UW SOUL
UW Study of Undergraduate Learning
The University of Washington’s Study of Undergraduate Learning (UW SOUL) tracked 304 undergraduates through their UW experience in order to gather information that would help us improve teaching and learning. The study was designed to discover what undergraduates learned, how they learned fit, what obstacles or challenges they faced along the way, and how they assessed their own learning in six areas:
- Writing
- Problem solving/critical thinking
- Quantitative reasoning
- Understanding and appreciating diversity
- Information literacy
- General growth as learners
The UW SOUL used both quantitative and qualitative methods, which are available to others for their use by clicking the links below:
- FocusGroups on values conducted annually
- Interviews conducted upon entry and annually after that
- Open-ended email questions
- Portfolios of authentic work and students reflective essays about that work
- Quarterly survey about students’ courses and learning over time, as well as three diversity surveys administered in students’ first, sixth, and twelfth quarters at the UW
Inside the Undergraduate Experience (2007, Beyer, C.H., Gillmore, G.M., & Fisher, A.T. Jossey-Bass) describes the study’s methodology and findings. As Peter Ewell wrote about the book:
The portrait it paints of the current undergraduate is complex and richly nuanced, avoiding stereotypes and needless theorizing that mask the individual struggle of all students to make sense of what they see, hear, read, and do in college. That they rise to the occasion so often – albeit in distinctively different ways – is both moving and reassuring. These stories vividly recreate the “awe of collegiate learning.” They remind us all in the academy of why we do this stuff (p. xi).
