By Katie Winder, Dean, Liberal Arts, Social Systems & Human Performance
Below is an update of the work being done by the Transfer Solutions groups.
Transfer Fluidity: Angie Klampe, chair
This group is working on ways to improve the mechanics of the transfer experience. They are working right now on designing a plan to track our articulations with our partner schools consistently, and to advocate for our classes and curricula at our partner schools. They are also working on ways to improve how we market our Degree Partnership Program.
Curriculum: Alice Sperling, Dana Emerson, and Katie Winder, co-chairs
We are working on structuring program curricula so that students build the right skills at the right time (also called "scaffolding"). This is key to maintaining rigor while increasing completion. Right now the group is starting to work on identifying entry expectations in our current classes, as a way to begin thinking about how we either modify these expectations, arrange our curricula so that these expectations can be met within the program, or add resources so that students can meet these expectations on their own.
An example of this work would be this: when I teach an introductory economics course, I implicitly expect that students will be able to interpret a simple line graph. This expectation isn't in the course description or anywhere that students would be able to see it prior to entering the class on the first day. It's always just been something I expected a college-level student could do. So, once I've identified this as an entry expectation, which of the following makes the most sense to do:
- Somehow share this with students, either via the course description or somewhere else
- Add a pre-requisite of a 10-week course that includes interpreting graphs (even if the rest of the skills taught in the course aren't needed in my class)
- Provide students with a link to a Kahn Academy video explaining how to read a simple line graph.
- Add understanding graphs to my course curriculum
Next year, this group will be working on how to schedule classes strategically given our conclusions from this year's scaffolding work.
General Education: James Reddan, Dana Emerson, and Katie Winder, co-chairs
This group is re-thinking how the general education curriculum meets the needs of our transfer-bound students. We will work on scaffolding, on tying general education to the institutional mission, and on assessment. General education is our biggest program on campus.
