Catching Up on the Last Two Weeks!

Since my last post, we have had 4 meetings -- July 5th, July 6th, July 13th, and July 14th.
First I want to summarize the July 5th and July 6th meetings.
These two meetings the Summer I group scrambled to look at a lot of issues related to assessment work and make some decisions. The July 5th meeting we made some concrete decisions about the format of the Curriculum Maps and really specified exactly what they would map for degrees and certificates. We also clarified our thinking about Program Assessment and the kinds of support documents needed to pull off Program Assessment during the next academic year. Finally we started thinking about General Education Competency issues and we ran out of time. The July 6th meeting we settled on a template for Program Assessment Plans/Reports. We did some thinking about the front end of Fall 2011 semester and the messages that we needed to give faculty. We especially talked about how important it will be to have positive messages. We compiled a list of positive statements about the value of the Curriculum Map initiative and a similar list of positive statements about the value of the Key Assignment initiative. We looked at a draft calendar for merging all the assessment efforts -- Program Assessment, Gen Ed Assessment, Program Review, Unit Planning, Curriculum Maps, Key Assignments, High Risk Course Action Plans -- and we talked about how the different assessments supported each other. Finally, I gave my 'Reading Assignment' report on the Lumina Foundation's Degree Qualification Profile. The outcomes for Associate Degree students might be helpful for us to review as we revise our Gen Ed Rubrics. A BIG Thank You! to the Summer I group!

The next two meetings were workshops by Dr. Judith Boettcher. July 13th she provided us with a framework and best principles and practices for online and blended learning. This workshop featured three PAC faculty sharing thier experiences as they worked with Dr. Boettcher to revise their online courses. July 14th Dr. Boettcher focused on building community in courses and the use of teamwork as one of the community building strategies to deepen the learning experience. This workshop will help natural science, English, Government, and Speech faculty design their online courses to address Teamwork! The most wonderful thing about Dr. Boettcher's workshops was the way she synthesized all the information she knew about helping students learn and then continuously got feedback from us to see what we understood. She customized the content to our ZPD! It was fun to watch her in action and I learned a lot! It was nice to see her affirm in her workshop all the national experts we have brought to PAC recently to help the faculty: Linda Suskie, Barbara Millis (Dee Fink), Ginny Anderson, and Elizabeth Barkley.