Many changes have been introduced at WSU as a result partly of assessment data, and demands for improvement from among students, employers, faculty, and others. Highlights are listed below:
A. WSU's writing program: This has been integrated into the General Education Program and has many linked components. Due in large part to demands for improved writing capability among our students and employers, WSU has initiated the following changes:
- Comprehensive revision of the English composition curriculum and linking of English 101 with the required World Civilizations courses.
- Mandatory placement of students in freshman writing courses through a Writing Placement Examination.
- Designated writing experiences in all general education courses to reinforce and extend the skills learned in composition courses.
- A minimum of two intensive writing courses in each program to ensure student competence in the conventions which prevail in the major.
- Academic departments are redesigning courses to meet the criteria for writing-in-the-major courses. Faculty who teach these courses are revising course materials and syllabi.
- A writing qualifying examination is required of all students in their junior year as a mid-career assessment of writing skills. Students who fail are obliged to take remedial action prior to graduation.
- To help students with the increased writing assignments and requirements, WSU has funded a writing resource center, where students can get help in improving their writing skills, and expanded the tutorial program based in the Writing Center to assist students with their writing assignments.
- Implementation of Writing-in-the-Major has affected every academic unit on campus and involves several hundred faculty.
- The intensive writing courses in the major area are often used as parts of end-of-program assessment within the major program area.
- To support this instructional effort and to encourage more effective use of writing pedagogy, periodic faculty workshops are given throughout the year. To date, approximately 300 faculty have attended these workshops.
B. Reform of General Education: A major campus-wide initiative for WSU during the last few years has been the reform and redesign of our General Education Program, which began in the late 1980's. Faculty and administrators have thoroughly redesigned the General Education curriculum into a three-tiered system of coherent courses. Tier 1 courses consist of fundamental skills courses in mathematics and writing, and fundamental literacy courses in science, culture, and world civilization. Senior faculty teach these Tier 1 courses, rather than graduate students. They have increased the number and variety of courses required, including a Math, Science, and Writing requirement for all students. The goal of these courses is to provide students with a coherent intellectual framework for subsequent learning, to provide students with a common body of basic knowledge about human cultures, to develop students' abilities to analyze problems and think critically, and to teach students basic library research skills. General education courses selected by students must now meet the criteria of an area of coherence and must meet the approval of an advisor. All students are required to take two semesters of Western Civilization, taught by the some of the best and most innovative teachers at WSU. Several sections are taught through multimedia methods which allow faculty and students to use computers to make learning more active and participate.
C. Increased Use of Instructional Technology: WSU has made significant advances in computer-based multimedia instruction in the past two years. Initially, multimedia instruction was incorporated into the newly required World Civilization courses for freshman students. Use of the multimedia technologies has spread rapidly beyond the core courses, particularly in the sciences and professional curricula. More than 30 classrooms are now equipped for this type of instruction and 20 more are under construction. Multimedia classes have enthusiastically received by students who generally rate their satisfaction with those classes as superior to classes using the traditional lecture format. Pilot studies of at-risk students also suggest that the multimedia format may have beneficial effects for improving the performance of these students in these classes. WSU's efforts in this area have received considerable notoriety, including an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
D. Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness: With the renewed emphasis on teaching and improving undergraduate curricula, WSU has instituted a teaching portfolio for all new and junior faculty. In the third year and final tenure reviews and in promotion reviews, all instructional faculty are required to submit a description of the full range of their teaching activities and evidence of student and peer evaluations. WSU has also formed a committee to examine course evaluations and how to improve them. To date the committee has gathered examples from other institutions, and has been identifying research on the validity and reliability of these instruments. The goal of this group is to develop a more valid, reliable, and useful means of conducting course evaluations, and of presenting course evaluation results. During the past two years the committee has pilot tested a new course evaluation instrument in courses throughout the university.
E. Increased Student Development: During the last few years, student services units have increased their emphasis on student learning and academic support. These developments came about as a direct result of the results of earlier outcomes assessments showing that WSU needed to strengthen its efforts in advising and supporting new incoming students. This has resulted in the development of the University Freshman Year Outcomes Statement which identifies specific educational and personal outcomes for students during their freshman year. These outcomes are assessed annually by the College Students Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) which is administered annually by Student Affairs. Also developed has been the Freshman Year Experience Program, including the following specific initiatives: PAWS, a program designed to provide peer academic advising for freshman residence hall students. Development of three major computer labs located in residence halls for student use, and with a direct connection to the multimedia instructional facilities of the General Education program. Establishment of a math science and engineering residence hall to serve the special needs of students majoring in these disciplines. Development of a formal leadership education program designed to cultivate student interest in leadership opportunities at the University and the local community.
F. Time to Degree: During the Spring semester of 1994, WSU designed and conducted a survey of seniors and a survey of freshman students to determine factors correlated with graduation rate. The purpose of both surveys was to identify how long it takes senior students to graduate, and how long freshman students expect to take to complete their undergraduate degree. A variety of other information was also obtained in the survey to identify those factors that are related to students taking longer than four years to complete a degree. In addition to this information, students were also asked to assess satisfaction with a variety of academic services including advising, financial aid, and general education. The results of these surveys are being used to find ways of reducing the amount of time that students have to take to complete a degree. The survey resulted in several recommendations for improving the academic advising process to help students complete their degree on time. The final report for this project contained 16 recommendations which address WSU's ability to reduce the length of time needed to complete a baccalaureate degree, and which will also increase WSU's graduation rate for all undergraduate students. WSU units are now examining how to implement many of these recommendations without increases in funding levels.
G. Center for Teaching and Learning: Due to demands for improved teaching and the results of student assessments, WSU has obtained funding for the creation of an organization whose mission is to support instructional faculty in their role of fostering student learning. The activities of this Center cluster in four areas: faculty support, community building through communication, instructional technology, and classroom assessment. The Center is still in the process of being created, and it intends to work with the university administration to cultivate a more visible reward system for good teaching. The CTL also aims to conduct and disseminate research in the areas of pedagogy, technology, and assessment that will improve the quality of teaching and learning at WSU.
H. Faculty Development: The University encourages faculty to participate in assessment-related workshops throughout the year. Twice a year, the University offers one-day seminars to train instructors in how to improve their writing-in-the major courses. Academic departments are encouraged to participate in the statewide collaborative workshops put on by the Washington Assessment Group. The topic of these workshops varies from quantitative skills, to writing in the major, to assessment in the arts, and others. Other on-campus seminars and workshops on assessment are also offered to faculty as they become available. Last year, for instance, a number of faculty attended a satellite video seminar on Institutional Effectiveness and the Classroom, put on by PBS. WSU's department of Information Technology has been offering a series of workshops on learning, teaching, and technology which are open to all faculty and with provide information on the integration of technology into the classroom. Substantial numbers of faculty have attended these workshops. For many workshops, demand exceeded capacity, so that additional workshops had to be scheduled.
