Integration & Student Learning Working Group Report
Cal Poly has a unique opportunity to more clearly connect students’ curricular and co-curricular experiences to improve student learning. Students, staff, and faculty have reported on the recent WASC surveys that both the curriculum and co-curriculum contribute significantly to student learning. These experiences are especially valued by students for their contributions to both their personal and professional lives. More can be done to bring coherence to student experiences of these two areas. It is anticipated that student learning would be enhanced by insuring these connections.
Data Sources
During winter and spring quarters, all students, faculty, and staff received a survey developed by the WASC working groups. A portion of the questions aimed at establishing a geography of student learning that maps where students learn and also where they encounter the University Learning Objectives (ULOs) and Diversity Learning Objectives (DLOs) across their entire Cal Poly experience. These questions were also developed in the context of the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Your First College Year (YFCY) survey results.
Intentional Connections Between Curriculum and Co-curriculum
Several areas stood out as obvious places for development of intentional connections: employment and applied learning experiences, especially those that clarify career plans and those that focus diversity and global awareness. These experiences include internship/co-op, club leadership, service learning, and study abroad.
Students, faculty, and staff all highly value on and off-campus employment experiences as important to students’ personal and professional lives. Interestingly, off-campus employment is highly valued by students. Since employment provides valuable pre-professional growth, purposefully connecting curricular learning with learning on the job would provide students with an enriched educational experience.
In order to prepare Cal Poly students more effectively in areas such as diversity and global awareness, intentional links are also needed between the curriculum and internships, service learning, community service, and/or study abroad. These co-curricular activities were cited by students as places they encountered opportunities to achieve the DLOs. Cal Poly students appear lag behind other cohorts nationally in terms of diversity awareness. All this evidence will be invaluable in developing connections between plans emerging from the WASC self-study and the institution’s strategic plan.
Alignment of Curriculum and Co-curriculum with ULOs and DLOs
In order to achieve these connections, alignment of the curriculum and co-curriculum with the ULOs and DLOs will be critical; alignment will also communicate to students Cal Poly’s expectations for their achievement of these core values. Rubrics currently under development for the ULOs will support this coordination, as well as clarify and define expectations for student achievement. Enhancing academic advising will also foster awareness, as will a better understanding of professors’ academic expectations. See the ULO website for more information on rubric development.
-Susan Sparling, Director, Student Academic Services
Chair, WASC Integration & Student Learning Working Group