VSU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (Experiential Learning); 2 year completion SP 23
Evaluation Plan and measures: pre/post-test, student written reflection, participation numbers
KPIs: 1) total course and program activities endorsed, 2) total student participants, and 3) attainment of QEP student learning outcomes one, two, and three
Baseline measure (for each KPI): 1) The year two (2022-2023) goal for the number of experiential learning endorsed program or course activities offered was 40. 2) The year two goal for total student participants was 175 students served. The five-year goal was 1,000 students served. 3) The goal was 70% achieve level 3 or higher on EL rubric for SLO attainment
Current/most recent data (for each KPI) [NEW for 2023]: 1) 60 total activities have been offered. 2) As of the 2022-2023 year end, 1,440 total students have been served in EL endorsed course or program activities, exceeding both the two- and five-year goals. 3) 87.1% achieved level 3 or higher on EL rubric for SLO attainment
Goal or targets (for each KPI): For 2023-24 the goals are: 1) 65 course or program El activities endorsed, 2) 1550 participants, and 3) 89% reach level 3 and above on EL rubric for SLO attainment
Time period/duration: 5 years (fall 2021-spring 2026)
The 2022-2023 year ended with 1,440 students served as participants in QEP-endorsed EL course activities or programs. Over the first two years of the QEP, 62 total faculty have offered experiential learning endorsed course activities, across 85 courses representing all academic colleges. Adjustments will be made to streamline the assessment process for faculty teaching EL-endorsed courses to increase experiential learning course opportunities for students at VSU, with a goal of ensuring experiential learning offerings across all disciplines and academic programs.
Entering the third year of the QEP, we are working on scalability of the experiential learning course- and program-activity endorsement process and embedding experiential learning within VSU’s curricular and co-curricular offerings. First, in terms of scalability, we are working to create congruity between the QEP university-wide experiential learning course endorsement process, and college-level experiential learning designations for specific courses that exist in several academic colleges. We are piloting a new assessment system beginning with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in which faculty instructing courses designated as experiential learning will have their students complete close-ended pre- and post-test assessments of learning and open-ended reflections (responses to three prompts) on their personal and academic growth, consistent with the QEP assessments. We will begin with a target goal of 15 courses included in the pilot in the 2023-2024 year. Second, in terms of institutional embeddedness, we have initiated a new role for faculty ambassadors in the 2023-2024 academic year. During the first two years of the QEP, faculty ambassadors presented workshops on experiential learning tailored for specific academic colleges that were recorded and included on the QEP Trailblazer website for the full VSU community. The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) staff and the faculty ambassadors, in consultation with the QEP Interim Coordinator, are now developing an Experiential Learning Certificate for faculty specifically tailored to the Experiential Learning Course- and Program-Activity Endorsement process at VSU. The certificate will draw from USG virtual-training on high-impact practices, the recorded ambassador workshops from years one and two of the QEP, and virtual training that the year three ambassadors will create. Third, also in terms of embedding experiential learning at VSU, President Carvajal has tasked A. Blake Pearce, Executive Director of Special Projects and Chief Development Officer for the College of the Arts, with forming the Mary Virginia Terry Center for Experiential Learning, which will assist with integrating all VSU experiential learning initiatives and increasing visibility of experiential learning.
Challenges
Scalability challenges include 1) the need to provide training in experiential learning for faculty (ways to address this include the Interim Coordinator’s in-progress certification in Experiential Learning from the Experiential Education Academy, part of the national Society for Experiential Education, and by the in-development experiential learning faculty certificate being developed by VSU’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning); 2) faculty resistance to increased workload associated with the assessment of experiential learning within their courses for course-activity experiential learning endorsements and slowing of new faculty applications for endorsed course activities now that early adopters have already completed endorsement of their course(s) (ways to address this include the in-process pilot of a streamlined assessment process for experiential learning endorsed courses), 3) need appointment of a permanent director or coordinator of experiential learning to direct the continued assessment, growth, and visibility of experiential learning at VSU.
Support Needed
We would benefit from better tools to track experiential learning at the institutional level, such as databases and/or dashboards. We would benefit from indirect resources in knowledge collaboration with institutional leaders in experiential learning at other USG institutions. For example, in Fall 2023, the Interim Coordinator met virtually with Dr. Jordan Cofer, Associate Provost for Experiential Learning at Georgia College, and met at the Society for Experiential Education annual conference in Orlando, FL in September 2023 with Andrew Potter, Director of Experiential Learning at UGA, and expanding this network will be beneficial. Development of the Terry Center for Experiential Learning will present additional opportunities to develop longstanding partnerships with local and regional organizations for students to engage in experiential learning with mutually beneficial outcomes in public displays of competence and career readiness.
