definition of Mapping and Alignment
Mapping refers to the process of plotting out the content within courses and programs. It can also refer to the process of plotting the content across different courses and programs.
Alignment refers to the process of making sure the outcomes of one course are sequenced to another course logically and adequately so that a student experiences a coherent program of study.
Bridges to Success Program
The College set a very ambitious goal to raise the numbers of students admitted to the Bridges program each year, increasing the number of students admitted by 60% over a three year period. The program did exceed its goal by admitting a total of 325 students (50% greater increase than expected) however, fewer than 300 students actually enrolled.
In Spring 2011, the program examined and made considerable adjustments to its admissions process. Currently, 383 students have been admitted to the program for Fall 2011, and a significant number have been placed on a waiting list. The College is optimistic that the high admission numbers (for 2011-12) enhanced by these procedural changes, will yield an increase in the program enrollment.
Goal 2 - Initiative 3
Program Outcomes and Assessment Plans for A.A.,A.S.,A.A.S,&B.S.
From Kurt Ewen – May 2011
All academic programs of study now have faculty approved Program Learning Outcomes and these outcomes are published in the College Catalogue.
The District Board of Trustees has approved a new Institutional Effectiveness Component of the Faculty Compensation plan. The new plan (below) is focused on the assessment of Program Learning Outcomes.
By May 13, 2012, all academic programs (list available) will have implemented an assessment plan that has been approved by the Learning Assessment Committee (LAC). Approval of each assessment plan will be based on principles of good assessment practice determined by the Assessment Plan Template (available for review) developed by the LAC and approved by the College Learning Council.
In order for the faculty, collectively, to be eligible to receive the Institutional Effectiveness (IE) component that is in addition to their normal salaries in Fall 2012, 90% of all of the academic programs must have developed faculty approved improvement plans. These improvement plans will be based on the learning assessment data compiled from each academic program’s assessment plan.
The College Learning Council will monitor the progress of this criterion that 90% of all of the academic programs have successfully implemented their assessment plans, and report their findings to the Board of Trustees.
Initiative# 4 Report
Improve Success in Math
This report is in two parts: MAT0012C Redesign and MAT0024C Redesign, both of which follow.
Goal Team: 2
Initiative Name: Initiative 4 - MAT0012C (MAT0018C) Redesign
Prepared by: John Niss – submitted via Suzette Dohany
Person(s) consulted in obtaining information about the status of this initiative:
Summary of progress made on the initiative to date:
The redesign team has implemented a new curriculum for MAT0012C with college-wide curricular material including textbook, portfolio, learning skills activities, lab activities, review materials and a common final-exit exam.
Information about upcoming work on the initiative:
The task force will continue to improve the course materials and work to implement state-wide changes to the course.
Any data or results that can be shared that reveal how those involved with this initiative are gauging the success of the initiative:
Results are mixed, but most campuses have seen an increase in the percent of students successfully completing the course. Long term monitoring is necessary to see how temporary changes in incoming student demographics effect results.
Goal Team: 2
Initiative Name: Initiative 4 - MAT0024C (MAT0028C) Redesign
Prepared by: John Niss, submitted via Suzette Dohany
Person(s) consulted in obtaining information about the status of this initiative:
Summary of progress made on the initiative to date:
The redesign team is in the process of deciding how extensive and prescriptive the curriculum redesign will be for this course. Surveys of MAT0012C (MAT0018C) instructors have been distributed to see how the changes to that course are perceived.
Information about upcoming work on the initiative:
The task force will continue to improve the course materials and work to implement state-wide changes to the course.
Any data or results that can be shared that reveals how those involved with this initiative are gauging the success of the initiative:
No changes have yet been made that impact students directly.
Goal 2 – Initiative #5
Holistic Grading of ENC 1101 Essays
(excerpt from a report by Kurt Ewen)
1. In the Fall of 2006, Faculty teaching Gordon Rule Writing reinforcement classes approved a common outcome for the writing component of their classes – “Students will demonstrate college-level writing.” At the same time the faculty approved the use of the Learning Evidence Team Rubric for Written Communication as standard for assessing college level in their classes (available for review).
2. In the Spring of 2007 faculty teaching English agreed to abandon the use of the exit exam for ENC1101 and replace it with a common assessment of college-level writing using approved rubric for Written Communication (available for review). Their articulated rationale for the new process is below.
Based on the premise that discipline based assessment activities at Valencia should be consistent from one campus to the next, we have done away with the exit exam for ENC 1101.
In order to promote the continuous improvement of our program, we propose a college-wide assessment activity in which a pool of randomly selected papers would be holistically scored once a year by full and part-time faculty. This process would allow for substantive conversations among faculty and within departments on strategies to improve the quality of the work our students are doing. Our hope is that this process will serve as a model for a similar assessment process for Gordon Rule courses and allow us to better track the progress of our students.
