UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
What is a Quality Enhancement Plan?
•
•
•
•
Plan for institutional improvement
Crucial to enhancing educational quality
Directly related to student learning
Based on comprehensive analysis of institutional
effectiveness
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Criteria for selecting topic (SACS)
•
•
•
•
•
Related to student learning
Addresses a strategic issue
Comprehensive, institutional in scope
Capability to implement
Commitment to implement
NC State is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools. See: http://sacscoc.org
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Why LITRE was chosen by NC State
•
•
•
•
Builds on a strength
Potential for leadership
Relevant to undergraduate and graduate education
Widespread, grassroots faculty involvement and
success
• Strong interest among the deans
• Potential to positively and substantively transform
learning outcomes at NC State
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
How do we keep learning first?
Link LITRE activities to:
– NC State Mission
– Four Ways of Knowing and Doing
– General Education Requirements
– Committee on Undergraduate Program Review
(CUPR)
– Departmental and Program Curriculum Objectives
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
The Essence of LITRE
• Scholarly inquiry focused on enhancing the
technology-rich learning environment
• Investigative process through which new approaches
to student learning, using technology, are proposed,
vetted, empirically evaluated, and if the evaluation
results indicate, deployed and routinely assessed
• Evidence will be collected, analyzed and inform future
projects
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE:
The Empirical Inquiry
Initial
Research
Needs
Assessment
Initial
Steps
Mature
Inquiry
PROCESS
Faculty Engagement
Information Fluency
Learning Resources
E-Learning
Educational Infrastructure
PROCESS
Faculty Survey
Research group reports
University surveys
PROCESS
Identified needs
Established priorities
Resourced strategies
Institutional commitment
PROCESS
Leadership & advocacy
Ongoing LITRE investments
Assessment
Synthesis of results
OUTCOMES
Information gathering
Literary review
Peer review
Analysis of issues
Optimal environment
OUTCOMES
Survey data & reports
Significant results
Benchmarking
Consensus-building
Selection Criteria
OUTCOMES
LITRE grants
LITRE investigations
Compact planning
LITRE organization
OUTCOMES
Dissemination of results
Knowledge of best practice
Impact on policy and planning
Improved student learning
Improved learning environment
LITRE Vision
In the twenty-first century, North Carolina State University will use its
historic strength in technology to pursue its stated mission “to create an
innovative learning environment that stresses mastery of fundamentals,
intellectual discipline, creativity, problem solving, and responsibility.”
A technology-rich environment can:
 enhance classroom and laboratory teaching and learning.
 help faculty accommodate students’ individual learning styles and
circumstances.
 encourage active learning.
 extend the expertise of the university beyond the university walls.
 conserve scarce resources.
Technology has limitations. It is a tool for achieving the university’s
mission, not an end in itself. It is an effective tool only when it is in the
hands of skilled users, and only when its application is appropriate,
reliable, integrated, supported and sustainable.
LITRE Research Groups
• Established a structure that divided an enormous task
into workable “chunks”
• Created research group descriptions and identified
leadership before the second LITRE team meeting
• Conducted research groups activities outside of the
LITRE team meetings
• Developed draft reports and recommendations for
inclusion in the QEP
• Extended university participation in LITRE
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE:
The Empirical Inquiry
Initial
Research
Needs
Assessment
Initial
Steps
Mature
Inquiry
PROCESS
Faculty Engagement
Information Fluency
Learning Resources
E-Learning
Educational Infrastructure
PROCESS
Faculty Survey
Research group reports
University surveys
PROCESS
Identified needs
Established priorities
Resourced strategies
Institutional commitment
PROCESS
Leadership & advocacy
Ongoing LITRE investments
Assessment
Synthesis of results
OUTCOMES
Information gathering
Literary review
Peer review
Analysis of issues
Optimal environment
OUTCOMES
Survey data & reports
Significant results
Benchmarking
Consensus-building
Selection Criteria
OUTCOMES
LITRE grants
LITRE investigations
Compact planning
LITRE organization
OUTCOMES
Dissemination of results
Knowledge of best practice
Impact on policy and planning
Improved student learning
Improved learning environment
Big Ideas – Overarching Themes
• Provide an appropriate educational technology
infrastructure
• Achieve institutional preparedness
• Link learning with technology
– Measuring success against student learning
• Define an ongoing coordinating mechanism for LITRE
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Campus Forum on LITRE
• When: April 16, 2003
• Who: 100+ faculty, staff and students at NC State
• Purpose
– General information for the NC State community
– Solicit general feedback on the LITRE direction
– Solicit specific feedback on LITRE research group
activities and potential projects
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE:
The Empirical Inquiry
Initial
Research
Needs
Assessment
Initial
Steps
Mature
Inquiry
PROCESS
Faculty Engagement
Information Fluency
Learning Resources
E-Learning
Educational Infrastructure
PROCESS
Faculty Survey
Research group reports
University surveys
PROCESS
Identified needs
Established priorities
Resourced strategies
Institutional commitment
PROCESS
Leadership & advocacy
Ongoing LITRE investments
Assessment
Synthesis of results
OUTCOMES
Information gathering
Literary review
Peer review
Analysis of issues
Optimal environment
OUTCOMES
Survey data & reports
Significant results
Benchmarking
Consensus-building
Selection Criteria
OUTCOMES
LITRE grants
LITRE investigations
Compact planning
LITRE organization
OUTCOMES
Dissemination of results
Knowledge of best practice
Impact on policy and planning
Improved student learning
Improved learning environment
LITRE Faculty Survey
• When: Spring 2003
• Why: Inform recommendations of the LITRE work
groups and provide baseline for future LITRE efforts
• NC State University faculty were surveyed about their
experiences with computer-based instructional and
learning aids. 1,790 faculty were invited to participate
in the survey. 983 did, for an overall response rate of
55%.
