In fall 2020, Florida Atlantic University embarked on the selection of the second topic for our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). In 2011, Undergraduate Research and Inquiry was selected as our first QEP topic. This had a major transformative effect on undergraduate education at this institution and paved the way for the 2021 selection of Education Reimagined: Engaging Students through Peer-Assisted Learning.

The Southern Associations of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), requires that an institution’s QEP focus on specific student learning outcomes and/or student success. The plan must enhance “student knowledge, skills, behaviors, and/or values. Student success is also defined broadly as improvements in key student outcomes such as student retention, completion, time-to-degree, placement in the field, or performance in ‘gatekeeper’ courses.” The topic must derive from a comprehensive and ongoing planning process, and it must have the firm backing of university constituencies. Finally, the institution must invest ongoing resources – financial, personnel, or other resources – to ensure that established plan goals are realized.

PILOT

Currently, the LA Program is thriving on the Boca Raton Campus in four mathematics courses (Introduction to Calculus, Precalculus Algebra & Trigonometry, Calculus I with Analytic Geometry, and Calculus II with Analytic Geometry), one chemistry course (General Chemistry II), and two music courses (Music of Western Civilization II and III). To support these courses this spring 2023, 56 undergraduate students have been hired as Learning Assistants (LAs).

In September 2022, a call for proposals was released to faculty/instructors from across the university community who were interested in redesigning a course with the Learning Assistant (LA) Model as part of a small pilot program for the new QEP, Education Reimagined. Thirty proposals were received from instructors covering 28 unique courses in 8 colleges, 18 departments, 3 campuses, and a variety of teaching modalities.

Faculty selected for this pilot will participate in a semester-long LA Faculty Learning Community (Spring 2023) in which they will work to redesign their course to include collaborative learning and the Learning Assistant (LA) Model. These courses will then be taught in fall 2023 with undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) embedded within the course*. The QEP leadership team met with each faculty member to learn more about their particular course and ideas. Information was then shared with the course selection committee members, who provided suggestions as to which courses might be poised to make a significant impact on student learning and student success outcomes.  

Congratulations to the following courses/faculty that have been selected for the QEP pilot:

As part of our continued expansion of LA activities in Calculus, two Honors College mathematics faculty (Drs. Terje Hill and Jason Hedetniemi) will be working to redesign the Honors College Calculus I course with LAs and Drs. Papiya Bhattacharjee and Kevin Drees will be working to redesign an asynchronous online section of Calculus I with LAs.

As we approach the Spring 2024 onsite visit for the Quality Enhancement Plan from SACSCOC, we are preparing for full implementation of Education Reimagined. This includes an annual call for proposals beginning in fall 2023 as we invite more faculty to consider redesigning their courses with the LA model. For more information, visit www.fau.edu/qep or email qep@fau.edu.