Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT)

 

Goals and Objectives from 6/00 AQUAD plan, with 1/03 additions.  Adjustments 11/07: Removed past target dates + minor changes mostly to reflect initiatives since 1/03 that are already happening.

 

Goals

 A.  To provide graduate students with an understanding of the processes of critical thinking and creativity, and with ways of helping others develop these processes in a variety of educational, professional, and social situations.

 

B.  To establish planning parameters that allow CCT faculty to determine the best use of their experience and energies and adjust operations to work within those parameters.

 

C.  To contribute to increased cross-program collaboration in the GCE.

 

D.  To contribute to increased collaboration with and contributions to other units within the University

 

E.  To undertake outreach beyond UMB that builds on the professional strengths of the part-time faculty and growing network of graduates, as well as the regular faculty.

 

F.  To support CCT faculty and students in research on and publication of their distinctive contributions to the fields of critical and creative thinking.

 

G.  To evaluate and continue developing the Program.

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Goal A.  To provide graduate students with an understanding of the processes of critical thinking and creativity, and with ways of helping others develop these processes in a variety of educational, professional, and social situations.

 

Objective A1.  Establish forms of evaluation of student process and outcomes that reflect the Program's educational philosophy.

a.  Document the achievement of this educational goal through a self-evaluation on the part of graduating students in which they take stock of i) ways they have translated what they have been learning into strategies, materials and interventions for use in their own settings, and ii) directions that need further development.

b.  Experiment with new, "authentic" evaluations for required CCT courses that provide more useful information about the course experience to the instructor, future students, and collegial reviewers, and allow current students to take stock of what they have learned about learning.   (See also objectives A3c & d concerning making changes in response to these and other course evaluations.)

c. Compile documentation, especially theses and syntheses, that displays the range of ways graduates have become "constructive, reflective agents of change in education, work, social movements, science, [or the] creative arts."

d. Communicate with lapsed students to learn ways the CCT Program could serve students better; do the same for graduates and current students.

e. Institute expectation that students assemble reflective practice portfolios throughout their studies, with periodic presentation to and review by pairs.

 

A2.  Attract and retain qualified and diverse students to reliable Program offerings.

a. Maintain new enrollments in CCT programs of study to an average of 12-15 matriculants per year, increasing the proportion of matriculants going on to graduate.  Increase this target only if faculty and staff support are available.

b.  Promote the new CAGS Concentration in Facilitating Reflective Practice made possible by a partnership with the Educational Administration program and recruit one-three students for each summer's cohort.

c.  Maintain a reliable roster of CCT courses allowing students to specialize in the four areas listed in the Program mission and the certificate foci of Creative Thinking at Work, Science in a Changing World, and Gifted and Talented Education.

d.  Maintain course enrollments that ensure that no more than one course per year is cancelled for lack of sufficient enrollment.

e.  Review and streamline the published course offerings so the Graduate Bulletin reflects closely what is available on a regular basis.

 (g.  See Objective A1d.)

h.  Maintain a system of advising current and prospective students that attends both to general issues about CCT studies and students' particular concerns.

i.  Make effective use of computers and other technologies to recruit and advise students.

j.  Maintain or increase the i) quality and ii) diversity of students admitted to and retained and graduated by the Program.

 

A3.  Develop and revise Program offerings in emerging areas of social relevance, faculty specialization, and use of educational technology.

a.  Develop and offer regularly courses that involve critical and creative thinking in the areas of i) science in the context of conceptual development and social change/ science, technology and values, including environmental studies;  ii) dialogue and collaboration in personal and organizational change (through Continuing Education courses), and iii) invention (seeded by a National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance grant).

b.  Establish foci for promotion of the certificate program, "Science in a Changing World, " and "Creative Thinking at Work," and ÒGifted and Talented EducationÓ to be offered in collaboration with Continuing Education and a CCT outreach unit (see E1 below).

c.  Review the Program requirements and content of required courses to complement and adjust new directions in CCT offerings.

d.  Review and revise the content of courses to keep them up to date with current scholarship and practice.

e.  Make educationally justified and sustainable choices about when and how to integrate computers and other technologies, including online and distance education, into the teaching of CCT courses and requirements for students.

 

B.  To establish planning parameters that allow CCT faculty to determine the best use of their experience and energies and adjust operations to work within those parameters.

 

B1.  Set or settle parameters for CCT's role in the GCE.

a.  Departmental and College endorsement of CCT's Mission (in relation to the GCE) and plans.

b.  Level of CCT course offerings

c.  Number of full-time lines with primary responsibility to CCT, and replacement when faculty are on leave.  (Having two full-time lines is particularly important for CCT's mission and for the full realization of this plan.)

d.  Expected student numbers in the CCT Program and courses

e.  Emphasis on the synthesis option, not the thesis, for the M.A. capstone

f.  Cross-college institutional arrangements to recognize the CLA/CSM faculty who work in CCT, secure continuing CLA/CSM contributions, and include those faculty in promotion and other reviews for CCT faculty in GCE

g.  Support for part-time faculty

h.  Administrative and budgetary support, to facilitate smooth day-to-day running of the Program and outreach to create conduits that bring in new students.

