The SLICCs Framework is among a growing body of self-directed and experiential learning models in post-secondary institutions, which have been linked to improving students' ability to become effective, self-regulated learners. The traditional course structure is removed in a SLICC, with the instructor providing desired learning outcomes in broad strokes, prescribing little in terms of what will be learned and even less on how it will be learned. In a SLICC, defining these aspects of the course is in fact the student’s responsibility. A student’s plan outlines their proposed learning experience and how they will complete it. Additionally, they must audit the skills they currently possess and those they would need to develop to achieve results. And finally, students determine how they will assess themselves as they complete their proposed learning experience. Therefore, SLICCs offer a flexible, personalized, student-centered approach to learning that empowers students to actively participate in the co-creation and evaluation of their learning.
In 2020, a LITE grant conducted an initial evaluation of how the SLICCs framework can be adopted at the University of Waterloo. Since then, interest in integrating the framework has continued to increase across campus. A Faculty Learning Community that met biweekly in 2021-2022 focused on best practices for teaching SLICCs. It attracted 20+ participants from 4 faculties and 3 academic support units. Emerging from the discussions of the faculty learning community was another LITE grant (2022-2023) that developed an Instructor’s Toolkit for designing and teaching SLICCs. To date, 545 students have enrolled in SLICCs taught regularly by 9 instructors from 4 faculties. Five new courses are currently in development.
Findings from the LITE grants and discussions of the faculty learning community indicate that SLICCs are valued by both instructors and students at UW. The next step would be to scale up and offer SLICCs more widely across campus. However, to achieve scalability we need to first, centralize expertise and effort and second, legitimate SLICCs as a form of course delivery that is both recognized and rewarded by the University. This project therefore aims to address the following questions:
- How can SLICCs be recognized as a legitimate form of course delivery at UWaterloo?
- What are the institutional barriers to offering SLICCs and to what extent can these be addressed to make SLICCs available to students across campus?
- Do SLICCs promote more student engagement and student accountability for learning?
- How might SLICCs be implemented to serve as a vehicle for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning?