Slippery Rock University MSCHE 2011 Self-Study
Chapter Four
conducted of 517 recent graduates (2009-10) indicates that only 14.3% believed that Liberal Studies had a strong positive impact on their professional lives and 15.1% believed the same about its impact on their personal life. Slightly more than 50% saw Liberal Studies having little or no positive impact on their professional lives, with slightly less than 50% noting the same conclusion about their private lives (Exhibit 20). Standard 12-J, K and N Such results have prompted the Liberal Studies Program Committee (LSPC) to explore ways to increase student awareness of both the intent and the impact of the program. Some ideas include a stronger presence for the program at the orientation of incoming students, a newsletter published once a semester showcasing students and faculty and describing significant Liberal Studies experiences, and a shift in the way the program is depicted during academic advisement, which would characterize Liberal Studies as an initial “major,” complementing rather than competing against the major that will occupy a student’s later years at the university. The results of ongoing learning assessment would provide such efforts with needed evidence, demonstrating how Liberal Studies courses have been refined in content and delivery of instruction in order to better meet the learning goals that have been set for them. Standard 1-A, E and K, Standard 6-I, and Standard 12-B, E and G For example, Introduction to Music is a goal course within the Liberal Studies Arts block that is often taught in sections containing 150 students. (Most sections of goal courses, because of the demand created by their required nature, range in size from 45 to 150 students. The main exceptions are the courses ostensibly devoted to the development of communication abilities—College Writing I and II and Public Speaking—sections of which are generally capped at 27.) Learning goals for the Arts block include being able to “identify the genres, periods, media, and styles” of particular art forms; being able to “draw interpretive conclusions about the creative processes and artistic media;” and being able to “critically analyze works of art and the contexts in which they were produced.” The Assessment Results Matrix submitted to the LSPC for the course suggests that music faculty have, because of the assessment, considered adjustments in the way context and interpretation are discussed with students who are not music majors. Moreover, the assessment instrument for measuring a student’s ability to interpret and analyze—a “concert reaction” paper evaluated through a rubric—indicates one strategy for having students practice those skills without overburdening instructors of such heavily enrolled sections. Publicizing the link among classroom activities and discussion and achieved learning goals might be one way for students to understand the value and quality of their Liberal Studies experiences. Standard 12-E and F, and Standard 14-E, O, P, Q and AA Beyond learning assessments, the university continues to experiment with the best ways to support its general education program within tight budgetary constraints. Some support comes from regular budget allocations to upgrade classroom environments and from grants funded through the student technology fee; the 2007 Liberal Studies program review also indicated that the process for obtaining library holdings described earlier in this chapter is working to ensure appropriate materials for Liberal Studies courses. A $10,000 fund was set up in 2007 to assist development of expertise among members of the LSPC, and further support has been provided by the college deans. In fact, probably the most significant adjustment in support occurred in 2009, when the dean of the College of Humanities, 67 | P a g e