Update Report on UD’s Discovery Learning Experience (DLE) Requirement John Madsen Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee University Faculty Senate March 09, 2009

Brief History of DLE Requirement May 2004 Faculty Senate approved resolution requiring all undergraduate students entering in Fall ‘05 or later to take at least 3 credits of Discovery-Based or Experiential Learning (DLE). Discovery and experiential learning: When students use knowledge and skills acquired through traditional classroom experiences to discover, for themselves, effective actions, alternatives and solutions to situations and/or problems that occur in “real-life” contexts (e.g., an internship, a service learning course, an independent study, participation in the Undergraduate Research Program or a Study Abroad program).

Brief History of DLE Requirement Fall 2007 Undergraduate Studies Committee (UGS) began evaluation of proposed courses that would satisfy DLE. April 2008 Faculty Senate amended timetable, "DLE requirement waived for those students who entered UD in Academic Year “ Students starting in Fall ‘06 or later, not as new Freshmen, exempted if: - Completed at least 12 credits posted prior to Fall ‘06 on UD transcript - As transfer students earned at least 12 credits at another institution prior to Fall ‘06 and transferred credits to UD (no AP and IB credits)

UGS Evaluation of Proposed DLE courses The UGS Committee evaluated 142 courses submitted to satisfy DLE. 109 were approved. The UGS Committee evaluating 46 courses submitted to satisfy DLE. 25 approved. 21 may re-submit by 03/28/2009. List of Approved DLE courses:

Currently Approved DLE courses 148 courses distributed throughout 47 subject areas are currently approved as DLE courses 28 subject areas with NO approved DLE courses 6 of NO DLE subject areas have courses pending approval by UGS List of Approved DLE courses:

Summary of Evaluation Process UGS requires satisfying 4 key elements of DLE : 1)DLE must be supervised, with on-going faculty involvement and support. 2)In addition to reflective learning, students will be expected to produce at least one final product. 3) Expectations for student learning must be clearly established in the syllabi or communicated to the student in writing. 4) The DLE, particularly if it is integrated into a regular course, must be of sufficient depth and complexity to be worth the credits.

Data on Students Completing DLE Look at Data from Spring ’09 and Fall ‘08 Compiled by Al Fanjoy with input from Martha Carothers From Fall ‘06 to present 8,728 students have completed a DLE

Data on Students Meeting DLE Fall ‘08 Data – Juniors (completed credits) Total number of students classified as Juniors – 3,500 (NOTE: A “Normal” Junior would have matriculated Fall ’06 and need DLE)

Data on Students Meeting DLE Fall ‘08 Data – Seniors (90 or greater credits) Total number of students classified as seniors – 4,226

DLE Status of Each Current Student? Not a simple matter to view or extract from UDSIS students meeting/still needing DLE List has been furnished to each Assistant and Associate Dean indicating for each junior/senior in their College : 1)Student’s Major 2)Did they start before DLE (Fall ‘06)? 3)Do they have an exemption? 4)Do they still need to satisfy DLE? 5)Courses taken during academic terms toward completion of requirement

Next Steps UGS continuing evaluation process of submitted DLE courses Work with Advisors, Department Chairs, Deans on Independent Studies and DLE Strongly “encourage” subject areas that do not yet have a DLE course to design/submit/offer Advisement! Myriad of opportunities to satisfy DLE e.g., internships, senior thesis, research experiences, service learning, supervised independent study, ~42% of UD undergrads. will Study Abroad Continue work on process to track student data on completion of DLE