University System of Maryland
Carnegie Course Redesign Initiative
Call To Participate
August 2010
The University System of Maryland
(USM) invites participation in the second phase of a system-wide initiative to
redesign large-enrollment, multi-section courses using technology-supported
active learning strategies. Its mission is to achieve improvements in learning
outcomes as well as reductions in instructional costs. The first phase of this
initiative took place from 2006-2009 during which 10 courses were redesigned
with significant successes. Based on the success of that first phase, USM,
through funding from the Carnegie Foundation and other sources, will expand
support for additional course redesigns over the next four years. USM will
award, through a competitive process, up to $20,000 per course with a required
institutional match that will yield up to $40,000 to cover costs associated
with each redesign.
The goals of the Initiative are
to simultaneously
- Adopt new ways to improve student learning outcomes
- Demonstrate these improvements through rigorous
assessment
- Reduce institutional costs
- Enhance the faculty teaching experience and
- Support the internal capacity of USM faculty and
staff to continue the redesign process
Two identical orientation
workshops will be held on October 7 and October 8 at the UMBC Technology Center
with the purpose of providing interested members of the university community
the opportunity to learn about the Initiative and why you may want to
participate. The orientation workshops are open to all faculty and staff who
are considering a course-wide redesign strategy and wish to seek support from
the USM Carnegie Course Redesign Initiative.
BACKGROUND
Public higher education in
Maryland, as throughout the nation, continues to be challenged by the need to
increase access, to improve the quality of student learning, and to control or
reduce rising costs. These issues are, of course, inter-related. The solutions
to these challenges appear to be inter-related as well. Historically, improving quality or increasing
access has meant increasing costs, while reducing costs has generally meant
reducing both quality and/or access. To sustain its vitality while serving a
growing and increasingly diverse student body, higher education must find a way
to resolve these familiar trade-offs among quality, cost and access.
To address these challenges, USM
and other institutions nationwide, have adopted techniques to redesign courses
based on principles established and validated by the National Center for
Academic Transformation (NCAT - www.thencat.org). USM, as a system, began an initiative in 2006
to develop course redesigns that used one or more of five approaches
recommended by NCAT that change the nature of student and faculty interaction
in large enrollment, multi-section courses that had been taught in traditional
lecture format. These courses often had
multiple academic problems including high failure (D, F, W) rates, student
dissatisfaction, and high cost per student.
They were most often core curricular or departmental "gateway" courses,
lacked mechanisms to encourage student and faculty interactivity, were
unresponsive to individual learning styles and had no strategies for efficient
and effective cost management.
The results of the 2006-9 USM
initiative tended to mirror the national results which NCAT identified based on
its own program. Consistent with USM's
approach, NCAT's redesign projects focused on
large enrollment, introductory courses. As an initial target, these courses
have the potential of generating large cost savings and having significant
impact on student success. Studies have shown that undergraduate enrollments in
the United States are highly concentrated in introductory courses. On average,
nationally, at the baccalaureate level, the 25 largest courses generate about
35 percent of student enrollment. In addition, successful completion of these
courses is key to student progress toward a degree. High failure rates in these
courses--typically 15% at research universities and 30-40% at comprehensives --
can lead to significant drop-out rates between the first and second years of
enrollment.
NCAT has required each of the
institutions in its programs to conduct a rigorous evaluation focused on
learning outcomes as measured by student performance and achievement. National assessment experts have provided
consultation and oversight regarding the assessment of learning outcomes to
maximize validity and reliability.
There are now nearly 200 courses
nationwide that have been redesigned under the NCAT approach. Studies indicate:
- Improved learning in most courses. In those courses where improved learning
could not be demonstrated, students achieved at least at the level of
traditional instructions
- A high percentage of courses resulted in a decrease
in drop-failure-withdrawal rates
- All redesigned courses showed a significant drop in
overall cost of instruction
- A significant improvement in student attitudes toward
the subject matter
- An increase in student satisfaction with the mode of
instruction.
