DE Oracle @ UMUC

Embedded Hallmarks in the School of Undergraduate Studies

Anna Van Wie

Director, Learning Outcomes Assessment

School of Undergraduate Studies

Published: March-April 2011

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

Introduction

Hallmarks are the core competencies each UMUC undergraduate should possess upon graduation. They are an important part of the curriculum in both general education courses and within specific program courses. During the School of Undergraduate Studies' (SUS) Supporting Educational Goals for Undergraduate Excellence (SEGUE) process—the undergraduate curriculum redesign project—hallmarks have been used as benchmarks for developing assessments (i.e., graded materials), which improves the effectiveness of teaching and learning at UMUC. These focused efforts are making a positive difference for the students and thus make an impact on the global community. This article briefly discusses the hallmarks and their integration in the undergraduate curriculum, how they meet internal and external standards, and new resources and processes that are in place to reinforce the hallmarks and support their importance to UMUC.

Hallmark Integration

SUS has eight hallmarks that define various areas of learning in which students will be instructed and assessed. These hallmarks are:

Written Communication: Graduates will be able to effectively communicate in writing to a target audience, integrating credible evidence from appropriate sources and using the expected conventions of format, organization, and style.

Technology Fluency: Graduates will be able to use and explain technology to assist in communication, information management, and analysis of data and information.

Information Literacy: Graduates will be able to determine an information need and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the appropriate information.

Quantitative Literacy: Graduates will be able to effectively interpret, apply, analyze, synthesize, and communicate quantitative information and ideas.

Critical Thinking: Graduates will be able to modify thinking based on recognizing and critiquing assumptions, emotional appeals, and speculations to form logical, evidence-based conclusions.

Scientific Literacy: Graduates will be able to apply scientific principles and concepts from the natural, social, and behavioral sciences to form relevant and reasonable questions and critically weigh evidence to make decisions about the validity and the reliability of data about the world and their place in the world.

Historical and Cultural Perspective: Graduates will be able to recognize and interpret historical and cultural events, people, and places and apply the knowledge to form relevant and objective perspectives and conclusions.

Ethics: Graduates will be able to incorporate an ethical perspective when making decisions and will realize the impact of their decisions in their daily lives, both personal and professional.

These hallmarks are defined separately from the discipline-specific skills and abilities mastered through the student’s program coursework, and they are integrated into SUS programs as well as into the undergraduate General Education curriculum.

In the spring of 2010, each SUS program convened a group of professionals and subject matter experts to construct a set of program learning outcomes. These new outcomes serve as the guide for curriculum redesign and alignment; every course has been or will be redesigned with these outcomes as their focus. Each course within a program needs to align to the program outcomes and support the students’ acquisition of the skills, knowledge, and abilities to be successful in a global society. During the process to construct relevant and robust program learning outcomes, the groups discovered that many of the outcomes were directly aligned with SUS hallmarks. It became clear that the hallmarks are a curricular focus in programs.

How Hallmarks Meet MSCHE and UMUC Standards

A SUS program's relationship to a particular hallmark depends on the program focus and the level of competency demanded for that field. Four competencies are mandated and accomplishment is monitored by our accrediting agency, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). According to Standard 12 of the MSCHE Standards of Excellence (2009), these competencies are oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, and technological competency. UMUC has a waiver for the oral communication provision because of the major online delivery of courses.

MSCHE requires evidence of consistent processes to teach and assess these competencies throughout the undergraduate curriculum. The MSCHE mandate is not hard to meet, given that the undergraduate programs already integrate these competencies as part of their learning outcomes. The focus is at varying levels across programs, and some programs demand a higher level of emphasis on certain competencies than others. UMUC uses a three-level scale to describe a hallmark’s level of depth within a program: introduced, reinforced, and emphasized. It is at the emphasized level that most of the learning outcomes assessment is conducted. However, at times it is important to assess students at a more basic level to determine if and when they are accomplishing the skills necessary. Waiting until the emphasized level may be too late to determine that students need more assistance in a competency.

Hallmark Leads

SUS has appointed a group of academic directors who have expertise in the hallmark areas to work with directors and faculty in incorporating the hallmarks in appropriate courses, in both the learning activities and assessments. Known as Hallmark Leads, they provide assistance when a director needs to determine what type of activity would be appropriate at the various levels of the hallmark, and they can help answer the questions: What is a good "reinforced" level activity for the hallmark? and What would an appropriate assessment be at the "emphasized" level?

The Hallmark Leads are:

Andrew Cavanaugh, Academic Director for Academic Writing (Written Communication)

Katherine Humber, Academic Director for Gerontology and Behavioral Science (Ethics)

Jennifer L.W. Thompson, Assistant Academic Director for Psychology (Critical Thinking)

Robert Bromber, Academic Director for History, Political Science and Government (Historical and Cultural Perspectives)

Elizabeth Mulherrin, Academic Director for Library Skills and Information Literacy (Information Literacy)

David P. Johnson, Academic Director for Computer Studies (Technology Fluency)

John Beyers, Academic Director for Math and Statistics (Quantitative Literacy)

Debra McLaughlin, Academic Director for Science and Environmental Management (Scientific Literacy)

To assist with developing assignments, Hallmark Leads have prepared a set of Hallmark Guides that emphasize resources, tips, and examples for the teaching and learning of the hallmark competencies. Each of the Hallmark Guides will be featured in the DE Oracle, beginning with:

Please review the SUS hallmark article for additional Hallmark Guides. 

Closing

The integration of the hallmarks with the undergraduate curriculum is not a difficult task. The two align naturally, and the SEGUE initiative was the means of uncovering that alignment. The process of analyzing the accomplishment of the hallmarks is ongoing and works to continuously improve the undergraduate curriculum.

The hallmarks are directly aligned with program learning outcomes and are continuously assessed for improvement of the undergraduate curriculum.

Reference

Middle States Commission on Higher Education. (2009, March). Characteristics of excellence in higher education: Requirements of affiliation and standards for accreditation. Retrieved from http://www.msche.org/publications/CHX06_Aug08REVMarch09.pdf