Some departments also conduct peer reviews -- especially of new faculty and temporary instructors or if student evaluations suggest it. Over 90 percent of upperclassmen responding to the Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students said that they had been given opportunities to evaluate instructors. When asked by the self-study survey if course evaluations are used to improve courses or teaching, however, only 58 percent of undergraduates responded affirmatively.
At NCSU the use of evaluations depends on the review procedures of individual departments. Department heads cited numerous instances in which evaluations were used to improve teaching, both in individual courses and in the curriculum as a whole. Such changes included changes in teaching assignments, decisions not to rehire instructors, faculty attendance at the Teaching Effectiveness Workshops, senior faculty's serving as mentors of junior faculty, and development of new courses [4.1.4.2].
After NCSU implements recommendations found elsewhere in this study for emphasizing the importance of effective teaching in decisions about tenure, promotion, and professional advancement, the University will need heighten its attention to the evaluation of teaching and to efforts to improve its effectiveness. If the University is to expect faculty to improve the quality of teaching, it must use the quality of teaching more prominently in making decisions about professional advancement for faculty and provide faculty with the means of assessing and enhancing teaching quality.
Course action forms, which are required to institute new courses, require the presentation of a syllabus describing course objectives and methods of evaluation. Syllabi are updated and reviewed periodically and distributed to students at the beginning of semesters. Course descriptions are published in the Undergraduate Catalog, which is revised every two years; addenda to the Catalog are published every semester. More than 96 percent of undergraduates surveyed in fall 1992 responded that they receive course syllabi that specify course objectives. More than 88 percent of undergraduates responded that syllabi accurately portray learning experiences [4.1.4.3].
Selection of appropriate instructional techniques for particular courses and subject matters are the prerogative of the professor and faculty colleagues [4.1.4.4]. Reviews of syllabi (through the course approval process in the department, college, and university courses and curricula committees) monitor this match of methods with content. The Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students asked respondents about required learning activities in courses. The response showed that although the methods used to instruct NCSU students are diverse, there is a somewhat predictable variation in pedagogical emphases at successive stages in students' education at NCSU.
When faculty experiment with methods to improve instruction, their efforts are supported and critically evaluated. For example, the Provost's Office administers the Instructional Computing Grants program and a mini-grant program. Instructional Computing Grants fund projects to develop innovative computing uses in undergraduate instruction. The grant proposal must include an evaluation plan. Within a year of project implementation, the project initiator must submit a follow-up report indicating the outcomes of evaluations [4.1.4.5].
Departments may offer experimental courses under specially designated numbers. Such courses may also be offered through the Division of Multidisciplinary Studies. Experimental courses are regarded as temporary. If successful, such courses can join the regular course offerings of the University by gaining approval of the appropriate college course and curriculum committees and the University Courses and Curriculum Committee. During this review, course content must be justified and teaching methods explained and examined [4.1.4.5].
Class* Affirmative responses combine the "almost always" and "often" responses in the survey. The two negative choices were "almost never" and "seldom."Activity Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
--------------------- -------- --------- ------ ------ Written papers 77.0% 56.5% 50.9% 71.9%
Oral presentations 14.3% 20.6% 25.9% 33.7%
Computer usage 58.0% 61.1% 65.5% 70.0%
Information analysis and synthesis 83.3% 86.2% 94.0% 88.2%
Library research 49.2% 42.0% 53.5% 50.0%
Group projects 43.6% 44.2% 56.9% 65.0%
Practical applications 76.9% 75.6% 78.5% 83.8%
Because of the diverse nature of the material covered and the techniques employed across NCSU's comprehensive general education curriculum and particular disciplines, individual professors develop highly varied means for evaluating performance in their courses. Proposed methods for evaluating student performance are included in proposals for new courses and in reports prepared for regular course reviews that are examined by curriculum committees at departmental, college, and university levels [4.1.4.6].
Each work experience is approved as an appropriate learning environment involving productive, paid work monitored by the professional staff and supervised by the employer. Co-op students are considered to be full-time students while on work assignments. Each student participant is provided pre-employment preparation as well as ongoing advising during and following the work experience.
Formal recognition of the co-op experience is recorded on the transcript following each work session and by transcript notation and certificate following successful completion of the program. Semester evaluation of the student's job performance is done by the employer with the co-op staff providing for guided reflection by the student on what was learned.