3. The process described above has been attempted over the past 4 years with varying degrees of success and the process has served as a model for other disciplines including Gordon Rule Humanities classes. The implementation of the new process has raised a variety of questions needing further reflection before agreement can be reached about the nature of student ability. These questions include:
- The relationship between rubric score and grades.
- Expectations about student performance at the conclusion of ENC1101 (the first college writing class a student takes at Valencia.
- The kinds of assignments capable of allowing a student to demonstrate college level writing.
- The role of research and appropriate documentation in a college level paper.
Goal 2 - Initiative 6
Assessing writing in Gordon Rule Humanities
From Kurt Ewen – May 2011
Faculty teaching Gordon Rule humanities classes, along with English Faculty, have established a common learning outcome for all classes that reinforce college level writing and have agreed upon a common rubric for the assessment of college level writing (attached).
At present humanities faculty are focused on the assessment of the General Education Student Learning outcome Cultural and Historical Understanding. No college-wide work focused on the assessment of college-level writing is currently underway.
Goal 2 - Initiative #7
General Education Student Learning Outcomes, Assessment
and Curricular Alignment
(Taken from a report by Kurt Ewen)
1. Program learning outcomes[1] have been developed and approved for all academic programs with the exception of the Associate of Arts Degree (the Curriculum Committee has established a taskforce to develop a set of proposed outcomes for the A.A. Degree which will then be presented to the Curriculum Committee, Faculty Council and the College Learning Council).
2. In Destination 2009, 11 program learning outcome assessment plans were developed and implemented in the Spring of 2010. Student artifacts were collected and assessed on May 6, 2010. The academic programs or General Education discipline areas involved in this work include:
- Speech (General Education)
- Comp 1 (General Education)
- Humanities (General Education)
- Mathematics (General education)
- Science (General Education)
- U.S. Government (General Education)
- Accounting Technology (A.S. Degree)
- Medical Office Administration (A.S. Degree)
- Office Administration (A.S. Degree)
- Building Construction and Technology (A.S. Degree)
- Computer Information Technology (A.S. Degree)
- Architecture (A.A. Pre-Major)
Faculty Assessment Coordinators representing General Education Disciplines and A.S. Program areas are currently working with the Learning Evidence Team to support the implementation of these plans in Spring 2011. The implementation process will include the documentation of the assessment process in WEAVEonline.
3. In Destination 2010, 27 program learning outcomes assessment plans were developed and will be implemented in the Spring of 2011 – additional program areas or disciplines are working on revised assessment plans based on lessons learned from the implementation and assessment of plans in the Spring of 2010. The A.S. Programs or General Education disciplines areas involved in this work include:
- Speech (General Education)
- Comp 1 (General Education)
- Humanities (General Education)
- Mathematics (General Education)
- Science (General Education)
- U.S. Government (General Education)
- Sociology (General Education)
- Librarians (Contributing to General Education)
- Digital Media for Video & Motion Graphics (AS Degree)
- Entertainment Design & Technology (AS Degree)
- Film Production Technology (AS Degree)
- Graphics Technology (AS Degree)
- Music & Sound Technology (AS Degree)
- Accounting Technology (AS Degree)
- Medical Office Administration (AS Degree)
- Office Administration (AS Degree)
- Paralegal Studies (AS Degree)
- Building Construction Technology (AS Degree
- Dental Hygiene (AS Degree)
- Diagnostic Medical Sonography (AS Degree)
- Emergency Medical Services Technology (AS Degree)
- Radiography (AS Degree)
- Respiratory Care (AS Degree)
- Landscape and Horticulture Technology (AS Degree)
- Computer Information Technology (AS Degree)
- Architecture (A.A. Pre Major)
- Dance Performance (A.A. Pre Major)
- Theater, Drama/Dramatic Arts (A.A. Pre Major)
4. The Learning Assessment Committee (under the direction of the College Learning Council) has developed a Program Learning Outcomes Assessment Plan Template (attached). The template was tested during Destination 2010 and is now being considered by the Faculty Council and the College Learning Council for draft approval. The template is based on best practice literature in learning outcomes assessment and will bring greater consistency to assessment planning, implementation and discourse at Valencia. A flow chart has also been developed for both Academic Affairs and Students to guide the development, approval and implementation of assessment plans (attached).
5. The Faculty Council has recently developed, approved and presented for Board of Trustee approval a new plan for the Institutional Effectiveness component of the Faculty Compensation Plan. The new plan (attached) is focused on the development of program learning outcome assessment plans, plan implementation and use of results for improvement. The basic language of the plan is below.
By May 13, 2012, all academic programs (list attached) will have implemented an assessment plan that has been approved by the Learning Assessment Committee (LAC). Approval of each assessment plan will be based on principles of good assessment practice determined by the Assessment Plan Template developed by the LAC and approved by the College Learning Council.