• Report completed in August 2003
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Survey: General Results
• Respondents age and years at the university have no
relationship to the number of technologies used.
• Student preparation to use technologies in and outside
the class was high and met expectation
• The reason most often given for not using a
technology was that it was not appropriate for the
course
• Faculty were more likely to teach the use of
technology themselves or ask students to teach each
other before utilizing a central, student training
resource
Survey: Results
• Respondents were asked what would make it easier to
use the technologies that they did use in their
courses.
– “If they were available and supported in the
classrooms in which I typically teach” and “If I had
more time to develop assignments or classes with
these technologies” were chosen most often, 37%
and 36% of the time.
The survey and survey report are available at http://litre.ncsu.edu
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE:
The Empirical Inquiry
Initial
Research
Needs
Assessment
Initial
Steps
Mature
Inquiry
PROCESS
Faculty Engagement
Information Fluency
Learning Resources
E-Learning
Educational Infrastructure
PROCESS
Faculty Survey
Research group reports
University surveys
PROCESS
Identified needs
Established priorities
Resourced strategies
Institutional commitment
PROCESS
Leadership & advocacy
Ongoing LITRE investments
Assessment
Synthesis of results
OUTCOMES
Information gathering
Literary review
Peer review
Analysis of issues
Optimal environment
OUTCOMES
Survey data & reports
Significant results
Benchmarking
Consensus-building
Selection Criteria
OUTCOMES
LITRE grants
LITRE investigations
Compact planning
LITRE organization
OUTCOMES
Dissemination of results
Knowledge of best practice
Impact on policy and planning
Improved student learning
Improved learning environment
Criteria for Project Selection
• Greatest impact on learning (tied to curricular goals
departmental, college, or university level)
• Foundational (logically prior)
• Sustainable, transferable, scalable
• Financially feasible
• Assessable (investigator agrees to assess impact)
• Broad campus relevance
• Marketing value (visibility)
• Politically feasible
• Technically feasible
LITRE Action Initiatives
•
•
•
•
Organizing the LITRE effort
Classroom and laboratory improvements
Grants
Infrastructure and support improvements
LITRE Recommendations on Policy
• Develop distance education course policies and
strategies for resident students
• Recommend a new rationale and learning objectives
for student information fluency within the GER
• Recognize and reward the scholarship of teaching and
learning with technology (TLT)
• Address the university’s copyright and intellectual
property policies to encourage TLT
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Assessment
• LITRE Assessment Committee
• Project specific
– Contributions to student learning
– Tools will vary: surveys, course-embedded, longitudinal
– Tied to program and general education assessment when
appropriate
• Periodic overview of results across projects
• Results used to stimulate innovation, improve
programs and services, policy analysis, planning and
budget
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Lessons Learned
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hire an editor
Establish a structure for broad institutional involvement
Acquire budget information early
Bring the campus into the process early
Keep the focus on learning
Be a good architect—simultaneously understand the
overarching ideas and design details
• Establish a common language
– What does “technology” mean?
– What is learning at NC State?
– What comprises the “learning space” of NC State?
Activities to Date
•
•
•
•
Plan complete on February 9
SACS on-site visit next week (March 23-25)
Named a LITRE leader: Dr. Lavon Page
In the midst of establishing a LITRE Advisory
Council
• Actively working on first set of LITRE action
initiatives
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE Impacts
• Will learning change?
• Will the NC State learning environment support
changes in teaching and learning?
• Will students engage with technology for learning?
• Will more faculty engage technology for teaching?
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
LITRE:
The Empirical Inquiry
Initial
Research
Needs
Assessment
Initial
Steps
Mature
Inquiry
PROCESS
Faculty Engagement
Information Fluency
Learning Resources
E-Learning
Educational Infrastructure
PROCESS
Faculty Survey
Research group reports
University surveys
PROCESS
Identified needs
Established priorities
Resourced strategies
Institutional commitment
PROCESS
Leadership & advocacy
Ongoing LITRE investments
Assessment
Synthesis of results
OUTCOMES
Information gathering
Literary review
Peer review
Analysis of issues
Optimal environment
OUTCOMES
Survey data & reports
Significant results
Benchmarking
Consensus-building
Selection Criteria
OUTCOMES
LITRE grants
LITRE investigations
Compact planning
LITRE organization
OUTCOMES
Dissemination of results
Knowledge of best practice
Impact on policy and planning
Improved student learning
Improved learning environment
LITRE - http://litre.ncsu.edu, [email protected]
UNC TLT Annual Conference, March 2004
questions | comments  [email protected]
Questions and Answers
• Contact Information
– Sharon Pitt: [email protected]
• http://lts.ncsu.edu