The Cooperative Education Program provides an opportunity for the University and the employer to examine the quality and relevance of both the work experience and the curriculum in which the student is enrolled. The program is designed to promote achievement of desired outcomes for students, employers, and the University. Student outcomes include: academic goals (including the ability to integrate classroom theory with workplace experience and the development of technical knowledge through use of state-of-the-art equipment in the workplace); professional goals (including clarity about career goals, understanding of workplace culture, and development of after-graduation employment opportunities); and personal goals (including confidence based on job success, determination of personal strengths and weaknesses, and developing new competencies).
The NCSU Cooperative Education Program maintains accreditation by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and is structured according to the classical, alternating-semester model of cooperative education.
In the past few years, extensive discussion about plus-and-minus grading has led to a change in University grading practices in regard to the discernment of student achievement [4.1.4.6]. Beginning in fall 1994, plus-and-minus grading will be an available option for all faculty. Pass/fail grades pertain only to the small percentage of students' coursework in free electives, research projects, and physical education, with a cap on the number of hours. In addition, as part of the effort to establish outcomes-assessment criteria for program evaluation, each academic department at NCSU is developing a program-evaluation plan. The evaluative procedures of these plans differ appropriately from discipline to discipline [4.1.4.6].
Funding for summer sessions is approximately 80 percent from tuition and 20 percent from state appropriations. The summer-sessions director reports to the provost via the vice-chancellor for research, outreach, and extension. Although administration of the summer sessions is the responsibility of the director, the departments are responsible for the course offerings, instruction, and evaluation. Classes and laboratories meet for the same number of hours as during the regular semester. Students may register for a maximum of two academic courses and one or two physical education course each session to ensure that they will have ample opportunity to read and reflect on the material [4.1.4.7]. Many studies have been conducted on the quality of "short-term instruction", such as five-week summer sessions, compared to regular-term instruction. Although not all faculty would agree, these studies largely support the notion that the experiences are equivalent [4.1.4.8].
The "Courses via Telecommunications" program broadcasts regular NCSU courses taught by University faculty to regularly enrolled students via cable television. The courses are also videotaped for viewing at the Media Center or at home. In fall 1993 there were 246 registrations for these courses. A wide variety of courses are offered in this format: Biology in the Modern World; Organic Chemistry I; Introduction to Computers and Their Uses; Organization and Operation of Training and Development Programs; English Literature I; American Literature II; History of the English Language; Intermediate Spanish II; Introduction to Public Administration; and Religious Traditions of the World. Students can also sign up for courses that have previously been taught via television by viewing the courses on videotape.
Academic purview for all courses taught by telecommunication rests with the University faculty. Each instructor determines course enrollment limits, prerequisite enforcement, appropriate homework, and examination policies. Grades and University credit are awarded for television courses, and instructors are subject to the teaching evaluation procedure used by their academic departments. The Office of Instructional Telecommunication regularly evaluates the telecommunication-instruction program and has found that students taking courses in this format do as well or better than students taking the same courses in the traditional, on-campus format [4.1.4.8]. Additional courses from the Colleges of Engineering and Textiles are also available via telecommunications programs.
The Study Abroad Office publishes a booklet, Study Abroad with NCSU, that assists faculty who are interested in developing study-abroad programs. The guidelines for program development include directions to "submit academic course description(s) to the college/school or departmental curriculum committee and obtain approval from the appropriate department head and dean, the graduate study abroad committee (when applicable), the coordinator of international programs, and the provost" [4.1.4.8].
Study-abroad opportunities include NCSU-sponsored summer and semester programs that award NCSU credit and grades. These courses are treated the same as regular NCSU courses and go through the same approval process described above. NCSU-sponsored summer study-abroad programs carry three to six hours of credit and are currently offered in Oxford, England; London, England; Guadeloupe, French West Indies; Vienna, Austria; Cuernavaca, Mexico; Santander, Spain; Keszthely, Hungary; Great Barrier Reef, Australia; and Berlin, Germany. Some of these programs focus on language skills; others on the arts, archaeology, and history; and one is devoted to field ecology.
Semester and yearlong programs offer full-time-student status. Semester-long NCSU-sponsored and co-sponsored programs are available in Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; and Santander, Spain.
In addition to these programs, NCSU is a member of the International Student Exchange Program, which provides opportunities for enrollment in its 100 associated universities worldwide. The University sponsors exchange programs in Hiroshima, Japan; Hull, England; Compiègne, France; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Lille, France. Courses taken while participating in one of these exchange programs are treated as transfer courses rather than as regular NCSU courses. Courses should be approved in advance by the student's advisor or the college or school dean, and transfer credits but not grades appear on the student's record.
