A WORKSHOP LED BY THE ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

FEBRUARY 16 , 2011

Assessment at Newberry College

WHAT IS YOUR PROGRAM DOING WELL?

WHERE WERE WE SIX MONTHS AGO?

WHAT WAS THE PERCEPTION ABOUT ASSESSMENT IN THE PAST?

Reflection on Progress

How we’ve changed

FearConfusionEmphasis on judgmentTop downJumping through

“hoops”Isolated faculty workResting on laurelsStagnant Floundering Following out-of-date

guidelines

New-found optimismSense of directionCulture of improvementFaculty ledFocus on student

learningFaculty interconnectedWelcoming growthDynamic Moving forward

incrementallyIn step with SACS

Cycle of Assessment

FormsFo

rm A

Mission

PLOsFo

rm B

Assessmen

t plan

Schedule for plan

Form

C

Instruments

Data

Form

D

ReflectionRevisionLooking forward

Form C

Academic Assessment Form C: Data Collection

COVER PAGE Academic Program: Academic

Year: Submitted by:

Directions for completing Form C are available in the Newberry College Assessment Manual.

PLO Assessment Instrument(s)

Assessment Instrument(s)

Attached? Yes/No

Data Attached?

Yes/No

1

2

An Example

Academic Assessment Form C: Data Collection

COVER PAGE

Academic Program:

Business Economics (University of Cinncinnati)

Academic Year:

2010-2011

Submitted by: Phillip Way

Directions for completing Form C are available in the Newberry College Assessment Manual.

PLO Assessment Instrument(s)

Assessment Instrument(s)

Attached? Yes/No

Data Attached?

Yes/No

1

Use mathematical methods to represent economic concepts and analyze economic issues

ECO 215 Project Rubric Yes Yes

Surveys Yes Yes

Focus Groups No Yes

2 To express economic ideas succinctly and professionally in writing

Capstone Project Rubric Yes Yes

Surveys Yes Yes

Form D: Data Analysis and Reflection

Academic Assessment Form D: Data Analysis and Reflection

Academic Program: Academic Year: Submitted by:

Directions for completing Form D are available in the Newberry College Assessment Manual.

Program Learning Outcome #__1_: Use mathematical methods to represent economic concepts and analyze economic issues

Data Criteria

Do your data show that the targeted

students (stakeholders) met

your criteria you set? Y/N

For each data set, reflect on why students did or did not meet the set criteria. Were the criteria appropriate? Were there intervening factors?

Set 1 (Required)

Set 2 (Required)

Further Data

An Example

Academic Program:

Business Economics (University of Cinncinnati)

Academic Year: 2010-2011 Submitted by: Phillip Way

Directions for completing Form D are available in the Newberry College Assessment Manual.

Program Learning Outcome #__1_: Use mathematical methods to represent economic concepts and analyze economic issues

Data Criteria

Do your data show that the targeted

students (stakeholders) met

your criteria you set? Y/N

For each data set, reflect on why students did or did not meet the set criteria. Were the criteria appropriate? Were there intervening factors?

Set 1 (Required)

80% of students will earn 4/5 or better on the Rubric element “students properly represent economic concepts in their analysis”

No

65% of the students met this objective. The criteria are appropriate. Combined with set two below, it appears student’s opinion of their learning is higher than performance. Students need more feedback (formative and summative) before beginning this project. A smaller project will be introduced in ECON XXX next year with the same Rubric to give this feedback

Set 2 (Required)

85% of students will self-report a 4 or 5 on the statement “I feel confident using mathematical models to represent economic concepts”

Yes- 92% responded with a 4 or 5; 75% responded with a 5

The criteria are appropriate. Students assess their learning of mathematical models higher than direct measures indicate. See reflection on Set 1 above.

Further Data Focus Group-No Criteria N/A Amount of math varies among classes. Maybe calculus should be required

CACP COMPLETIONFINAL CLASS GRADES

PASSING A CLASSEXAM GRADES

GRADUATE SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE RATES

Problem Instruments

So How Do We Use What We Have?

Most of the tools we currently use to assign a grade require students to demonstrate multiple outcomes.

We need to Mine the Gold!

What about exams/content knowledge?

Is the exam a true measure of the outcomes presented?

Is the exam in a reasonable format considering the pedagogy of content delivery?

Is it possible to disaggregate the exam to get information on each outcome?

IF YOU HAD TO TURN IN FORM C TODAY, WHAT DATA WOULD YOU GATHER? HOW?

DO YOU NOTICE ANY PROBLEMS? OBSTACLES?

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE AB OUT YOUR PLAN TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR

DATA?

How Can You Improve Your Instruments?

The Cycle of Improvement: What can we improve?

The outcome Was it easy to measure student learning? Is it possible to increase the level of learning?

The assessment instrument Did your tool give you the data you need? Would your program benefit from a different exam

question, rubric, or survey? The assignment

Were the students unable to demonstrate learning because they didn’t understand what was expected of them?

The presentation Is there a different way to present the material? Is there technology available to help you?

Planning For Form D

To complete Form D together, what do you need? Your department’s forms A-C so that your peers can be

reminded of the big picture Data from each faculty member Enough time to discuss the plan in depth, including past

results, plans for assessing new PLOs, and possible changes to your assessment plan

To think ahead so that the entire department is included in the process and is contributing to the overall design and success of your department’s plan (Remember—this isn’t supposed to be a one-person show.)

Designing Instruction

1. What do you want the student to know and be able to do? (Outcome)

2. What does the student need to experience in order to achieve outcomes? (Curriculum)

3. What activities will facilitate the learning? (Pedagogy)

4. How will the student demonstrate the learning? (Assessment)

5. How will I know the student has achieved outcomes? (Criteria)

6. What information do I look at to plan next steps? (Data)

What do you wish you could use, do, or achieve in your program?

How can you get your colleagues to engage in this process?

Key Principles to Remember

Assessment isn’t about “good versus bad” teaching. It assumes great teachers are always striving to improve, and organizes the work.

The cycle of assessment isn’t complete until your department discusses and responds to the results.

The goal of assessment is not to “finish” it but to take what you learn in a cycle, adjust your teaching to reflect that learning, and then assess results to see whether the new methods worked.

Assessment is always going to be incremental, dialectical, and iterative. You won’t get it “right” the first time, and nobody expects you to.

If we don’t approach assessment with a desire to improve, it will never transcend busy work.

What do you need?

What can the Academic Assessment Committee (AAC) provide which will make your job easier?

What is confusing about our current assessment process? The Assessment Manual?

THANK YOU!!!

Program Assessment Coordinators are the heart of our assessment process. Thank you for your dedication toward increasing student learning.

Your assessment coaches will follow up with you over the next couple of weeks. If you have questions before then, contact us!