Integrating the Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile with Ashford University Graduate Programs In 2011, prompted by a visit from Dr. Holly McKiernan from the Lumina Foundation, Ashford University began the process of bringing faculty, assessment staff, and other stakeholders together to initiate discussion of how to integrate the Degree Qualifications Profile into Ashford programs of study. The collective decision was to: Begin the process by focusing on graduate programs, where the highest development of the DQP competencies should be observable, and eventually work through bachelor s level and associate level degrees. Capitalize on the existence of previously well-defined program-level assessment plans for each program at Ashford to enable an interleaving process between extant program learning outcomes and the DQP competencies. Capitalize on the benefits of having an integrated online assessment system, Waypoint Outcomes, to map and link specific DQP competencies all the way down to specific course-level assignments that are assessed using faculty-developed and peer reviewed rubrics. Continue and deepen the conversation among University stakeholders as to what the DQP competencies mean in the context of Ashford University programs through already extant University processes and structures, including o Ongoing faculty discussion of assessment results in Online Faculty Forums, and continuous incremental adjustments to courses and curricula o Annual planning process o Academic Program Review process o Creation of the 2013-2015 Ashford University Strategic Plan
Example: Master of Arts in Organizational Management Step 1: Faculty develop Program Purpose and Description
Step 2: Faculty define Program Learning Outcomes
Step 3: Faculty and Assessment Specialists define Rubrics for Program Learning Outcomes
Step 4: Faculty map Program Learning Outcomes to Courses and Learning Activities
Step 5: Faculty and Assessment Specialists develop Assessment Plan
Step 6: Set up assignments, rubrics, and mapping to outcomes in Waypoint Outcomes for each course.
Step 7: Faculty integrate Program Learning Outcomes with Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile Master of Arts in Organizational Management Program Learning Outcomes PLO 1: Understand cultural and economic trends and contexts that influence organizational change. Lumina Degree Qualifications Profile Specialized Knowledge: -Elucidates the major theories, research methods and approaches to inquiry, and/or schools of practice in the field; articulates relevant sources; and illustrates their relationship to allied fields. -Assesses the contributions of major figures and organizations in the field; describes its major methodologies and practices; and implements at least two such methodologies and practices through projects, papers, exhibits or performances. -Articulates major challenges involved in practicing the field, elucidates its leading edges, and delineates its current limits with respect to theory, knowledge and practice. Broad, Integrative Knowledge: -Articulates how the field has developed in relation to other major domains of inquiry or practice. -Designs and executes an applied, investigative or creative work that draws on the perspectives and methods of other fields and assesses the resulting gains and difficulties. -Articulates and defends the significance and implications of his or her specialized work in terms of challenges, trends and developments in a social or global context. Civic Learning: -Assesses and develops a position on a significant public policy question in the student s field, taking into account scholarly and community perspectives.
PLO 2: Demonstrate skill in critical thinking, data interpretation, and decision making necessary for developing innovative, effective problem-solving strategies within organizational culture. Specialized Knowledge: -Elucidates the major theories, research methods and approaches to inquiry, and/or schools of practice in the field; articulates relevant sources; and illustrates their relationship to allied fields. -Assesses the contributions of major figures and organizations in the field; describes its major methodologies and practices; and implements at least two such methodologies and practices through projects, papers, exhibits or performances. -Articulates major challenges involved in practicing the field, elucidates its leading edges, and delineates its current limits with respect to theory, knowledge and practice. -Initiates, assembles, arranges and reformulates ideas, concepts, designs and techniques in carrying out a project directed at a challenge in the field beyond conventional boundaries. Broad, Integrative Knowledge: -Articulates how the field has developed in relation to other major domains of inquiry or practice. -Designs and executes an applied, investigative or creative work that draws on the perspectives and methods of other fields and assesses the resulting gains and difficulties. -Articulates and defends the significance and implications of his or her specialized work in terms of challenges, trends and developments in a social or global context.
Next Steps Step 8: Faculty map DQP competencies to programmatic assessments Step 9: In Waypoint Outcomes, set up mapping of assignments to DQP competencies Step 10: Continue and deepen the conversation among University stakeholders as to what the DQP competencies mean in the context of Ashford University programs through already extant University processes and structures, including o Ongoing faculty discussion of assessment results in Online Faculty Forums, and continuous incremental adjustments to courses and curricula o Annual planning process o Academic Program Review process o Creation of the 2013-2015 Ashford University Strategic Plan