Core Education Committee

Voting members present: Andrea Allan, Vipin Arora, Aidas Banaitis, Abigail Crowell, Liz Delf, Kelsey Emard, Daniel Faltesek, Matthew Kennedy, Lori McGraw, Brian Mills, Holly Mitchell, Kari-Lyn Sakuma, Paula Weiss
Voting members absent: No absences
Ex-officio members present: Core Education – McKenzie Huber; Curriculum Management – Stephanie Baugh; Ecampus – Karen Watte; General Education Assessment – Heath Henry; WIC - Ashley Holmes
Guests: Michael Jefferies, Kristin Nagy Katz, Caryn Stoess, Andrew Valls

Course Reviews

• HST 444 The Nuclear Age (second review) – Seeking Solutions
  • Originally sent back for a lack of details
  • Some minor revisions have been made but they are still approaching it as a history class.
  • They don’t go into detail about how they’re solving anything or how they are addressing the outcomes. They only talk about historical solutions.
  • Academic Assessment would suggest that the Seeking Solutions fellows look over the course, but believes the course is not a good fit for the category.
  • It was strongly suggested during the last send back that they work with the Seeking Solution fellows, but it should be a requirement in the next send back.

Action: Motion to send back and request that they address the learning outcomes; meet with the Seeking Solutions Fellows and specifically consider the category fit; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• SOIL 101 Introduction to Crop, Soil, and Insect Science – Beyond I
  • Has a concurrent pre-requisite of Core 100 despite the LOCR stating that that is not allowed.
    • There was a change to the Learning Outcome & Criteria Rationale (LOCR) that did allow this sort of co-requisite so there is no issue.
  • Do 1-credit classes need a final during finals week, as stated by Academic Regulation (AR)16?
    • There will be communication from the Associate Vice Provost.
    • Maybe make a note to insure they are meeting AR 16.
  • The Ecampus syllabus had identical language about speakers in class, which would not work in an asynchronous model.

Action: Motion to approve with notes about week 10 assignment and to remove references to in class speakers from Ecampus syllabus; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• TRAL 132 Foundations of Outdoor and Adventure Professions – Beyond I
  • Described as experiential learning in CIM but does not meet OSU’s definition of experiential learning.
    • The definition is more for data collection and there’s no evaluation or compensation tied to it.
    • It could create some positive associations.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve on the grounds that they uncheck the course as being an experiential learning course; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 1 vote in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• TRAL 456 Planning for Sustainable Recreation – Beyond II
  • Seems like a good course for the category.
  • Free reading materials that can be borrowed, which is an interesting concept.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve on the grounds that they uncheck the course as being an experiential learning course; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• TRAL 457 Planning for Sustainable Tourism – Beyond II
  • Seems like a good fit for the category.
  • Well designed and the experiential opportunity is a field trip for the students
  • Relevant career experience.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BA 311 Framing Your Career Plan – Beyond II
  • Good fit for the category and well done.
  • Does a career fair.
  • No limiting pre-requisites.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• DSGN 311 Framing Your Career Plan – Beyond II
  • Same course as BA 311 but for design students.
  • No issues

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• ART 204 Into to Western Art: Prehistory to High Middle Ages (second review) – Arts & Humanities – General
  • Sent back citing several issues.
  • Fixed the percentage issue in the syllabus but not in CIM.
  • There is still an issue with formative feedback – it seems like they do, but it is not clearly stated.
  • Grammatical errors have been cleaned up.
  • It still focuses on the student experience versus the human experience.
  • Core Ed table still don’t list the essential assignment.
  • Quizzes are not listed on the courses schedule. Exams are also listed as quizzes but are in a different category so there needs to be more clarity on how they are different.
  • They broke the final project down into steps on how it meets the LOs, but only did that in CIM; it would be helpful if they did that in the syllabus.
  • Overall, there is significant improvement but there are still many issues.
  • Similar issues in ART 205 & ART 206.