Study abroad at NCSU is encouraged by the availability of study-abroad scholarships offered each year by various campus organizations, including the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the University Scholars Program.
NCSU offers special programs to provide appropriate educational challenges for academically talented students. At the freshman, sophomore, and junior levels, NCSU provides the University Scholars Program, a consortium of programs that are offered in each school and college. Scholars programs provide academically enriched sections of required courses, special lectures and cultural activities, common housing, and special seminars for more advanced students. The University Scholars Program is coordinated jointly by the colleges and schools, the Division of Student Affairs, and the University Undesignated Program. Students are invited to participate in the University Scholars program based on selection criteria specific to each college or school.
Honors programs are offered in most of the colleges and schools. Participation requires a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Successful completion requires at least nine hours of honors courses and a minimum grade point average of 3.25. Special classes, seminars, and research experiences are available to students in these honors programs. Scholars and honors activities on the NCSU campus are coordinated by the University Honors Council, which promotes honors activities and advises the provost on matters related to the enhancement of academic excellence on the NCSU campus [4.1.4.9].
NCSU offers several unique double-degree programs, including the Jefferson Scholars (jointly administered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences), the Benjamin Franklin Scholars (College of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences), and the Eli Whitney Double-Degree Program in Textiles and International Studies (College of Textiles and College of Humanities and Social Sciences).
The Undergraduate Research Symposium, held each April, encourages and recognizes students' projects, awarding prizes to the top entries in each category. Honorary societies exist and are active in many of the professional programs. The Honors Convocation each fall recognizes the academic achievements of outstanding students and faculty [4.1.4.9]
.
Advisory boards and councils exist in some of the colleges, schools, and departments. External evaluators are used in some of the upper-division courses, for example, in Forestry 406, to judge seniors' performance in the field. Upper-division engineering, textiles, and design courses involve students in senior projects with client groups off campus [4.1.4.11].
Responses to the survey revealed widespread agreement on the importance of the educational goals. The vast majority of undergraduates and faculty believe that most of the listed goals are very important, and there is wide satisfaction with the University's performance in achieving most of them.
The disparity between level of importance and actual achievement in some cases, however, reveals the areas where the University may face the greatest challenges. Large proportions of both undergraduates and faculty believe that "effective speaking skills" and "appreciation for other cultures" are very important, but the two groups rate achievement as low. The faculty see a significant disparity between importance and achievement in two additional areas: effective writing skills and critical thinking skills.
Undergraduates Faculty
Educational goal Importance Achievement Importance Achievement
---------------- ------------------------ ------------------------
Formulate personal values and goals 95% 75% 93% 65%
Well-rounded general education 94% 89% 97% 66%
Foundation for continued intellectual development 97% 92% 98% 73%
Respect for different points of view 94% 76% 96% 70%
Work cooperatively in groups 93% 72% 84% 70%
Learn content and methods in major 97% 89% 98% 91%
Effective writing skills 92% 77% 97% 41%
Effective speaking skills 93% 58% 95% 45%
Computer literacy 91% 66% 93% 80%
Leadership skills 92% 55% 81% 53%
Awareness of current social issues 88% 62% 85% 55%
Participation in civic affairs 81% 47% 69% 46%
Prepare for a career 98% 85% 95% 88%
Problem solving skills 98% 91% 99% 70%
Critical thinking skills 99% 89% 98% 55%
Appreciation for other cultures 81% 51% 86% 48%
The University community has been concerned about helping students attain these latter goals for a long time, and they are all addressed by the new general education requirements. Concern about these goals also resulted in the recent creation of a new position, dean of undergraduate studies.
The survey revealed considerable variation among the colleges and schools regarding the achievement of many of the educational goals (see self-study library for data by college and school). Greater communication among the colleges (not just at the dean level but among faculty) should be developed, especially to share information on effective programs or approaches to teaching.
The goal of greater communication on effective teaching programs and approaches could be accomplished through the establishment of a University teaching resource center. Such a center could bring together faculty from different disciplines to discuss common goals and concerns: improving students' communication skills, providing relevant computer experience in times of limited budgets, etc. A University teaching resource center could also provide workshops for new teaching faculty and for graduate students with teaching responsibilities. In general, a University teaching resource would enhance the quality of teaching by allowing instructors to share information on effective programs or approaches to teaching.