B2.  Achieve recognition of CCT's mission and the other planning parameters by other GCE Programs and Departments.

a.  Circulate the CCT Mission statement, with an appendix on the planning parameters once they are set/settled

b.  Invite GCE leaders and other faculty to briefings or forums on CCT

c.  Explore possibilities and make the case for institutional support at UMass Boston of CCT's mission outside the GCE.

B3.    Institute measures for recruitment, advising, and other administrative tasks (such as preparing for program reviews) that preserve time and attention for instructional needs and scholarship.

 

C.  To contribute to increased cross-program collaboration in the GCE.

 

 

C2.  Establish a forum for cooperation among the mid-career professional development-oriented MA programs, in particular, contributing ideas and referring students to each others' teacher-research and research preparation courses.

 

C3.  Play a significant role in a strong and distinctive GCE contribution to innovation in undergraduate and graduate math. and science education, a role that combines CCT's emphases on conceptual change in students and understanding science in its social context (see A3ai).

 

C4.  Contribute to the evolution of standard GCE course evaluations and streamlining of procedures for passing on the results in a form that faculty can use to develop their teaching (see A1b).

 

C5.  Promote CCT outreach efforts (see E below) through joint publicity and shared sponsorship where appropriate with other GCE centers and projects.

 

C6.    Contribute to the accreditation of the Professional Education Unit (PEU), centered in the GCE.

 

D.  To contribute to increased collaboration with and contributions to other units within the University

 

D1.  CCT faculty offer two presentations per year on teaching innovation through the Center for Improvement of Teaching and other fora.

 

D2.  CCT faculty members take an active role in supporting further development of the undergraduate Program in Science, Technology and Values, the Environmental Studies Program, and the interdisciplinary Honors Program.

 

D3.  Enlist faculty from within the University to teach CCT courses, advise students, and participate in other Program activities to replace faculty members previously teaching for CCT, but no longer doing so.

 

D4.    CCT faculty members take an active role in new developments in Environmental and Science Education at UMass Boston.

 

D5.    Collaborate in the projects and initiatives of other UMB centers and projects.

 

E.  To undertake outreach beyond UMB that builds on the professional strengths of the part-time faculty and growing network of graduates, as well as the regular faculty.

 

E1.  Prepare a prospectus for an outreach unit, detailing the planning premises, mission, integration of previous projects, governance and processes of evaluation and ongoing development, resources and funding plans, and integration with the CCT Program, GCE, Continuing Education, and the University.

 

E2.  Involve the outreach unit in the foci for the certificate program (see A3b).

 

E3.  Add at least one project or activity under the outreach unit each year that serves communities beyond UMass Boston.

 

E4.  Expand the network of CCT graduates involved in the unit each year.

 

E5. Make other contributions to teaching critical thinking about the life and environmental sciences.

 

E6.  Undertake one high profile public event per year as well as outreach and community service through other channels.

 

F.  To support CCT faculty and students in research on and publication of their distinctive contributions to the fields of critical and creative thinking.

 

F1.  Establish a website and wiki  of techniques and illustrative cases that CCT faculty members have developed in courses and other forums (see A2f & E5).

 

F2.  Prepare a prospectus for publication of a fieldbook of these techniques and cases.

 

F3.  Establish a process to identify students prepared to undertake thesis research, and establish advising relationships to support them in completing their theses.

 

F4.    Arrange discussions of the works in progress of individual CCT faculty members and draw wider attention to the resulting publications.

 

G.  To evaluate and continue developing the Program.

 

G1.  Constitute an advisory group, which would meet twice a year to give advice to both CCT and its outreach unit, help keep CCT faculty abreast of new developments, and monitor the support and resources CCT and the outreach unit provide each other.

 

G2.  Review and revise this planning document at the first meeting of the Advisory Group and then on an annual basis.

 

G3.  Arrange facilitated, participatory planning sessions so as to enhance the participation and investment of CCT faculty in the resulting plans.

 

G4.  Develop and begin to implement a strategic plan for increasing the social diversity of CCT students and for CCT courses to address the issues of increasing diversity.

 

G5.  Prepare a plan for establishing CCT as a place to train and support activists, concerned scientists, and other citizens in community-based research.

 

G6.  Use evaluations (see A1a&b) and feedback from lapsed students (see A1d) to revise and improve CCT courses and other operations; ditto for graduates and current students.

 

G7.  Arrange a survey of CCT graduates each AQUAD cycle to document ways their CCT experience has influenced their career development.