Action: Motion to roll back citing the follow issues: 1) In CIM, under the "How will student performance be evaluated" (end of CIM form), the Ecampus assignment percentages don't add up to 100%. This was fixed on the Ecampus syllabus previously, and now it needs to be fixed in CIM; 2) The Corvallis and Cascades syllabi refer to reading quizzes under the "Class Discussions - Art Analysis/Activities" assignments, but we can only find one reading quiz in the course content (in week 1). To our understanding, these reading quizzes are distinct from the three major exams/quizzes the students take, which are listed in the course content. The reading quizzes also need to be listed in the course content with due dates, unless they are in-class activities. If they are in-class activities, then the statement that says "The reading assignments and due dates of the quizzes are indicated below in the class schedule" should be changed; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• ART 205 Intro to Western Art: Gothic to Baroque (second review) – Arts & Humanities – General
  • Similar issues to ART 204

Action: Motion to roll back and ask that they include quizzes on course syllabi for Corvallis and Cascades; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• ART 206 Intro to Western Art: Neoclassism to Contemporary – Arts & Humanities – General
  • Needs to correct their Baccalaureate Core statement for the current category. It is correct in CIM (Lit & the Arts) but says it is Western Culture on the syllabus.

Action: Rollback for edits to add quizzes in the course schedule in Corvallis and Cascades syllabi and change the reference to the Baccalaureate Core category in the syllabi from Western Cultures to Literature & The Arts; seconded. The motion passed with 13 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• FILM 145 Introduction to Film Studies: 1968-1999 – Arts & Humanities – General
  • Two minor issues
    • Essential assignment for Learning Outcome (LO) 1 – essential assignment is listed as a paper, but metric mentions discussions and quizzes. Similar issue on LO 3.
    • Grammatical issues in CIM.
  • Ecampus syllabus had more details in terms of schedule and assessment.
  • Ecampus had an additional textbook. It is also available online for free.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve with a note to fix discrepancies between CIM and the syllabus; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• COMM 114 Argument and Critical Discourse – Communication, Media, Society
  • Discrepancy in description of oral assignment.
    • LOCR stipulates assignment cannot be pre-recorded
  • Unclear how instructor feedback will be given.
  • Peer feedback is transitory.
  • Do not adequately address LO1 and LO2.
  • Ecampus does allow small groups to meet synchronously. Faculty are not required to be at each meeting. Students just need to communicate in front of a live audience at least once.

Action: Motion to rollback requesting More detail on LO1/LO2, submission of Ecampus redevelopment proposal, live presentations on Ecampus, more detail on how feedback and peer feedback is given; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• PS 207 Political Communications (third review) – Communication, Media, Society
  • Concerns have been addressed since it was last sent back.
  • Unclear if everything in CIM is on the syllabus.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• H 249 Bridging the Gap: Science Comm and Health Literacy – Communication, Media, Society
  • Could be a great class but there is no discussion about the theories of communication.
    • From CIM: Communication theories will be discussed in class and through the readings. An Excel spreadsheet lists all of the health and communication theories covered in the textbook, with the page numbers. The class lectures and PowerPoint slides will provide additional context and examples on how to effectively apply these communication theories to the different stages of developing and delivering the products.
    • There is an Excel spreadsheet that may have more information that the committee does not have access to.
  • Good job explaining their essential assignments.
  • Brings in a lot of very relevant literature.
  • Is this a majors course?
    • A lot of health majors may take it, but it could also be interesting to students outside of the major.
    • Could use a more engaging title.

Action: Motion approve; seconded. The motion passed with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• KIN 280 Patient & Climate Centered Communication – Communication, Media, Society
  • Does not meet the category.
    • Does not meet LO2
    • 1-on-1 interactions is not the intent of the category
  • It is not broadly applied.
    • Heavily majored focused.
  • Lots of formative feedback provided.

Action: Rollback: 1) how is the primary purpose of this class core ed beyond majors? 2) how does 1-1 private communication meet the category? 3) does the essential assignment for LO2 address the LO; 4) how does the communication product ensure each student in the group presents?; seconded. The motion passed with 9 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• GEOG 202 Maps, Media & Communication – Communication, Media, Society
  • Discussed at the next meeting.
• BOT 101 Botany: A Human Concern (third review) – Scientific Inquiry
  • Discussed at the next meeting.
• ANTH 240 Introduction to Biological Anthropology (second review) – Scientific Inquiry
  • Discussed at the next meeting.
• OC 201 Oceanography (second review) – Scientific Inquiry
  • Discussed at the next meeting.
• SUS 103 Intro to Climate Change (second review) – Scientific Inquiry
  • Discussed at the next meeting.
• PPOL 422 Policy Analysis – Writing Intensive Curriculum
  • Discussed at the next meeting.