Cover Sheet

Carl DuPont, carldupont@gmail.com

Jeanmarie Higgins, jhiggi16@uncc.edu
Jonathan Mayhorn, jpmayhor@uncc.edu

Draft date
February 6, 2016

Status:
More information will be added under Evolution/Story for SLO3 Cultural Awareness
Second Case Study for SLO3 Cultural Awareness

WHAT TO DO
SLOs
II. How to Do Prospect
A. Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
1.Commitment to Success
a. Evolution/Story

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte seeks to leverage its position as the states urban
research university to provide a robust intellectual environment that values social and cultural
diversity, free expression, collegiality, integrity, and mutual respect (University of North Carolina
at Charlotte ). In order to achieve this goal successfully, the University seeks to engage
incoming students in their first semester through the Prospect for Success (PFS) courses in
order to integrate these principles into their own concept success for them and the institution
that seeks to serve them. This SLO is Commitment to Success.

According to the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) successful students will be able to:

set specific and realistic goals

identify strategies for achieving those goals
Identify support networks for achieving those goals
Take responsibility for achieving success (QEP).

Engaged students capable of setting goals, strategizing, and achieving those goals will form a
student body with higher academic achievement in the freshman year and a high likelihood to
graduate in a timely fashion (QEP). In this respect, the academic goals of the individual student
and the institutional should coalesce. Ultimately, performances outcomes will be charted as
performance metrics reported annually to the University of North Carolina system and success
will be measured through:

one-year retention rate

four-year graduation rate
six-year graduation rate
attempted hours per baccalaureate degree (QEP)

b. Documentation/Theory/Strategies

In order for students to succeed they must develop intellectual and academic competence
(Ishler Upcraft). Two important ways to define that success are favorable grade point averages
of completed courses and progressing to the second year of enrollment (Ishler & Upcraft).

Retention is an important metric for the University. Research shows that in order for first-year
students to persist into their second year, they need for feel incorporated into the intellectual and
social communities of the institution (Ishler and Upcraft). The PFS courses is intended as one
of the myriad of communities that students encounter, this one however is specifically geared to
foster a scholarly community in a student body that is increasingly demographically diverse and
is capable of vastly differing conceptions of how such a group should behave (Ishler).

For the benefit of the students, the structure of the PFS course is adaptable in order to be
institution specific and discipline specific. Yet systematic in order to communicating the ideals of
academia and guide students towards practical methods of establishing and achieving. This
entails equipping students with functional skills to navigate college life, complete assignments,
conceptualize their course of study. As well as directing students to the resources available at
the University there to support them when they experiences personal, mental, social, and
academic challenges.

Students who are active partners in the learning experience are intentional; they are able to
identify what they want to achieve and have the skills, knowledge, and motivation needed to
accomplish those goals (QEP).

SLO 1: COMMITMENT TO SUCCESS

GOAL SETTING
3 = Goals are specific
and realistic

STRATEGIES

1 = Goals stated by are

not specific or realistic

3 = Articulates several (3+)

specific strategies for achieving
goals
2 = Articulates a few (1-2)
specific strategies for achieving
goals
1 = Articulates only vague
strategies for achieving goals

0 = No evidence

0 = No evidence

2 =Goals are somewhat

specific and realistic

CHANGE - Adaptation with

experience
3 = Recognizes and specifically
describes the need to make
changes in light of experience.
2 = Recognizes the need to make
changes in light of experience
1 = Shows limited recognition of the
need to make changes in light of
experience

0 = No evidence

c. Case Studies:
Example 1
Foundations in Dance: SETTING PERSONAL GOALS Project
At the beginning of the semester:
1) Write a one-paragraph biography as you imagine yourself in ten years.
What will your job be?
What education will you have attained?
2) Write a one-paragraph biography that presents you as a young professional.
List five or six goals for yourself at different stages:
for ten years from today. What do you want to achieve?
for the second semester of your senior year. What do you want to achieve?
for the end of this academic year. What do you want to achieve?
for the end of this semester. What do you want to achieve?

3) Underneath each goal, write 4-5 strategic actions you will take to achieve your goals.
At the end of the semester:
4) At the end of the semester: write a one or two paragraph reflection:
What did I learn about myself as a self-directed goal setter this semester?

Example 2
Commitment to Success College of Engineering First Semester PFS Assignment
In the William States Lee College of Engineering our PFS-based assignment in the Introduction
to Engineering Practices and Principles I (ENGR 1201) and the Introduction to Engineering
Technology (ETGR 1201) courses, begins by reminding students that:
The Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Construction Management majors are
not exclusively about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and that the
careers that come from them will force them to engage a very wide variety of people.
Communications, decision making, and the practice of their profession are typically done
in a very open and observable way.
To help students model their success, they are asked to develop a personal growth plan based
on the Whole Life Concepts Model (see below). The goal of the Whole Life Concepts Project is
for students to:
Develop an understanding of their personal passion and how it came to be.
Identify short-term, long-term, and career goals and strategies, and the impacts they
could make.

