A Transferable Core Curriculum at IUPUI

Program Review and Assessment CommitteeApril 13, 2012

Approaches to General Education

1) Core curriculum

2) Distribution requirements

3) Ability-based (or Principle-based)

4) Combination of 2 & 3 above

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PRINCIPLES OF UNDERGRADUATE LEARNING

• PULs are essential ingredients of the undergraduate education experience at IUPUI

• Form a conceptual framework for all students’ general education

• Permeate the curriculum

• Enacted differently in each discipline

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PRINCIPLES OF UNDERGRADUATE LEARNING

• More specific expectations for IUPUI’s graduates are determined by the faculty in a student’s major field of study

• These expectations speak to what graduates of IUPUI will know and what they will be able to do upon completion of their degree

• Approved by Faculty Council May 7, 1998 and revised 2005 & 2007

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Desired Outcomes• Common experience for IUPUI

undergraduates (currently there is no ‘general education’ at IUPUI)

• Simplify transfer across degree programs in different schools

• Reduce time to degree completion, particularly for transfer students

• Reduce debt incurred by students who did not take the appropriate course in writing, speech, history, etc. for major

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Quick History• Task force led by Rick Ward in 2010-2011, provided report

to IUPUI Faculty Council Executive Committee• Oct. & Nov. 2011 – effort to reconstitute ‘CLAS’ (Council of

Liberal Arts and Science); consensus that it would be preferable to have a campus-wide task force

• Campus-wide task force created in December, 2011 Two pairs of meetings held in January and February, giving rise to the current working draft (released on March 31, 2012)

• Campus Town Hall – March 30, 2012 – Feedback, minutes, (and soon – a videotape of the town hall

meeting) posted on website: http://gened.iupui.edu

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What we’ve learned so far this year…• General Education looks really different across

schools (first 2 years vs. all 4 years)• Schools with accreditation standards tend to

‘get’ competency-based curricula• PULs are a combination of competencies and

types of knowledge• Most of us agree that a competency-based

curriculum is desirable

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Integration of Knowledge: Principles of Undergraduate

Learning

Common Core

BaccalaureateCompetencies

Program Competencies

PUL 1&2: Analytical Reasoning

(6)

Arts, Humanities

& Social Sciences (9)

PUL 1: Core Communication

(6)

Life/Physical Sciences (6)

PUL 5: Cultural Understanding

(3)

PUL 3: Integration

and Application of Knowledge:

First-Year Seminar

Capstone

PUL 1: Emerging Technologies

PUL 3: Integration and Application of Knowledge via 2 RISE Experiences • Research• International• Service

Learning• Experiential

PUL 2: Critical

Thinking

PUL 6: Values and Ethics

Fine Arts and Design, Music,

Performing Arts

Health and Wellness

Civic Knowledge

and Engagement

PUL 4: In

tellec

tual Dep

th

PUL 4: Intellectual Breadth & Adaptiveness

*

*

*

*

*high-impact practices

A Launching Pad for Other Conversations:

IUPUI Model of Integrated Learning

Outer Ring: Program Decides

Middle Ring:School Decides

Common Core :We propose that an Curriculum Committee (task force) with wide representation should decide

Focus Today: Transferable Common Core (30 credits)

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Principles of Undergraduate

Learning

Core Communication

(6)

Cultural Understanding

(3)

Arts, Humanities

& Social Sciences (9)

Analytical Reasoning

(6)

Life/Physical Sciences (6)

Intellectual Breadth & Adaptiveness

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The Context and Political Climate in 2012 and Beyond

Performance-based funding – Rewarding improvements in degree production– Will likely be expanded in next biennium

National and state influences (AAC&U’s LEAP report, President Obama’s (and Lumina Foundation’s) ‘Big Goal’, Indiana’s Talent Dividend

Senate Bill 182 and House Bill 1220 – Signed into law 3/13/12– Effective July 1, 2012

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SB 182Each state educational institution, in collaboration with the commission for higher education, shall:

(1) not later than December 1, 2012, create and report to the commission for higher education a statewide transfer general education core, to be implemented not later than May 15, 2013. The core must be based upon a set of core competencies, translated into at least thirty (30) semester credit hours in areas agreed upon by the state educational institutions, which apply for credit toward undergraduate degrees, including associate degrees and baccalaureate degrees at all campuses of state educational institutions; and …

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HB 1220Each state educational institution shall review each undergraduate degree program offered by the state educational institution to determine the number of credit hours required for the degree and report the results to the commission.If a degree program requires more than:

(1) sixty (60) credit hours for an associate degree; or(2) one hundred twenty (120) credit hours for a baccalaureate

degree; the state educational institution must provide justification to the commission in the report for the additional credit hours required (e.g., specialized accreditation)

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CurrentIUPUI Response

• General Education Core Curriculum• 30 credits

– Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)– Humanities and Social Science (9 credits)– Core Communication (6 credits)– Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)– Cultural Understanding (3 credits)

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How Other State Higher Education Institutions Have Responded

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• See Appendix 2-- http://gened.iupui.edu that contrasts: – IUB Common Ground– IUPUI Draft Transferable Common Core– Purdue University Foundational Learning

Outcomes– Ivy Tech General Education Core

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NEXT STEPS

• Further discussion/faculty input – Faculty Council

• April 17, 2012– Determination of IUPUI Transferable Common

Core • Vote on “Transferable Common Core”

– Faculty Council• May 1, 2012

– IFC appoint a task force to create course list

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The Real Focus

Students and Student Learning

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