Exploring Evidence-Based Outcomes Through Self Reflection on Teaching Experiences

1. Exploring Evidence-Based Outcomes Through Self Reflection on Teaching Experiences

2. Presenters Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin Executive Vice President Educational Services Brookdale Community College mmcmenamin@brookdalecc.edu Maris A. Lown Dean Science & Health Science mlown@brookdalecc.edu Avis McMillon Manager Public Relations Chair of Governance amcmillon@brookdalecc.edu

3. Brookdale Community College • Dr. Peter F. Burnham, President • The County College of Monmouth • Located along the Jersey Shore • Collective bargaining environment • Two-campus system • >15,000 Credit students • 260 Full-time faculty

4. Governance Structure • Governance Forum • Steering Committee • Standing Committees • Permanent College-wide Committees • Governance Gazette

5. Governance Authority • Governance does not make final decisions • Aids in policy formulation & dissemination • Recommends policies to President • Board of Trustees approves policies

6. Steering Committee • Leadership body of governance system • Chair elected from among the constituent groups (administration, faculty, staff) • Monitors committee membership • Develops agenda for Forum meetings

7. Steering Committee, cont. • Develops charges for standing committees • Routes issues to appropriate committees • Manages a year round agenda/meetings • Conducts year end retreat

8. Voting Constituencies • Full-time faculty • Full-time and part-time staff • Full-time and part-time administrators • 14 students who serve on standing committees

9. Standing Committees • Academic Council • Functions as the College curriculum committee • Initiates/revises programs and courses • Academic Standards • Addresses College wide academic regulations

10. Standing Committees, cont. • Institutional Planning & Effectiveness • Assesses strategic planning process • Guides formulation of strategic planning Matrix • Monitors Major Indicators of Institutional Effectiveness

11. Standing Committees, cont. • Professional Development • Guides College-wide PD initiatives • Coordinates new employee orientation with HR • Student Development • Addresses student behavior issues • Addresses student extra-curricular concerns

12. Standing Committees, cont. • College Life • Addresses campus environment • Addresses non-academic services • Diversity Council • Advises on strategies to foster an open, diverse, & inclusive environment • Plans & implements programs to achieve College-wide commitment to diversity

13. Reflective Practice • Evaluation of experiences, beliefs and knowledge • Data used in conjunction with reflection to develop and verify insights • Practitioner understands and appreciates self within the context of learning • Reflection used to improve practice

14. Reflective Practice • Pre-reflective – knowledge is certain • Quasi reflective – knowledge is uncertain but personal and interpreted by individuals • Reflective – knowledge is constructed from inquiry leading to evidence based reasonable solutions

15. Reflective Practice in Governance • Creates time and space for inquiry • Inculcates a culture of using research and information • Educates faculty and staff regarding the larger issues through committee charg. • Encourages faculty and staff to apply the research and information from governance to parochial issue

16. Reflective Practice in Governance • General education courses • Grading system • Credit to contact hour ratios

17. Governance & Assessment • Middle States Mandate • Governance formed ad hoc committee to develop College Core Competencies • Link with Program & Course Learning Outcomes • Link with General Education • Institutionalize Assessment

18. Core Competency Committee • Formed as ad hoc Governance Committee • Developed the Core Competencies

19. Academic Council • Incorporated Student Learning Outcomes into course syllabi • Implemented three levels of Student Learning Outcomes • Core Competencies • Program Learning Outcomes • Course Learning Outcomes

20. General Education Committee • Linked Gen Ed requirements to Core Competencies • Created rubrics for assessment of these competencies

21. Institutional Planning & Effectiveness • Reviewed and revised Major Indicators of Institutional Effectiveness • Created a dashboard of critical indicators • Led college-wide planning & assessment efforts through Matrix development

22. Academic Leadership • Student Learning Outcomes Plan • Initiated by Academic Dean • Developed by Division Chairs • Results • Initial resistance from everyone • Streamlined process • Increased acceptance • Improved quality of the outcomes

23. Assessment Buddies • Fostered faculty buy-in • In-serviced on how to write SLOs • Taught how to set up assessment projects

