Information to Improve Undergraduate
Teaching and Learning:
Some Examples from the U.S.
Peter T. Ewell
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)

Kyoto University
December 12, 2013

Topics for This Talk
The Place of “Generic” and Disciplinary Skills in U.S.
Higher Educationo Employer Demands for Generic Skills as Well as
Disciplinary Skills
o General Education as Well as Study in Deptho The “Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP)”

Gathering Information About Generic Skills
o Mapping the Curriculumo Some Approaches to Learning Outcomes Assessment

Examples of Generic Skills
 Cognitive:• Communications (Written and Oral)• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

 Non-Cognitive• Empathy and Ethics• Working with Others• Taking Responsibility

Typical “General Education” Requirement
About a Third of the Curriculum (40-45 Credits)
Alternative Curriculum Models:o “Common Core”
o Distribution Requirement Covering• Written Communication, Mathematics• Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities(and Sometimes Fine Arts)

Generic Skills are Developed in Both
General Education and Disciplinary StudyGeneral Education Courses are in a Discipline
Concentration Courses Develop “Discipline-Specific”
Generic Skills
The OECD AHELO Example:o “Above Content” Thinking in Economics
o “Thinking Like an Engineer”

Teaching Generic Skills: CommonApproaches
 A “General Education” Block of Courses
 Embed These Skills in Disciplinary Teaching Particular Approaches to Teaching and Learning:• Collaboration and Group Work• Internships and Fieldwork• Capstone Courses and Projects• Role of the “Co-Curriculum”

The Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP)Three Degree Levels (Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s)Five Core Areas (Specialized Knowledge, Broad andIntegrative Knowledge, Intellectual Skills, Applied andCollaborative Learning, Civic and Global Learning)Framed as Successively Inclusive Hierarchies of“Action Verbs Statements” to Describe Competencies at
Each Degree Level
Attempt is to Align Teaching and Learning AcrossInstitutions and Faculties

An Example: Communication Skills
Associate Level: The student presents substantiallyerror-free prose in both argumentative and narrative forms
to general and specialized audiences
Bachelor’s Level: The student constructs sustained,
coherent arguments and/or narratives and/or explicationsof technical issues and processes, in two media, togeneral and specialized audiences
Master’s Level: The student creates sustained,
coherent arguments or explanations and reflections on hisor her work or that of collaborators (if applicable) in two or
more media or languages, to both general and specialized
audiences

An Example: Engaging Diverse Perspectives
Associate Level: Describes how different cultural perspectives
would affect his or her interpretations of prominent problems inpolitics, society, the arts, and/or global relations
Bachelor’s Level: Constructs a cultural, political, or technologicalalternative vision of either the natural or human world, embodied ina written project, laboratory report, exhibit, performance, orcommunity service design; defines the distinct patterns in thisalternative vision; and explains how they differ from current realities
Master’s Level: Addresses a core issue in his/her field of study
from the perspective of either a different point in time, or a different
culture, political order, or technological context, and explains how
the alternative perspective contributes to results that depart fromcurrent norms, dominant cultural assumptions, or technologies—alldemonstrated through a project, paper, or performance

What Is a “Course Map?”
A Matrix that Arrays:o Designated Competencies on One Axiso Individual Courses on the Other Axis

Each Cell Contains Information On:
o Whether and How the Competency Is Developedo Whether and How the Competence is Assessedo The Level at Which the Competence is AssessedA Course Level Curriculum Map
Intellectual Sckills -- Bachelors Level
CourseAnalyical

Use ofEngaging

Quantitative

Communications

Inquiry

Information

DiverseFluency

Fluency

Resources

Perspectives

Course #1
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

Course #1
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

Course #2
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

Course #3
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

Course #4
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

Course #4
Addressed?
Tested or Assessed?

[Etc]

Some Prominent Assessment Approaches
Tests that include Carefully Designed “ConstructedResponse Tasks” that Assess both Discipline Content andGeneric Skills

Capstone Courses and Projects in the Discipline thatAlso Demonstrate Generic as Well as Discipline
Comptencies
Portfolios of Student Work Organized Around GenericCompetencies for the Degree
Assessments “Embedded” in Regular AssignmentsÆ All of These Require a Way to Rate Student Work
Consistently Across Teaching Staff

Scoring Guides and Assignment Prompts
 Scoring Guides Array Multiple Criteria for Judging
Student Constructed Responses (to an Assignment,Test Question, etc.) at Various Levels

The Anatomy of a VALUE RubricCriteria

LevelsPerformanceDescriptors

Scoring Guides and Assignment Prompts
 Scoring Guides Array Multiple Criteria for Judging
Student Constructed Responses (to an Assignment,Test Question, etc.) at Various Levels
 This Means that the Prompts (Assignments) that
Generate these Student Responses Should
Unavoidably Cause Students to Respond in a Way that
Tries to Demonstrate Mastery of a Given Competency
 So Prompts Should Note the Central Task to be
Undertaken, How the Answer Should be
Communicated, What Kinds of Evidence Should beUsed, and How Extensive the Response Should Be

Points About Assignment Templates Basic Format: “Compare the Substance of [Argument
X] with [Argument Y] by Means of a Written Essay [of Z
Length] that Contains at Least Three Examples ofImportant Ways in Which these Arguments Differ”
 Should Address No More than Two or Three
Competencies
 Should Combine DQP Competencies (which are broadand generic) with Subject Specific Competencies Tiedto Course ContentFinal Points
U.S. Institutions Increasingly Recognize that Curricula
Need to be More Purposeful So Course Sequences FitTogether Better. Curricular Mapping and Learning
Outcomes Assessment are Tools to Accomplish ThisTask
The Objective of Both of These Activities is toGenerate Information that Can be Used to Improve
Teaching and Learning
This is an Iterative Process and It Does Not Have toBe (and It Will Not Be) Perfect the First Time; The Point
is to Start a Collective and Intentional Conversation
About What is Working and What Can Be Improved