Some background info for our review of the course

Credit Hours and Out of Class Time - In the old model that was in place, credits are given by "seat time" so our course is a 3-credit course because we are scheduled for 3 hours a week  (really for 160 minutes instead of 180 minutes because of the break between classes).  In that old model there was an implicit relation between out-of-class time and in-class time.  On average there should be 2 hours put in outside of class for every hour in the live class setting.  You can benchmark yourself by whether you were under, over, or approximately at that implicit standard.

National Survey of Student Engagement - This piece from twelve years ago was quite influential in defining "the problem" for much of undergraduate education in the U.S.  Note that this is not specific to the U of I.

What We're Learning About Student Engagement From NSSE: Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practices - Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning - Volume 35, Issue 2 via kwout

Note that the U of I participated in the NSSE and some reforms on campus, particularly a push in undergraduate research, were a consequence of that participation.  But we never shared the results of the surveys done on campus in a public venue.  I saw some of the early results (from about 10 years ago).  They showed the campus ranked pretty high on rigor and having a demanding curriculum.  (Though I wonder if Engineering students were over surveyed in that.)  But we ranked pretty low in student-instructor interaction.  I'm afraid that one reason the results were not made public is that they weren't "brag points" across the board.  We had some strengths but we also had some deficiencies.  I believe it is quite difficult on campus to discuss the deficiencies.

NSSE and the Disengagement Compact

From Today's Chronicle of Higher Education 

Here the argument isn't so much about the intensity of the teaching and learning but rather about the move away from traditional approaches which produce critical thinking, toward vocational approaches that produce narrow competence only.
The Gutting of Gen Ed

Campus 

Strategic Plan - Goals

Goals, Intitiatives & Metrics | Illinois Strategic Plan via kwout

Current Initiatives - Campus Conversation

Campus Conversation | Undergraduate Education | Office of the Provost, University of Illinois via kwout

What is your nature?

Quote Details: Eleanor Roosevelt: I think that somehow,... - The Quotations Page via kwout

Two Views about How Engagement Might Be Generated (from Psychology)

Learning is hard work - Carol Dweck Mindset

Learning comes from self-actualization (Maslow) or from finding flow (Csikszentmihalyi)