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Ideas to Action (i2a) and Speed School: Recent Activities and Implementation Plans 2010-2011

Speed School:

Gerald Evans, Ph.D.

Patricia Ralston, Ph.D.

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Ideas to Action:

Patricia Payette, Ph.D.

Cathy Bays, Ph.D.

November 17, 2009

Ideas to Action (i2a): Overview• i2a goes to the heart of our institutional mission to foster educational excellence

and meets the expectations of our accrediting body: SACS-COC. Interim report due to SACS in March, 2013.

• UofL’s quality enhancement plan (QEP), a multi-year initiative to guide our sustained and shared focus on continuous improvement of teaching and learning across the undergraduate experience

• UofL formed Task Group in 2005 to lay the groundwork for the QEP

• In 2007, SACS approved i2a as our QEP and the Task Group hired an i2a staff team to lead the i2a campus initiative

• Twin themes of i2a : critical thinking and culminating experiences

• In addition to discipline-specific accreditation planning (e.g. ABET), units are also aligning their planning with U.-wide accreditation efforts such as i2a

2www.louisville.edu/ideastoaction

• In 2007, the i2a Task Group adopted the Paul-Elder framework for university-wide implementation of i2a

• Since 2008, faculty and staff have been infusing the concepts of critical thinking more explicitly into courses, programs, projects, etc. to enhance undergraduate students’ critical thinking abilities

• In 2009, units and programs began curricular planning so that students integrate and apply new skills in an emerging culminating experience prior to graduation

• In 2009-2010, all undergraduate units developed an i2a implementation plan

• In 2009-2010, pilot of i2a evaluation plan and related tools and structures (https://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/what/assessment)

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Ideas to Action (i2a): Overview (cont’d)

i2a Task Group

• i2a Task Group: made up of unit facilitators (faculty, assoc. deans and deans) and departmental, student and faculty reps

• Joe Hagerty: participated in original QEP planning group “Call for Big Ideas” in 2005 and served on i2a Task Group until Spring 2009

• Jerry Evans: serving as i2a Co-Facilitator from Speed School since 2007

• Jim Graham: serving as i2a Co-Facilitator from Speed Speed beginning Spring 2010

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i2a program and services

• Faculty Learning Communities

(critical thinking and culminating experiences)• Collaborative Learning Community

(academic staff, student affairs staff, student services)• Annual SUN Grant program for faculty/staff• Ongoing workshops and Information Sessions• Campus-wide i2a Institute and i2a showcase events• National network on critical thinking initiatives• Individual and group consultations on curricular design, assessment, etc. • Sharing faculty/staff exemplars of i2a infusion

(https://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/resources)

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Speed Faculty & Staff Participation in i2a Programming

• Continuous involvement and participation since inception in Spring 2008

• Faculty– 16 faculty– 5 departments– Diverse participation: FLC, SUN grants, Presentations

• Staff– 4 staff– Advising pilot program

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Second Place Paul Weber Award 2009

• Speed developed a multi-level CT program that spans from culminating experiences to elementary school programs

• Designed a 4-year project to incorporate the Paul-Elder framework across the undergraduate curriculum

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Papers published by faculty in EF

• Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Hardin, T., invited presentation "Engineering critical thinking: Faculty exemplars on course redesign and assessment from U of L's Speed School of Engineering", presented at the 29th International Conference on Critical Thinking, Berkley, CA, July 20-23, 2009.

• Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Graham, J.H.; Hardin, T., invited panel discussion titled "Engineering. critical thinking", presented at the Inaugural i2a Institute: Developing Critical Thinkers, Louisville, KY, May 27-29, 2009.

• Lewis, J.E.; Hieb, J.L.; Wheatley, D., "Explicit Teaching of Critical Thinking in ENGR 100 - "Introduction to Engineering”. 116th Annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Austin, TX, June 14-17, 2009.

• Hieb, J.E., and Ralston, P.A., “Tablet PCs in Engineering Mathematics Courses at the J. B. Speed School of Engineering”, accepted for International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology

• Others in progress in many departments

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Proposal for i2a Implementation at Speed

• Background and Motivation: substantial progress with respect to incorporation of CT concepts in its Introduction to Engineering course, and is making a good start in its capstone design (i.e., culminating experience) courses and co-op courses, efforts with respect to the remainder of the undergraduate curriculum need to commence.

• Project Activities:– Review all Speed Undergrad Courses

– Identify courses (and associated faculty) which would benefit from increased emphasis of CT concepts

– Develop and give one-day workshop on CT for Engineering Education for identified faculty.

– Perform pre- and post-reviews

• Time Frame: 2010-2011

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