For case studies, go to http://thencat.org/RedesignAlliance/C2R/C2R_ProjDiscipline.html
These results were highly
consistent with findings by USM redesign faculty in our first initiative.
NCAT identifies a number of
common elements in successful course redesigns:
1. Whole
course redesign. In each case, the whole course--rather than a single
class or section--is redesigned. Faculty members begin by analyzing the time
that each person involved in the course spends on each kind of activity. This
analysis often reveals duplication of effort. By sharing responsibility for
both course development and course delivery, faculty members save substantial
time and achieve greater course consistency.
2. Active
learning. All of the redesign projects make the teaching-learning
enterprise significantly more active and learner-centered. Lectures are
replaced with a variety of learning resources that move students from a
passive, note-taking role to active learning. As one math professor put it,
"Students learn math by doing math, not by listening to someone talk about
doing math."
3. Computer-based
learning resources. Instructional software and other Web-based learning
resources assume an important role in engaging students with course content.
Resources include tutorials, exercises and low-stakes quizzes that provide
frequent practice, feedback, and reinforcement of course concepts.
4. Mastery
learning. The redesign projects offer students more flexibility, but
the redesigned courses are not self-paced. Student pace and progress are
organized by the need to master specific learning objectives--often in a
modular format, according to scheduled milestones for completion--rather than
by class meeting times.
5. On-demand
help. An expanded support system enables students to receive assistance
from a variety of people. Helping students feel that they are a part of a
learning community is critical to persistence, learning and satisfaction. Many
projects replace lecture time with individual and small-group activities that
take meet in computer labs--staffed by faculty, graduate teaching assistants
(GTAs) and/or peer tutors--or online, thus providing students more one-on-one
assistance.
6. Alternative
staffing. Various instructional personnel--in addition to highly
trained, expert faculty--constitute the student's support system. Not all tasks
associated with a course require a faculty member's time. By replacing
expensive labor (faculty and graduate students) with relatively inexpensive
labor (undergraduate peer mentors and course assistants) where appropriate, the
projects increase the number of hours during which students can access help and
free faculty to concentrate on academic rather than logistical tasks.
Based on its nationwide
experiences, NCAT has identified five different models for applying these
elements. The five models represent different points on the continuum from a
fully face-to-face course to a fully online course. The Carnegie Course
Redesign Initiative will support redesigns that utilize any of these approaches
for the redesign of an entire course:
The Supplemental Model
The supplemental model retains the basic structure of the traditional
course and a) supplements lectures and textbooks with technology-based,
out-of-class activities, or b) also changes what goes on in the class by
creating an active learning environment within a large lecture hall setting.
The Replacement Model The replacement model reduces the number of
in-class meetings and a) replaces some in-class time with out-of-class, online,
interactive learning activities, or b) also makes significant changes in
remaining in-class meetings.
The Emporium Model The emporium model replaces lectures with a
learning resource center model featuring interactive computer software and
on-demand personalized assistance.
The Fully Online Model The fully online model eliminates all
in-class meetings and moves all learning experiences online, using Web-based,
multi-media resources, commercial software, automatically evaluated assessments
with guided feedback and alternative staffing models.
The Buffet Model The buffet model customizes the learning
environment for each student based on background, learning preference, and
academic/professional goals and offers students an assortment of individualized
paths to reach the same learning outcomes.
What does cost savings mean in practice?
It is important to understand the
context for reducing costs. In the past cost reduction in higher education has
meant loss of jobs, but that's not the NCAT approach. For the long term
creation of a self sustaining redesign program, the cost savings achieved
through the redesigned courses should remained in the department that generated
them, and the savings achieved should be used for instructional purposes. NCAT
thinks of cost savings as a reallocation of resources that allows faculty and
their institutions to achieve their "wish lists"--what they would like to do if
they had additional resources.
