Implementing the Seven Principles for
Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education – Revisiting a Process
Ronald Bieniek
Physics Department, University of Missouri-Rolla
Director, Learning Enhancement Across Disciplines Program
http://campus.umr.edu/lead
[email protected]
Tammy Pratt
Student Affairs, University of Missouri-Rolla
Coordinator, Academic Support Programs
http://campus.umr.edu/learn
[email protected]
Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education – Revisiting a Process

Abstract

We have previously reported on an innovative initiative to implement the
Seven Principles of Good Practice for Undergraduate Education at the
University of Missouri-Rolla, the state’s technological campus. This is
being done via a synergistic collaboration between the Learning
Enhancement Across Disciplines Program (Academic Affairs) and
Academic Support Programs (Student Affairs) that offers coordinated
faculty-based learning centers and peer-based drop-in tutoring. This
session will report data collected about the increasing acceptance,
usage and participation by faculty and students in various components
of the program. Characteristic elements of successful adoption and
non-adoption will be discussed and analyzed.
The Seven Principles are promoted by
a symbiotic relationship between the Offices of the:

Provost: Learning Enhancement Across Disciplines
(LEAD) Program
http://campus.umr.edu/lead
Course-based Learning Centers in academic departments
Free scheduled tutoring in Student Learning Center
Faculty development and dialog on engaged student learning

Student Affairs: Academic Support Programs (ASP)
http://campus.umr.edu/learn
Academic and Learning Resources
Disability support services
Testing center
Residential Learning Centers (course review materials)
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education – at UM-Rolla







Encourage student-faculty contact
Encourage cooperation among students
Encourage active learning
Give prompt, frequent, informative feedback
Emphasize time on task
Communicate high expectations
Respect & encompass diverse talents &
learning styles
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education
Adapted from AW Chickering & ZF Gamson, Am. Assoc. Higher Ed. Bulletin, 1987, 39(7) 3-7
for the University of Missouri-Rolla
http://campus.umr.edu/lead/7principles/SevenPrinciplesUMR.htm

Principle 1: Encourage Student-Faculty Contact

Frequent student-faculty contact is a key factor in student
motivation, involvement, and learning. Faculty concern helps
students get through rough times and continue to strive for
success. Devise methods that actively and successfully promote
student-faculty contact with both individual students and larger
groups of students.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 2: Encourage Cooperation among Students

Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a
solo race, and working cooperatively with others often increases
students’ involvement in their own learning. Sharing ideas and
responding to others can sharpen thinking and deepen students’
understanding of the material at hand. Take positive, proactive
steps to ensure that meaningful and effective cooperative
learning takes place among groups or teams of students.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 3: Encourage Active Learning

Learning is not a spectator sport. Most students do not learn
very well or retain information very long by sitting passively in
classes, memorizing pre-packaged assignments and spitting out
answers. Students need to ponder what they are learning,
express it in a variety of ways, relate it to past experiences, and
apply it to new situations. Promote active learning by creating
regular opportunities for students to engage deeply, directly, and
creatively with course material.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 4: Give Prompt, Frequent, Informative
Feedback

Students who know where they stand in a course are better able
to gauge their strengths, their weaknesses, and what they must
do to succeed. To reach their full potential, students require
appropriate feedback about their current level of personal
understanding and mastery of course content. Provide students
with frequent assessments of their achievement level and offer
them specific suggestions as to how they can improve their
performance.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 5: Emphasize Time on Task

There is no substitute for time on task—the time students spend
actively engaged with course material. Learning to manage
one’s time effectively is critical for success in the classroom, yet
many students struggle to acquire and maintain this important
skill. Devise course strategies that ensure students spend
productive time on their coursework, and hold them accountable
for learning the assigned material.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 6: Communicate High Expectations

High but attainable expectations are important for everyone—for
the poorly prepared, for those unwilling to exert themselves, and
even for the bright and motivated. Expecting students to
perform well can become a self-fulfilling prophecy when faculty
clearly express their goals and how students can accomplish
them. Convey to students that they have individual
responsibilities in achieving these high goals, and demonstrate
that you are willing to help them succeed in this.
Seven Principles for Good Practice in
Undergraduate Education

