QEP Executive Summary

QEP Executive Summary

The Pfeiffer University Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Engaging Students to Think Critically, is a composite of both engaged learning and critical thinking.

Engaged learning involves student engagement in the learning process, with their object of study, with other disciplines and in the world around them. Likewise, critical thinking involves an intellectually disciplined process of active and skillful application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information gathered through observation, experiences, reflection, reasoning, or communication (all of which are activities of engaged learning). The QEP is designed such that each dimension of engaged learning can serve an additional goal, that of enhancing the critical thinking skills of students. Therefore, the overall goal of the QEP is to enhance student learning in the area of critical thinking through increased engagement across the curriculum.

The selected QEP topic reflects the views of the university's four primary constituency groups (students, faculty, staff and alumni) and supports Pfeiffer's mission and strong commitment to educational excellence, service and scholarship. The institutional data on academic performance also shows that critical thinking remains an area in need of considerable improvement.

The implementation of the QEP will include an increased focus on critical thinking throughout the general education and discipline specific undergraduate curriculum. The implementation process will include five phases.

The Information phase (2011-2012) focuses on helping each of the university constituencies better understand the overall goals and nature of the QEP.

The Innovation year will begin the incremental training of a select group of ten faculty members in the pedagogy of engaged learning and critical thinking. However, within five years we will increase faculty participation such that all faculty will begin to incorporate the critical thinking student learning outcomes into their classes and become fluent in the use of individual rubrics for developing and evaluating course assignments and student learning.

The Implementation phase (2013-2015) involves an overall increase in activities and courses across the university, including spreading the focus of the QEP to include the Graduate and Adult Studies programs in Charlotte and the Research Triangle campuses. The plan includes a goal of increasing the number of courses which intentionally promote critical thinking to 80 percent by the end of year five.

In year four, the Institutionalization year, the notion of engagement and critical thinking will permeate the university's work, creating an institutionalization of the concepts.

Finally, in year five, while on-going assessment has occurred, the overall impact of the QEP will be determined.

In addition to the faculty development and changes within individual courses, the QEP encourages faculty and students to participate in ongoing forums, such as the annual Spring Academic Showcase, for sharing and reflecting on the products of their critical and creative thinking.

As a result of the QEP we will see a measureable increase in the students' critical thinking skills, including the student's ability to:

• Effectively evaluate information;
• Use human creativity to help solve problems;
• Use problem-solving techniques recognized by various disciplines; and
• Communicate the process and content of learning effectively.

These learning outcomes will be assessed using The Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT), the critical thinking skills portion of the ETS Proficiency Profile, selected items from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and individual rubrics specifically designed to assess student learning outcomes on individual projects and assignments.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the QEP?

The Pfeiffer University Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Engaging Students to Think Critically, is a composite of both engaged learning and critical thinking.

The overall goal of the QEP is to enhance student learning in the area of critical thinking through increased engagement across the curriculum.

How will the QEP affect Pfeiffer?

• Enhanced student learning
• Increase in critical thinking skills among students
• Increased engagement in courses
• Innovation in pedagogical strategies
• Collaboration between faculty and students within and outside of the classroom

What is expected of students?

• Students will also become more self-reflective in terms of their thinking and attention to the QEP related student learning outcomes.
• Students will play a crucial role in encouraging/demonstrating to  other students the benefits of engagement and critical thinking.
• Students will take the lead in independent research.

What is expected of faculty?

• Participate in training and faculty development
• Train other faculty members
• Learn to interpret and evaluate the CAT (Critical  Thinking Assessment Test)
• Incorporate the rubrics into their courses to better assess which assignments include engaged learning and foster critical thinking
• Be reflective about current pedagogy
• Be intentional about revising current courses and/or introducing new curriculum which better supports the QEP.

What is SACS?

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. The Commission's mission is the enhancement of educational quality throughout the region and it strives to improve the effectiveness of institutions by ensuring that institutions meet standards established by the higher education community that address the needs of society and students. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and other international sites approved by the Commission on Colleges that award associate, baccalaureate, master's or doctoral degrees. The Commission also accepts applications from other international institutions of higher education.