Understand the nature and extent of technical and non-technical skills and knowledge,
and the professional development activities, skills, and knowledge that will be required to
achieve their stated goals and objectives.

This Whole Life Concepts Project is intended to be a research- and writing-intensive project that
requires significant self-reflection. The outcomes should serve as a compass for how a student
thinks and acts as a professional-in-training, and provide students with a basis for
understanding why it is that they are willing to work so hard to earn a degree. As students
complete the project, they are reminded that if they find their passion to be inconsistent with the
impact that they want to make, now is the time to change course.

Figure 1. Whole Life Concepts Model Outline

Model Details

Figure 2. Whole Life Concepts

A. 2 Inquiry
Evolution/Story
UNC Charlotte students experience inquiry as an open-ended process that explores evidence
and approaches to generate ideas and conclusions. Students who are active partners in the
educational experience are often curious. They understand that knowledge should be made
through their academic journey rather than just received like a gift. As they leave the prospect
for success based classes they will be on their way to mastering the process of inquiry which
allows them to construct knowledge in their continued academic journey.
Documentation/Theory/Strategies
Student learning outcomes for inquiry are evaluated via a reflective writing assignment in the
discipline-specific freshman course. These courses typically require students to learn a specific
tool or skill and complete projects in their specific discipline over the course of the semester.
The assignment given provides a valuable component of the 1st year curriculum for students to
reflect what they learned that semester. Inquiry instructors grade their student assignments on

three dimensions: exploratory process, evidence/approaches, and originality as shown in the

rubric below.

SLO 2: INQUIRY
EXPLORATORY
PROCESS
3 = Discussion and/or
results indicate that the
focus of inquiry evolved
2 = Discussion and/or
results indicate that the
focus of inquiry evolved
a little
1 = Discussion and/or
results indicate that the
focus of inquiry was
static and narrowly
focused

0 = No evidence

EVIDENCE/ APPROACHES

ORIGINALITY

3 = Discussion and/or results

indicate substantial exploration
of appropriate evidence or
approaches
2 =Discussion and/or results
indicate some exploration of
appropriate evidence or
approaches
1 = Discussion and/or results
indicate limited exploration of
appropriate evidence or
approaches

3 = Strong evidence of
originality in discussion or
results of inquiry

0 = No evidence

0 = No evidence

2 = Some evidence of
originality in discussion or
results of inquiry
1 = Limited evidence of
originality in discussion or
results of inquiry

Table 1: Inquiry Grading Rubric

Some Example Strategies
Some example strategies that have been used by instructors to develop the outcome of inquiry
are outlined here.
1) A short writing assignment asking the student to describe what motivates them to learn or to be
curious. They would have to give an example of going above and beyond the minimum
requirements on an assignment. Further explaining how this assignment fueled their curiosity
about a particular topic of interest.
2) A short writing assignment that allows the student to reflect on the what they have learned in a
course and how they will utilize that knowledge in their future academic or professional career.

Case Studies
For the first case study, a PFS course uses team based projects that guide students through a
methodology that allows them to generate ideas, evaluate those ideas, design a solution and
implement that solution. Then the instructor follows up with a short memo assignment to ask a
few questions about inquiry such as:

a) How can you connect the knowledge and skills learned from this project to your future academic
or professional career?
b) Using the methodology within this project you were allowed to generate knowledge through
critical thinking rather than being given the answer. How was this methodology similar and
different than your traditional homework assignments that require you to just memorize
information?
c) Now that you have been exposed to this project, what are some of the topics you are curious to
learn more about over the next few years and why do you want to learn more about them?
For a second case study the prospect for success instructor has students write short forum
posts each week in Moodle that are between 250 and 300 words. These forum posts ask the
students to reflect on what they learned in class that week and how they will apply what they
have learned to their future academic or professional career. An example rubric used to grade
the forum posts in Moodle is shown below.
Forum Post Rubric:
25% - 250-300 Words
25% - Answer the question
25% - Demonstrate personal awareness
25% - Free of grammatical and spelling errors
Then at the end of the semester the students are asked to write a one page memo reflecting on
everything they learned over the semester and how it is connected to their lives now and in the
future. Students are well prepared to write these final memos in a concise and impactful manner
since the 14 weeks of forum posts have prepared them for the assignment. The inquiry grading
rubric mentioned in Table 1 above is used to assess the outcomes of this assignment.

