1. Re-Envisioning
gtPathways
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING?

2. Teaming with CDHE
Lisa Snyder, EdD
Director of Assessment
Fort Lewis College
Shelly Ray Parsons, PhD
Director of Academic Assessment
Professor of Mathematics
Aims Community College

3. A little context
PAST AND PRESENT

4. AAC&U
Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP)
LEAP Principals of Excellence include:
◦ Aim High—and Make Excellence Inclusive
◦ Give Students a Compass
◦ Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation
◦ Engage the Big Questions
◦ Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action
◦ Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning
◦ Assess Students' Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems
Use assessment to deepen learning and to establish a culture of shared purpose and
continuous improvement.

5. VALUE Rubrics
•Created in 2007-2009 by teams of faculty and educational professionals from
over 100 higher education institutions
•Each rubric was developed from the most frequently identified characteristics or
criteria of learning
•One primary initial goal of the LEAP VALUE initiative was to contribute to the
national dialogue on assessment of college student learning
•More than 200 institutions are using the VALUE rubrics as part of their
assessment plans
•New Initiative: General Education Maps and Markers: Designing Meaningful
Pathways to Student Achievement

6. Interstate Passport- WICHE
 Overarching goal
• to eliminate unnecessary repetition of academic work after students transfer
 Ramifications are profound
• designed to improve graduation rates,
• shorten time to degree
• save students money. It can also
 strengthen existing articulation agreements and help institutions in continuous
improvement efforts
 new framework that is based on learning outcomes and transfer-level proficiency
criteria, rather than credits and courses.

8. SHEEO
MSC: A Multi-State Collaborative to Advance Learning Outcomes Assessment
Guiding Principles:
•Any system of assessment should help build and support a culture of student learning that allows for
assessment results to be used by each campus and by larger public systems for improving student learning
and for program improvement.
•Any statewide or campus plan for assessment should be based upon authentic student work and allow for
the use of multiple measures of student learning without a single mandated statewide test.
•A common framework is needed for any credible statewide system of assessment and accountability. The
AAC&U LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes and VALUE Rubrics designed to assess the Essential Learning
Outcomes are a useful framework given their broad adoption nationally….
•Assessment approaches should involve an iterative process, and, as such, be viewed as works in progress.
•Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional,
integrated, and revealed in performance over time.

9. SHEEO, AAC&U and 68 institutions in 10 states - Connecticut, Indiana,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah,
and Maine – collaborate to develop and pilot new approach to learning
outcomes assessment
Presents a model that is rooted in campus/system collaboration, in authentic
student work, and in faculty curriculum development and teaching activity.
SHEEO
MSC: A Multi-State Collaborative to Advance Learning Outcomes Assessment

10. State of Colorado and gtPathways
gtPathways courses
Student earned a C- or higher
Always transfer and the credit
Apply to gtPathways requirements in every Liberal Arts & Sciences bachelor’s
degree at every public Colorado institution
Depending on the bachelor’s degree, gtPathways course credit may also be
applied to major and elective requirements at the receiving institution’s
discretion.

11. Process for revising
November 2005 – gtPathways competencies were last revised
◦ It’s time to update
April 2014 – Written Communication and Mathematics faculty convened
to begin revising gtPathways content
◦ Focus on writing measurable learning outcomes CO1, CO2 & CO3, MA1
September 2014 – Broad group of Directors of Assessment met with
CDHE
◦ Decided that the competencies would be a better place to start
November 2014 – April 2015 – Select team of Directors of Assessment
revised gtPathways competencies aligned with
◦ AAC&U’s LEAP VALUE rubrics
◦ Interstate Passport-WICHE

12. Where are we heading?
CURRENT COMPETENCIES
Critical Thinking
Mathematics
Reading
Technology
Written Communication
REVISED COMPETENCIES
Critical Thinking
Creative Thinking
Problem Solving
Quantitative Literacy
Information Literacy
Civic Engagement
Global Learning
Oral Communication
Written Communication

13. Unpacking Quantitative Literacy
Students should be able to:
Interpretation
Explain information presented in mathematical forms (e.g., equations, graphs,
diagrams, tables, words)
Representation
Convert information into and between various mathematical forms (e.g., equations,
graphs, diagrams, tables, words)
Calculation
Solve problems or equations at the appropriate course level.
Use mathematical notation in all aspects of the solution of a typical problem at the
appropriate course level
Solve a variety of different problem types that involve a multi-step solution and be able
to consider the validity of the results

14. Unpacking Quantitative Literacy
Assumptions
Make and evaluate assumptions in estimation, modeling, and data analysis
Application and Analysis
Make use of graphical objects (such as graphs of equations in two or three variables,
histograms, scatterplots of bivariate data, geometrical figures, etc.) to supplement a solution to
a typical problem at the appropriate level.
Formulate, organize, and articulate solutions to theoretical and application problems at the
appropriate course level
Make judgments based on quantitative data using analysis appropriate to the course level
Draw inferences based on quantitative data using analysis appropriate to the course level
Communication
Expresses quantitative information symbolically, graphically, and in written language (may
include oral communication)

15. Need your help…
Civic Engagement
Creative Thinking
Global Learning

16. Focus on Learning Outcomes
BREAK OUT GROUPS
15-20 MINUTES
3 main groups
◦ Civic Engagement
◦ Creative Thinking
◦ Global Learning
Smaller groups of 3-5 within
BIG GROUP
10-15 MINUTES
Share feedback, questions
Volunteer to help at Fac2Fac?
Registered? Need to contact
Maia today!!!

17. Lisa Snyder
lmsnyder@fortlewis.edu
Shelly Ray Parsons
shelly.parsons@aims.edu