Institutional participants have
used cost savings in the following ways:
-
offering additional or new courses that
previously could not be offered;
-
satisfying unmet student demand by serving more
students on the same resource base;
-
breaking up "academic bottlenecks"-courses that
delay forward progress of students within a subject area or program because
they are oversubscribed
-
increasing faculty release time for research,
renewal or additional course development; and,
-
a combination of these activities.
THE USM INITIATIVE
The USM will build on the
successful models and lessons learned both from NCAT's national course redesign
programs and from our own 2006-2009 initiative. The Carnegie Course Redesign
Initiative establishes three cohorts of faculty redesigners. The first cohort will begin planning and
implementation during the 2010-11 academic year, with a target for a pilot
offering in Fall 2011 and complete course redesign in place for Spring
2012. The second cohort will start planning
and implementation in Fall 2012 with pilot in Fall 2013 and the third cohort
will begin Fall 2013 and pilot in Fall 2014.
Focus: Large-Enrollment Courses
In order to have maximum impact
on student learning and achieve the highest possible return on the USM's
investment, redesign efforts supported by this Initiative will focus
specifically on courses with high enrollments, in particular, those with
multiple sections. In addition to having an impact on large numbers of
students, there are other advantages of such a focus. In many large-enrollment
courses, the predominant instructional model is the large lecture. While
recognizing the limitations of the lecture method, many departments continue to
organize courses in this way because they believe that it represents the most
cost-effective way to deal with large numbers of students. The Initiative will
demonstrate that alternatives that improve quality and are less costly than
lecture-based strategies are possible.
In addition, many
large-enrollment courses are introductory. These introductory courses are good
prospects for technology
enhanced redesign because they have a more or less
standardized curriculum and outcomes that can be more easily delineated. They
also serve as foundation studies for future majors. Successful learning
experiences in them will influence students to persist in key disciplines like
the sciences. Finally, because those courses are often feeders to other
disciplines, success in them will help students make the transition to more
advanced study.
Selection
Criteria
- USM will establish a competitive application process
for Course Redesign funding
- Large enrollment courses may be courses with very
large sections (e.g., traditional lecture courses) or courses that offer
large numbers of smaller sections. In all cases, more than one person
should be involved in teaching the course.
- Courses selected to be redesigned should face an
academic problem (e.g., low successful completion rates), a resource
problem (e.g., an inability to meet demand based on current resources), or
a combination of both.
- Participants must be fully committed to completely
redesigning and delivering a large enrollment course currently offered at
a USM institution, utilizing one of the five methodologies endorsed by
NCAT.
- The institution must commit to redesign of the entire
course offering, not just individual sections of a course
- The institution must be willing to support the course
redesign by agreeing to match the USM Carnegie Course Redesign funding.
To Learn More about the Initiative
To learn more about this
Initiative, USM will sponsor orientation workshops that will provide much
greater detail regarding both the program and the basic principles of Course
Redesign.
The goal of this workshop is for participants
to acquire a solid understanding of what is needed to implement a good
redesign. Through presentations, case studies, and group work, participants
will learn the basic planning steps as well as how to adapt NCAT's redesign
methodology to the needs of their particular course and institution.
Participants will acquire a realistic understanding of the effort involved in
planning and implementing a course redesign under this Initiative, the
application process and the timelines involved.
The orientation workshop will be
designed and delivered in conjunction with the USM Course Redesign Fellows for
2010-2011. The Fellows are a group of
five faculty who have had successful redesigns under the 2006-2009 Redesign
Initiative who will act as consultants and mentors for faculty who engage in
the second phase program. They will
provide both theoretical and practical knowledge and experience to faculty who
are considering participation.
For more information, contact:
Assoc. Vice Chancellor Don Spicer
at 301-445-2729 or dspicer@usmd.edu
Asst. Vice
Chancellor Stan Jakubik at 410-455-5667 or sjakubik@sis.usmd.edu
USM Course
Redesign Fellows group list at CRFellow@usmd.edu