A. 3 Cultural Awareness
Evolution/Story
Cultural Awareness is the understanding of yourself and that of others whose world view
and experiences differ.
Documentation

SLO 3: CULTURAL AWARENESS

AWARENESS OF
SELF
3 = Strong awareness
of how culture and
experience shape own
perspectives and

AWARENESS OF
OTHERS
3 = Strong awareness
of how culture and
experience shape
others' perspectives

OPENNESS to
multiple points of
view
3 = Strong
consideration of
multiple points of view

capacities

and capacities

2 = Some awareness of
how culture and
experience shape own
perspectives and
capacities
1 = Limited awareness
of how culture and
experience shape own
perspectives and
capacities

2 = Some awareness
of how culture and
experience shape
others' perspectives
and capacities
1 = Limited
awareness of how
culture and
experience shape
others' perspectives
and capacities

2 = Some consideration
of multiple points of
view

0 = No evidence

0 = No evidence

0 = No evidence

1 = Limited
consideration of
multiple points of view

Case Studies
The following PFS assignment is from the Theatre Department. The Performance
Tradition Presentation is a 3-4 minute team presentation about a performance tradition
unfamiliar to students. Students work in pairs to research, create, and present an
introduction to a performance tradition. In addition to teaching research and presentation
skills, these collective presentations become study materials for course exams in theatre
history.
The course:
The Theatre Experience is an introduction to performance, technology, and history for
new theatre majors. Students complete many assignments, such as writing a short play,
directing a scene, and serving on a department running crew for a theatre production.
Introductions to theatre history courses are usually large classes, and so provide little
opportunity for individual projects. Not so for The Theatre Experience since The
Prospect for Success provides an opportunity to assign presentation projects in an area
of theatre history. Further, adapting to the SLO of Cultural Awareness focuses this
project in a useful way.
Outside of content mastery, the Performance Tradition Presentation aligns with three key
theatre department goals: to develop presentation skills (a skill especially needed by
directors and designers); to understand that performance happens in many ways and in
many places; and to work effectively as a member of a team.
The assignment:
Each pair of students is assigned a different performance tradition; examples include
New Orleans carnival, Japanese Kabuki Theatre, or Italian commedia dellarte. This
assignment also integrates the Inquiry SLO. Students are asked to consult three
sources--their textbook, a theatre encyclopedia, and one or more books that they

physically check out or download as ebooks from the library (we reserve class time for
this field trip).
Students are directed to use a few, peer-reviewed resources in order to research
their topic. Further, they are limited to three minutes to make their presentation.
To focus their energies further, they are required to use no fewer than five and no
more than ten slides, none of which have any text.
This assignment yields a few key artifacts--the presentation slides themselves, a
single authored one-paragraph reflective essay, and a rewrite of this same
reflective essay in an exam setting (2-3 paragraphs). The reflective essay asks

students to answer questions about their research process, (and so

relates to the Inquiry SLO).
The assignment given to students:
Write a 2-3 paragraph essay (each student must write his or her own essay) that
addresses the answers to the following questions, expanding on the essay you wrote for
the Performance Tradition Presentation Assignment.
What did you know about your topic before reading Chapter 5 of Think Theatre?
What did you learn from the chapter about your topic?
What additional sources did you consult? How did they contribute to your understanding
of your topic?
What additional/interesting/surprising things do you know about your topic now?
A rewrite of the essay measures SLO 3, Cultural Awareness: The assignment
continues:
How might you apply knowledge of this new form into your own theatre practice, either
directly or indirectly?
Compare and contrast this performance form with one you were already familiar with
specifically, a football game, or musical theatre, or a cheerleading performance: what
similarities and differences are there between the two?
How do these similarities and differences reflect the cultures or societies that practice
these forms?

Ishler, J. L. C. (2005). Todays first-year students. In M. L. Upcraft, J. N. Gardner, and B.O.

Barefott (Eds.) Challenging and supporting the first-year student (27-46). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Ishler, J. L. C, & Upcraft, M. L. (2005). The keys of first-year student persistence. In M. L.
Upcraft, J. N. Gardner, and B.O. Barefott (Eds.) Challenging and supporting the first-year
student (27-46). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2013). Quality Enhancement Plan. Retrieved from
http://prospect.uncc.edu/sites/prospect.uncc.edu/files/media/QEP%20Final.pdf

IV. How To Do This (Implementation and Execution)

Refinement/Evolution/Interpretation
What has worked and what has not?
Pilots and Initial Implementation
Models
Disciplinary Based: Introduction to

 Pre-existing vs. New

Credit Hour Assignments
What are the tensions? (Will be discussed in greater depth in the Working With
University Partners section)
What are the challenges? (Will be discussed in greater depth in the Working With
University Partners section)
Documentation/Theory/Strategies
Overview of recent literature relating to challenges of first year students and how first
year seminars can impact their academic careers.
Identify the primary challenges and approaches being taken to help or mitigate issues.
Case Studies
Two Video Testimonials of students and their advisors (would these specifically be
students who experienced a PFS course as a freshmen?)
First generation college student
Legacy college student
Student Practices
Reflection
Case study reflection
Instructor Practices
Common strategies and practices
Visual (Jeanmarie will be adding to this section) case study - creating visual artifacts
Kinesthetic case study - creating hands-on projects
Tasks
Integrating your Prospect course into disciplinary goals (beyond the first year)
Strategies
Flipping the classroom (Information out of class, Application in class)

V. Working with University Partners

Library
International Students Organization
Preceptors
How to effectively utilize preceptors within a course to support the prospect for success initiative