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Assessment Measures & Assessment Plans Friday, April 8, 2011
2:00-4:00 pm Legacy Room
Assessment Subcommittee
Special thanks to Patricia and CAESE!
Time to Celebrate!!
- Everyone on the Assessment Subcommittee
appreciates your work to help revise our assessment process! Thank you!
- Your dedication and hard work have been very
important in our efforts.
- The changes that you’ve made have helped to
situate UWSP as a progressive example.
- We expect the Higher Learning Commission to
be very impressed with your revisions.
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Setting the Context
- Assessment Reports (AR) will resume next fall
according to updated reporting cycle.
- For Spring 2011, you will submit new drafts of
your Assessment Plan.
– What’s the difference?
Assessment Plans (Spring 2011)
- 1. Mission/Vision/Values
- 2. Program Learning Outcomes
- 3. Alignment with National/External Standards
(if applicable)
- 4. Curriculum Map
- 5. Assessment Measures
- 6. Assessment Cycle / Timeline
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Today’s Workshop
- First, we will begin by providing a brief
- verview of various types of Assessment
Measures.
- Next, you will identify Assessment Measures for
a couple of Program Learning Outcomes in your program and walk through the Assessment Cycle / Timeline for each.
- Finally, we will finish by thinking about your
Assessment Plans as a whole.
Resources at the Tables
- Updated reporting cycle for Assessment
Reports (AR) and Department Review Self- Studies (DR)
- Various types of Assessment Measures (various
handouts)
- Examples of Assessment Plans (various)
- Sample worksheets to help walk you through
the planning process (various)
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Assessment Measures
- Assessment Measures are sometimes called:
– Methods – Techniques – Strategies
- Can also be a fancy term for an assignment or
test or exam.
– Direct vs. Indirect – Embedded vs. Not Embedded
Direct Measures
- When we evaluate student work itself
– Student-created artifacts – Student-selected responses – Student-produced performances
- Includes demonstrations of knowledge, skill, or
values/dispositions
- Sometimes called “Performance Tasks” or
“Authentic Assessment” or “Student Performances”
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Direct Measures: Examples
- Selected Responses: standardized tests; multiple
choice exams; subject-specific certification tests
- Written Responses: directed responses; open-
ended essay responses; essay exams; term papers; lab reports; research papers
- Projects & Performances: oral presentations;
poster presentations; lab demonstrations; individual or group portfolio; creative performances (music, singing, art, drama, dance)
Indirect Measures
- Usually refers to some kind of report about the
student’s learning experience
- Includes “satisfaction surveys” but also includes
fairly sophisticated responses by students:
– Open-ended, mid-semester student feedback – Opportunities for reflection, synthesis of learning – Structured feedback (SGID) – Periodic (muddiest point, exit question) – Annual (survey of graduating seniors, alumni, employers, or interviewing internship supervisors)
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Indirect Measures (cont)
- Indirect Measures are valuable because they
target another aspect of student achievement
– How students are processing their own experiences – How supervisors are interacting with students
- By itself Indirect Measures are not a reliable
measure of student achievement, but …
– But it helps us as educators to “triangulate” on a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not working
Embedded in Course
– When Assessment Measures occur within the context of a credit-bearing course or educational experience (e.g., labs, internships)
– Sometimes called “classroom-based” or “continuous”
– Direct Measures that are Embedded:
– Essays, exams, tests, lab reports, oral presentations
– Indirect Measures that are Embedded:
– Mid-term feedback, muddiest point, SGID, student reflections
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Not Embedded in Course
– Student work that goes beyond the context of the course
– Occurs outside the normal activities of the course
– Direct Measures that are Not Embedded:
– Presentations at conferences/symposia, standardized certification exams, publications
– Indirect Measures that are Not Embedded:
– Senior Exit Survey, Alumni Survey, Employer Survey, Internship Supervisor Interview
Embedded in Course Not Embedded in Course Direct Measures Exams, Essays, Tests Lab Reports Research Papers External/National Standardized tests Certification exams Student Portfolios Indirect Measures Mid-term feedback SGID Muddiest Point Student reflections Senior Exit Survey Alumni Survey Employer Survey Internship Supervisor Interview
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Q: What forms of assessment do you already use in your program?
- Note: it is not required to have something in
each quadrant
- However, once you fill in the boxes, you might
notice some areas that would be useful to find
- ut more information… which could lead to:
Q: What forms of assessment might be valuable to develop? Questions?
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Group Work Session #1
Select a blank template (or devise one of your own) Select a Program Learning Outcome (PLO) Identify what learning experiences / opportunities students have to achieve the PLO (consult with Curriculum Map?) Identify Assessment Measures for this PLO Develop the details of the Assessment Cycle / Timeline for this PLO
- Share your PLO Assessment Plan with others at
your table
- Tables report back to the larger group with: key
themes, insights, worries, questions
TAKE A BREAK!!
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Group Work Session #2
Select a blank template (or devise one of your own) Select another Program Learning Outcome (PLO) Identify what learning experiences / opportunities students have to achieve the PLO (consult with Curriculum Map?) Identify Assessment Measures for this PLO Develop the details of the Assessment Cycle / Timeline for this PLO
- Tables report back to the larger group with: key
themes, insights, worries, questions
Putting It All Together – 1
What is the cycle for collecting assessment results for other PLOs? What will be collected? When will it be collected? Which PLOs can/should be assessed each year? Every-other year?
Note: It is not required to collect assessment information for each PLO, each semester, each year, and in each class. What, when, and how to collect assessment information is to be determined by you and your colleagues.
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Putting It All Together – 2
Who is responsible for collecting assessment information in your program? Are individual instructors responsible for establishing performance criteria and reporting assessment information from their own courses?
Note: Would it be useful in your program to “extract” student work from the context of classes to be evaluated outside of the course in a shared way? (i.e., shared evaluation of lab reports, research papers, senior portfolios, etc.) If this would be valuable to your program, then what processes would be required to develop a meaningful system of shared assessment? Will you eventually need to develop a common rubric?
Putting It All Together – 3
What process(es) will you use to make sense of your assessment results? How will you and your colleagues use this assessment information to make changes and improve your program?
Note: Assessment efforts are meaningful and worthwhile if you get a better sense of what students are (or are not) learning, and how you might make changes to improve your program.
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Putting It All Together – 4
What about your approach to assessment is working? What isn’t working? Are you collecting information that is (or is not) helping you to make improvements? Will you and your colleagues need to develop any new ideas or assessment methods? Do you need new skills, abilities, or techniques? What types of professional development would be beneficial to assist you and your colleagues?
Note: The Assessment Subcommittee welcomes feedback about how to support you and your colleagues as you engage in this on-going assessment effort. What can we do to help?
