Semestermorphosis: Possibilities for Assessment and Learning

One recurring analogy to describe semester conversion for the University of Cincinnati (UC) follows a crisply electrical trajectory: In autumn 2012, we’ll “flip the switch” on semesters. But the semester-conversion project feels a lot messier than that, spread out through a longer and more painful process. Besides hoping that we’re not currently operating in darkness, we also want for the conversion to usher in some transformative changes in the ongoing business of classroom teaching and student learning. For such reasons, a more organic analogy seems the more apt one: metamorphosis.