Principle 7: Respect and Encompass Diverse Talents
and Ways of Learning

Recognize and accept that students learn in many different
ways. Many talented students do not share the same learning
styles and internal motivations as their teachers. Some might
learn better by hearing information out loud, seeing something
written down, or witnessing concepts represented in visual or
physical ways. Incorporate a range of teaching approaches into
your courses, in varying degrees, which allow for different styles
of learning.
Some characteristics of UMR Students

Freshman:
 See groups and group work as a social opportunity
 Don’t know how to spend quality, effective time on task
 Have little or no understanding of community
 Expect learning to be easy because it was easy in HS
 Know why they are here at UMR

Seniors:
 See groups and group work as an academic network
 Learned how to better read professor
 Have UMR as a role model for community
 Believe they have worked hard to earn grades at UMR
The Beginnings

The Physics Learning Center was established in
1997 for the course Engineering Physics I
(http://campus.umr.edu/physics/plc)
Cooperative Learning and Social Dynamics
in the Physics Learning Center
~62% of Students Voluntarily Use
the Physics Learning Center
LEAD Learning Center Characteristics

Operate during fixed hours each week

Staffed by



Facilitate and project learner-centered education


discipline-based faculty in lieu of office hours
accomplished, trained undergraduate peer instructors
(more student-centered, less teacher-centered)
Learning Centers directly promote the

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education
Assessment of UM-Rolla Learning Centers
(Winter 2002)
Course
#faculty
#students
% using LC *
hrs/wk
Rating/4.0
Engr Phys I
4
242
60 ± 3%
3.7
3.3
Engr Phys II
4
185
32 ± 5%
3.5
3.6
College Physics
1
20
32 ±6 %
2.6
3
Gen Chem I
1
118
31 ± 2%
2.1
3.1
Gen Chem II
1
102
Fluid Mech
2
39
Elec Circuits II
1
21
Not Available
Data Structures I
1
150
Not Available
Engr Statics
7
156
19 ± 9%
2
3.3
Totals/Ave
22
1033
44 ± 4%
3.1
3.4
Not Available
65 ± 7%
2.7
3.8
Assessment of UM-Rolla Learning Centers
(Fall 2002)
Course
#faculty
#students
% using LC *
hrs/wk
Rating/4.0
Engr Phys I
4
246
64 ± 6%
4.1
3.4
Engr Phys II
4
239
28 ± 6%
3.0
3.8
College Physics
1
20
General Phys I
1
42
24 ± 5%
1.4
3.1
Gen Chem I
2
143
31 ± 7%
2.2
3
Gen Chem Engr
1
30
Fluid Mech
2
48
Hydraulic Engr
1
34
Elec Circuits I
1
70
33 ± 20%
1.6
3.6
Intro Comp Program
2
107
15 ± 6%
1.5
3.5
Data Structures I
1
89
41 ± 10%
2.9
3.8
Engr Statics
5
145
25 ± 2%
2.1
3.2
Totals/Ave
25
1213
37±7%
2.7
3.4
Not Available
Not Available
55 ± 14%
2.9
3.4
Not Available
* At least one hour/week around 12th week of class. Plus number in  is usage by students completing survey on day administered, minus number conservatively assumes that all regular LC attendees filled out the survey.
Recent Snapshot (Fall 2003) of Successful
Second-Generation Learning Centers
Civil Engineering Learning Centers (Fall 2003)
Course
#faculty
#students
% using LC
Fluid Mechanics
2
54
67  13%
3.6
3.8
Water Resource Engr
1
22
83  11%
2.1
3.8
hrs/wk Rating/4.0
Current LEAD Learning Centers (Winter 2004)
General Chem I
Data Structures I
Fluid Mech
Engr Phys I
Discrete Math Comp Sci
Water Resource Engr
Engr Phys II
Intro Data Struct & Apps
Linear Systems Mech Engr
College Physics
Web Develop & Design
Thermal Analysis
General Phys I
Metallurgy for Engineers
Thermofluid Mechanics I
General Phys II
Engr Mech-Statics
Black: College of Arts and Sciences
Blue: School of Management and Information Systems
Red: School of Mines and Metallurgy
Green: School of Engineering
To have a successful Learning Center,
faculty should:




implement a course structure that provides frequent,
prompt and accurately informative evaluations of
students' level of mastery
act as non-hovering guides who restrain themselves
from becoming tutors or overly attentive adjusters
promote and orchestrate an atmosphere of cooperative
engagement and teamwork
offer concentrated LC hours convenient for many
students & stay during “duty” time – even if only a few
students are there.
Faculty Barriers to LC success







