Accentuating Liberal Arts with the Colleges of Arts & Sciences

Transcription

1 Accentuating Liberal Arts with the Colleges of Arts & Sciences Kay Hamada University of Hawaii at Mānoa Colleges of Arts & Sciences Student Academic Services Code: NACADA Annual Conference Session: 272 Kay Hamada/CASSAS, 2012

2 Presentation Discuss how the À LA CAS program was developed and created to align with established liberal arts missions and objectives Discuss the process of building an online program Share preliminary results from a student survey

3 Introduction to À LA CAS URL - Online program that highlights the value of a liberal arts education from a variety of perspectives Debuted in January 2012 (in pilot stage) Aimed at audience of prospective and current undergraduate UHM A&S students Short video interview clips with current students, alumni, faculty, cocurricular program coordinators, and employers in fields related to Arts & Sciences Additional resources, such as articles, off-site links, and the blog

4 Introduction to À LA CAS Housed in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences Student Academic Services office (CASSAS) o Four colleges in A&S: Arts & Humanities; Languages, Linguistics & Literature; Natural Sciences; and Social Sciences o Dual advising model A&S advisors and major advisor 14,257 undergraduate students at UHM* Approximately 6,000 declared and prospective A&S undergrads (*UHM, 2010)

5 Issues Issues that were considered during planning and construction of this program include the following: Lack of programs geared specifically toward the value of liberal arts Staffing and time constraints, plus budgetary concerns Students may have difficulty attending in-person activities Students might feel too intimidated to approach experts

6 Theoretical foundations AACU's Liberal Education & America's Promise (LEAP) vision Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) guidelines for Academic Advising Programs (AAP) CASSAS department student learning outcomes Rust s (2011) Concepts and arguments for use in academic advising

7 Hypotheses According to Roche (2010), to students and families who are sacrificing time and money and are eager for a practical return on their investment, [liberal arts ] value is not immediately apparent (p. 2). Individuals both on and off campus can provide valuable insight to students into how liberal arts skills can be a return on their investment.

8 Hypotheses An articulation of possibilities and outcomes that are desirable can motivate students to learn better (Roche, 2010, p. 13). Students might experience barriers to connecting with resources in person because of time constraints, unconventional learning styles, or feeling intimidated about approaching faculty, staff, and community members in person.

9 Hypotheses Possible solutions: Facilitate this connection by introducing students to people both on and off campus in areas that utilize and can foster liberal arts skills Conversation that is casual, comfortable, and possibly entertaining Use formats familiar to students, most of whom have technological literacy, being involved in social networking and consumption of digital media such as YouTube videos The length of videos and on-demand access would also cater to their busy lifestyles

10 Theme À LA CAS conversations are meant to be short, casual encounters, rather than something more formal like a lecture. Simply, talking over lunch. (Photo credit: White, 2009)

11 Program outcomes Articulate the value and provide examples of the practicality of liberal arts skills for students in Arts & Sciences disciplines. Introduce students to people and resources on and off campus who embrace the liberal arts and related fields and can provide insight into co-curricular programs for academic planning. Utilize widely used electronic media and support alternative learning styles.

12 Information organization and availability Avoid information overload Program can stand alone (not only a tool for referral) Videos: approximately 5 minutes or less per clip o Wide range of interview subjects Introduction: brief definition of liberal arts in relation to A&S degrees at UHM Blog: started as an information board rather than journal-like Additional resources: started out as page to links off-site (news articles, blogs) o Moving toward producing original pieces Survey and comments page assessment and feedback (more in next section)

13 Design Programs to create website, edit video, and create/edit images Minimal IT support Comfortable around computers and experience in social media/blogging beneficial Kept everything in house Considered accessibility (I am not an expert in this area) Learned from student feedback that simple is better easy navigation a big plus o Revision to design

14 Approach s Sent information to major department advisors Promoted on CASSAS homepage Fliers and bulletins posted in CASSAS office Promoted by CASSAS advisors at New Student Orientation Promoted by other program advisors and counselors who have frequent contact with A&S students 10-question survey created using Google Documents (linked on site) o Survey responses were voluntary o Assessment

15 Approach Outcomes: Articulate values and Introduce students to resources o What did the interviewee(s) say that was most relevant to you? o After watching the interview(s), do you feel that your A&S degree prepares you for success in your personal, academic, and/or professional life? o Was the interview(s) useful to you? o Are you interested in seeing future video interviews on the A LA CAS website? (If you would like to suggest a future interviewee, please note it in the comment box below.) You can simply answer "yes" or "no" but you can also tell us more. o After watching the interview(s), what additional information would you like to pursue? Outcome: Utilize electronic media o Do you like the format of the program (for example: web-based, social media, video)? Open question: How can we improve this program?

16 Share preliminary findings Results

17 Limitations À LA CAS program is in its pilot state o Production was the main focus o Limited marketing o Limited experiment time o Limited number of available subjects/responses Only the video interviews were considered Further literature review of models of online learning is necessary o R2D2 model: Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, Doing (Bonk & Zhang, 2006)

18 Conclusion Example of delivering information about the liberal arts to students using web media Increase access to education in an area deemed important by the department, colleges, and institution Delivering services with limited budget and resources, limited staff, and time constraints It utilizes popular media as educational tools in the UHM Colleges of Arts & Sciences Arts & Humanities, Languages, Linguistics & Literature, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences all of our majors are liberal arts majors, all of our degrees are liberal arts degrees, and the coursework you take for your degree is considered a part of your liberal arts education (CASSAS, 2012) While student feedback was limited, the responses showed that students appreciated the intimate interview setting and various perspectives of A&S degrees and the liberal arts

19 Future direction/considerations: Videos will continue to be produced Review student comments about production, such as posting a longer version of videos in addition to short clips Ask students to produce videos and be interviewer Improve student participation o Social media? Interactive feature/tasks Conclusion

20 References Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). (2011). LEAP vision: Essential learning outcomes. Retrieved from Bonk, C.J., & Zhang, K. (2006). Introducing the R2D2 Model: Online learning for the diverse learners of this world. Distance Education, 27(2), Colleges of Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services (CASSAS). (2012). À LA CAS: Accentuating liberal arts with the Colleges of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved from Colleges of Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services (CASSAS). (2009). Arts & Sciences, student learning outcomes, and the CASSAS advising partnership. Retrieved from Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS). (2005). Academic advising programs: CAS standards and guidelines. Retrieved from Roche, M. R. (2010). Why choose the liberal arts? Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. Rust, M. M. (2011). The utility of Liberal Education: Concepts and arguments for use in academic advising. NACADA Journal, 55(1), University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM). (2010). About UH Mānoa. Retrieved from [Photo credit: White, M. (2009). O-bento. Retrieved from