Success is more about what you do while you are in college and less about what college you attend. A recent study showed that the most successful students are those who participate in undergraduate experiences, such as internships, undergraduate research, and service learning. These engaged learning opportunities allow students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world. Through internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning, students also gain unparalleled opportunities to hone their critical thinking and communication skills. More importantly, these opportunities pay dividends for students well beyond graduation.
At Kennesaw State, we believe that doing is the key to learning, which is why we are focused on increasing the number of engaged learning opportunities and giving more students the chance to learn by doing. We developed our Quality Enhancement Plan, It's About Engagement, to advance KSU’s mission of student success by focusing on the dynamic nature of engaged learning in each of the academic colleges and the university, overall
Evaluation Plan and measures:
Goal #1: Increase the number of opportunities for students to engage in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.
Goal #2: Increase the number of students engaging in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning opportunities in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.
SLO #1: Students will cite meaningful and valuable connections of their HIP experiences to their overall educational preparation.
SLO #2: Students will gain new insights on the connectedness and integration of the academic preparation of their disciplines of study to the applied settings of their HIP experiences.
SLO #3: Students will build upon prior knowledge and experiences to respond effectively to the new and challenging demands of their HIP settings.
SLO #4: Students will demonstrate growth in professional and personal core values and sense of self as a result of their HIP experiences.
Baseline measure (for each KPI): N/A
Current/most recent data (for each KPI) [NEW for 2023]:
The table below shows data for the previous four years.
|
Year |
Service Learning |
Work-Based Learning |
Undergraduate Research |
|
2019-2020 |
1,986 |
4,290 |
3,456 |
|
2020-2021 |
1,849 |
4,021 |
4,242 |
|
2021-2022 |
1,853 |
5,477 |
6,176 |
|
2022-2023 |
2,460 |
5,004 |
7,942 |
Goal or targets (for each KPI): N/A
Time period/duration: Goals and Student Learning Outcomes are evaluated annually over a five-year period.
This year, the QEP team continued to implement Smartsheet to facilitate data collection for both course coding and reflection gathering. The new Course Attribute Dashboard (CAD) is also continuing after the CAD system strengthened KSU’s ability to code HIPs courses more appropriately. The Smartsheet report was tweaked slightly to align with the inquiry needs of the colleges and is continuing to be used as part of the evaluation of courses submitted as part of the QEP initiative. Finally, a new Smartsheet dashboard was again utilized to enable colleges to track submission of student artifacts in real time.
With streamlined processes for data collection and attribute assignment in place, the focus for year five will be on expanding the number of courses and students engaging in courses using one of the three HIPs and engaging in the practice of reflection
Challenges:
Familiarizing new administrators with the plan and its processes continues to be the biggest challenge. We have had a significant amount of turnover in leadership positions involved with QEP implementation. Likewise, training everyone on the new tools to improve coding and data collection has taken time and resources.
Support Needed:
Through its development of CAD, the system office has already been deeply supportive of our efforts