Learn more about SACS.

What are the SACS requirements for the QEP?

A general description of reaffirmation process and the role of the Quality Enhancement Plan can be found at http://www.sacscoc.org/genaccproc.asp.

Assessment Plan

The assessment of the student learning outcomes for the QEP will be accomplished by a combination of one nationally-known assessment instrument for critical thinking, several questions from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), the critical thinking subscale of the ETS Proficiency Profile and individual rubrics designed to assess both faculty-made assignments and student work samples.

National Assessment Instruments

The Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) published by Tennessee Technological University was chosen as our primary external assessment instrument. According to information from Tennessee Tech, the CAT is “a unique tool designed to assess and promote the improvement of critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills.” The instrument was designed with the assistance of the National Science Foundation; that factor also influenced the decision to use this tool for assessment purposes.  

The choice of the CAT as the primary external assessment instrument for critical thinking has implications for budgets and faculty/staff resources.  The test will be scored by members of the Pfeiffer community, primarily faculty members, and this will require the assessors to receiving training in scoring the test.  This feature is an important link in the “closing the loop” process and can be seen in the following graphic.

The figure below shows how the CAT is designed to address the major elements of Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Skills (1956).

ETS Proficiency Profile

Pfeiffer has for years used the Measure of Academic Proficiency and Progress (MAPP) as an instrument during senior exit testing, and although this instrument has now changed to the ETS Proficiency Profile, Pfeiffer seniors still take it.  One of the subscales of the Profile is critical thinking and in addition to the CAT, these subscale scores will continue to be monitored for changes once the QEP has been implemented.

The National Survey of Student Engagement

Pfeiffer has participated in the NSSE for many years and thus, unlike the CAT, a good bit of baseline data has been gathered.  A number of questions from the NSSE specifically address student engagement in academic life and these questions will be monitored in order to uncover any improvements in the degree of engagement of students with academics. (See Table 2 above for list of specific topics of relevance.)

Internal Measures and Rubrics

The institution's faculty and students will have access to two generalized rubrics that provide descriptors of the elements that lead to critical thinking and engagement. For faculty, a rubric has been drafted that describes what an engaging assignment includes. The elements include the criteria of level of student engagement, reflective practice, the level of cognitive ability, the level of affective ability, and the level of student-directedness. Descriptors for meeting the standard, exceeding the standard, and not meeting the standard are provided. Faculty assignments that are purported to engage students and drive critical thinking, to be included in the exploratory projects and eventual full implementation of QEP, will be reviewed by the QEP director for appropriate level of standard. For student work samples, a rubric has been drafted that provides criteria and standards for the results of student effort. Again, the descriptors provide examples of the levels of work that meet standard, exceed standard, or do not meet standard. Faculty will use this generalized rubric as is, or derivations of it in primary trait analysis scales, to share with students prior to and following the assignments. Over time, as the rubrics are used again and again, students and faculty will both naturally internalize the contents of the rubrics to help focus on engagement that leads to improved critical thinking.

The assignment rubric will be used to judge the quality of the faculty assignment while the critical thinking rubric will be used to provide feedback about individual student work. These rubrics will be made available to faculty members and they will be trained on their use by the Director of the QEP.

Summary of Assessment Plan

At the conclusion of each academic year, the collection of data points will be reviewed by the QEP director, the Office of Institutional Research, and the deans, to determine what progress has been made and to determine what faculty development in terms of assignment construction and course delivery might be appropriate. The Office of Institutional Research, which has responsibility for the administration of all external measures, will review data to ensure that response rates are appropriate for each instrument and that the method of administration provides the best response rates. The external data will be aggregated for inclusion in the annual institutional fact book and will be dis-aggregated to provide each faculty individual and each program collectively with a perspective of student progress and opinion. Collectively, faculty will review these data to determine appropriate changes to curriculum and delivery.

Selection Process Timeline

Implementation Process Timeline