Recommendation 5.16: NCSU should develop a university-level center for teaching to develop new strategies to assess teaching quality and to help faculty communicate with one another about more effective teaching methods
In addition to concern about teaching effectiveness, faculty and students respondents expressed broad concern about the extent to which NCSU's students learn effective writing and speaking skills. For example, nearly 90 percent of faculty feel that development of writing skills is important or extremely important, but only 36 percent of faculty believe that students' acquisition of writing skills was adequate. The survey asked faculty to indicate importance of and achievement in a series of issues in undergraduate education, and nothing ranked higher in importance than acquisition of writing skills. Furthermore, there was greater disparity between the faculty's evaluation of the importance of writing skills and their assessment of the level of students' achievement of writing skills than for any other category. Half of the students responding agreed with the faculty.
Acquisition of speaking skills was also important to over 88.2 percent of faculty, and nearly 50 percent agreed that acquisition of speaking skills among NCSU undergraduates is inadequate. Over half of students agreed with the faculty in this assessment. On another item on the survey, fewer than half the student respondents said that significant writing or oral reporting assignment was part of their coursework.
Addressing the development of writing and speaking skills is a central task of the general education requirements, but ideally such skills should be integrated into all disciplines across the curriculum. Writing programs in the Colleges of Forest Resources and Engineering help address this problem. In stressing the importance of basic skills in reflection, organization, and expression of knowledge, NCSU will face a challenge because its faculty is so diverse and dispersed .
Recommendation 5.17: NCSU should develop a university-level center for learning to enhance students' writing and speaking skills, and to support faculty efforts to require that students demonstrate effective communication skills in coursework in all
disciplines.
Further issues of concern in regard to the undergraduate program include times of day in which classes are taught, the quality of classrooms, laboratories, and library holdings, and the accessibility of instructional aids such as audiovisual equipment.
Many colleges offer classes from early in the morning to late at night. In fact, many classroom buildings are as filled with students at 7 p.m. as they are at 2 p.m. Some faculties operate under an administration directive from the late 1970s that asked that enough courses be offered late in the teaching day so that a student could earn a bachelor's degree in six years taking classes only after 4 p.m.
This policy was undertaken in recognition of NCSU's role as an institution serving needs of the rapidly growing Raleigh-Wake County-Research Triangle area for both undergraduate and lifelong educational opportunities. People in jobs or careers who need to enhance their credentials or who desire knowledge for its own sake have looked to NCSU to serve their needs.
On responses to the Self-Study Survey of Lifelong Education Students, the one most pressing issue listed in response to open-ended questions was the need to have even more courses, academic services, and degree programs available in the late afternoon and evening hours.
Recommendation 5.18: NCSU should expand course and degree program offerings in the late afternoon, evening, and weekends to meet the needs of its growing population of nontraditional students, and should provide resources to support such programs.
To demonstrate its commitment to undergraduate education, NCSU should realign its budget priorities to ensure that it is providing all classes with adequate and effective instructional space, including classrooms and seminar rooms, laboratories, and computer facilities. To pursue that goal systematically, the University will need to renovate existing teaching space, acquire new teaching space, and provide continuous maintenance, supplies, and support services.
University figures show that the University has experienced a net loss in available classrooms in the past decade. In addition, many classrooms are not well maintained, and distribution of modern electronic teaching aids is uneven. Computer facilities are also uneven across the campus, with students in some colleges indicating high satisfaction while students in other colleges having trouble gaining access to up-to-date equipment. Another vital concern is maintaining and modernizing laboratories and laboratory equipment. Library holdings and facilities for study have suffered because of budgetary constraints and limits on facilities planning and renovation.
In all these areas, development of specific plans for more classrooms and improvements in instructional support should proceed with the involvement of faculty and discussion about appropriate classroom size and type best suited for both current and evolving teaching methods. The University is working on improving facilities through annual classroom improvement projects. In addition, many departments and colleges have obtained grants to purchase new laboratory equipment and computers, using grant money from the Howard Hughes Foundation, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and the National Science Foundation, among others.
Even when equipment is obtained in this way, however, the University must supply support for upkeep. Furthermore, grants will never be sufficient to meet all NCSU's facility needs. For example, computer facilities need to be expanded and upgraded regularly. When every undergraduate has access to a computer, faculty will make more computer assignments.
Recommendation 5.19: NCSU should place a high capital-budget priority on acquiring new teaching space, on renovating existing teaching space, and on upgrading and maintaining classroom, laboratory, and computer facilities.