Change is HARD
Reluctance to use class or staff time for frequent (albeit quick)
assessment and strong feedback of students' individual mastery
Uncomfortable with taking on responsibility to develop or maneuver
students into good academic behavior
Faculty-centered, rather than student-centered, educational
approaches employed with strongly held idiosyncratic prerogatives
Faculty cannot agree on syllabus and homework assignments
Difficult to get faculty out of the comfort zone of their office lair, even
though more students are helped with office hours in a more open
learning environment
Very difficult to get faculty to be restrained guides to students in the
learning process rather than always an expert in control
LEAD Peer Tutoring (Winter 2004)
quieter, more indivdualized learning assistance than LCs
promotes 7 Principles – except student-faculty interactions
General Chem I
College Algebra
Intro Computer Engr
General Chem II
College Trig
Electric Circuits I
Engr Physics I
Calculus & Analyt Geom I
Electric Circuits II
Engr Physics II
Calculus & Analyt Geom II
Mechanics of Materials
College Physics
Calculus for Engr I
Statics and Dynamics
General Physics I
Calculus for Engr II
Engr Mech-Dynamics (a)
General Physics II
Intro Comp Program
Engr Mech-Dynamics (b)
Principles Microeconom
Data Structures I
Thermodynamics
Principles Macroeconon
Algorithms & Program
Intro Data Struct & Apps
Assessment of UM-Rolla LEAD Tutoring
(2002 - 2003)
Semester
Number of
Courses
Tutored
Total client-hours
in active
tutoring
WS 2002
25
465
122
3.4
FS 2002
23
519
185
2.9
WS 2003
25
864
155
3.2
FS 2003
28
1088
219
n/a
Number of
different/unique
students
assisted
Average Rating
(4.0 scale)
Academic Support Programs GOALS

Provide quality academic assistance through learning consultation,
seminars, LEAD activities, peer tutoring, and electronic/center
resources

Provide quality services to students with disabilities

Provide outreach programs to promote awareness of services for
disabilities.

Develop and expand the usage of the learning center that will
attract students and faculty

Collaborate with other academic assistance programs on campus

Foster positive perceptions about participating in learning
assistance activities
Academic Support Programs
service summary
Functional Area
FS02
Student Learning Center users
WS03
FS03
135
148
224
2158
n/a
3342
119
138
214
Learning Consultation
40
43
30
LC Classroom Visits
n/e
n/e
21
5
5
9
Student LC
(avg per week)
(total hrs used during the day)
Residential Learning Centers (files checked out)
Seminars/Presentations
Brief Presentations
48
(Orientation, PRO, depts)
Math Help Program
264
362
n/a
LEAD Tutoring visitation
150
413
250
LEAD Tutoring hours with clients
519
864.4
1088.4
94
125
125
1,546
1,333
681
43
178
132
Disability Support Services (clients)
Tests Administered
Testing Center - Disability Support Services
Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education – Revisiting a Process

Summary:
 Collaboration with individual faculty assists in the cultural change as UMR strives to move
toward a learning-centered approach vs. teaching-centered approach to academic assistance.

Faculty generally need to be “cultivated” through personal contact to establish learning centers
because quality of educational impact is too often only a small component of departmental
reward structures. Those faculty can then act successful exemplars, and promote by example
within departments.

Take advantage of the desire of individual faculty and departments to appear to be players in
improving educational impact and retention.

Communication is critical, determining common goals and respecting differences in approach
are necessary through continued dialog.

Pooled resources often are more effective than if those resources were to serve students as
stand alone funds.