RE: Assessment

The College of DuPage

Student Outcomes Assessment Newsletter

Volume 4 Number 2 Winter Quarter, 2001

Multi-section Assessment

In order to facilitate multi-section assessment in disciplines that have not yet begun to do so, or in those making major adjustments to their multi-section assessment, the College of DuPage will support, with overload compensation and as a pilot project, one faculty member representing a discipline, or area within a division, to serve as liaison between the Student Outcomes Assessment Committee and the discipline or group to develop, assess, evaluate, and report on multi-section assessment. Faculty projects would involve the preparatory work in researching and coordinating proposed assessments as well as evaluation and reporting on assessment activities. Specific responsibilities are outlined below and will begin Spring Quarter 2001 with appropriate Dean and/or Associate Dean approval. A more detailed memo on applying to participate will be sent via e-mail.

Overload compensation prior to gathering assessment data: (up to 3 hours overload)

• Research relevant literature on multi-section assessment and best practices within the faculty member’s discipline
• Develop 2 or 3 options of appropriate assessments to present to entire faculty in discipline
• Serve as liaison to determine which assessments faculty would like to use and any modifications they deem useful
• Serve as liaison to implement the assessment and collect the data as it is gathered

Overload compensation following collection of assessment data: (up to 2 hours overload)

· Evaluate data from assessment

· Present to discipline and facilitate discussion on how to make use of this data to improve instruction within the discipline through specific action plans

· Write report to SOAC describing results

Student Outcomes Assessment Committee:

· Publish results on the web-site

· Distribute analyses to academic administrators for use in planning

· Support faculty assessment projects

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: What should multi-section assessments accomplish?

A: Like general education assessments and CAT’s, multi-section assessments are designed to provide information about student learning. In this type of measurement, faculty members within the discipline make decisions about what they consider important. They address the skills they believe students completing the course should possess and measure whether or not the students actually demonstrate the identified skills and knowledge. Faculty might also discuss the types of methodologies they could use to successfully produce the desired outcomes. Following assessments, discipline faculty design specific action plans to make use of the data gathered.

Q: When should we begin or reevaluate current assessments?

A: Certainly any time faculty members see a need to reevaluate specific programs this process should be a component. Additionally, the period following Program Review seems a logical time to begin or reevaluate multi-section assessments. This would allow faculty a way to help provide improvement in areas not studied or follow-up in areas identified as opportunities for improvement. Following a revision of the multi-section assessments, an annual summary should be filed with the discipline and SOAC.

CAT Bytes

COD faculty comments on what they are learning about learning

· Students need specific illustrations to clarify abstract concepts.

· Students are happy to give their opinions and be involved in their learning process.

· Students have been able to relate course content and subject to their individual lives and make a connection.

Assessment in Action: Philosophy & Religious Studies

Kent Richter reports the results of faculty efforts to construct a useful outcomes measure for Introduction to Philosophy. From the Active Course files, the faculty decided to try to demonstrate growth in students’ competency in knowledge of philosophy, critical thinking, and argumentative writing. The first effort consisted of a pretest/posttest format in which students were asked to write a brief paragraph about some philosophical idea.

As with many pilot programs, this was found to have some inadequacies. The primary problem was insufficient time and lack of student motivation to complete the carefully thought out essay necessary to provide useful information for the faculty. Therefore, changes were agreed upon. The current assessment consists of a precourse/postcourse self-assessment form consisting of three questions. Students are asked to mark their own status on a scale of one to ten regarding “Knowledge of Philosophy,” “Critical Thinking Abilities,” and “Interest and Enthusiasm for Philosophy.” This method allows faculty to have an easily quantifiable measurement of outcomes they consider important. Faculty members are currently considering the implication of the results from these self-assessments.