24. Educational Services Master Plan • Developed collegially • Includes an entire Chapter devoted to supporting assessment of SLO

25. Forum Presentations • Committee reports • Assessment Buddies reports • SLOP dissemination by Chairs • Assessment project presentations • ESMP/FMP/ITSP/Matrix presentations

26. Reflective Practice in Governance & Assessment • Reflection before action • Reflection in action • Reflection after action

27. Reflective Practice in Governance & Assessment • The Buddies • SLOs • The SLOP

28. Levels of Student Learning Outcomes Core Competencies Program Learning Outcomes Course Learning Outcomes

29. Examples of Student Learning Outcomes Core Competency: Communication PLO: Communicate the Economic Events in the form of General Purpose Financial Statements including Income Statements, Net Earnings Statements, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements CLO: Analyze, measure and communicate the business transactions of a business entity to decision makers

30. Curriculum Maps • Core Competency by Program • Core Competency by Course • Program Learning Outcome by Course

31. Foundation Assessment Questions Level 1: What do you want the students to learn? Level 2: What tools are you using to assess achievement of learning outcomes? Level 3: What data have you gathered regarding achievement of learning outcomes? Level 4: What changeshave you made to your instruction/curriculum based on assessment data? Level 5: What evidence do you have that changes you made improved student learning?

32. Core Competency Data Sources • Graduate Surveys • Employer Surveys • Advisory Committee Surveys • Threaded assessment of CCs in the Career and General Education Courses

33. PLO Data Sources • Employer Surveys • Advisory Committee Surveys • Student Program Evaluations • Threaded assessment through CLO • Assessment tools in capstone courses • Embedded questions in comprehensive examinations

34. CLO Data Sources • Internally developed rubrics • Link instructional strategies to CLOs • Thread assessment though CCC & PLO assessments • “Blueprint” exams to reflect CLOs • Standardize exams across the department

35. Artifacts • Course Products • Exam blueprints • Rubrics • Research papers • Data • Memorialized in Division Offices and in the office of the Dean of Academic Affairs

36. Reflective Practice in SLO Assessment • Action Research – planning, action, reflection • Creates an inquiry culture • Integrates theory with practice • Researching while teaching

37. Reflective Practice in SLO Assessment • Speech – deconstruction • Human Services – social inquiry • Nursing – qualitative dialogue

38. Speech Assessment Project • Level 1: CLO • Deliver demonstrative, informative, persuasive speeches • Level 2: Assessment Strategies/Tools • Rubrics for the three types of speeches • Level 3: Data • Data showed that grades on each speech decreased from the first speech to the third speech • Level 4: Curriculum Change • Speech sequence changed to informative, persuasive, demonstrative

39. Speech • Does changing the speech sequence result in better grades? • Will students take the assignment more seriously? • Will students confidence improve?

40. Speech Level 5: Improved student ability to deliver demonstrative, informative, persuasive speeches Changing the sequence resulted in • Improved student performance in each type of speech • Grades improved with each attempt • Confidence levels of students increased • Students took the speeches more seriously

41. Human Services Assessment Project • Level 1: CLO • Conduct an effective client interview • Level 2: Assessment Tools • Simulated interview/Rubric • Level 3: Data • Students scored lower on “Exploratory Questions” • Level 4: Curriculum Change • Increased instructional time devoted to question development

42. Human Services • Are students effectively conducting simulated initial Client/Counselor sessions? • Will the use of Bloom’s taxonomy foster the use of exploratory questions?

43. Human Services Level 5: Awaiting fall 2008 results of student interview assessments to determine impact of increased instructional time devoted to question development

44. Nursing Assessment Project • Level 1: CLO • Collaborate with clients, significant others, and members of the healthcare team to evaluate the achievement of client outcomes • Level 2: Assessment Strategies/Tools • Focus groups • Level 3: Data • Students will evaluate information for patterns and themes • Level 4: Curriculum Change • Level 5: Did it work

45. Nursing • Do individuals who work with entry level practitioners perceive that graduates have met program learning outcomes? • Will students perceive that this learning experience strengthened their leadership skills? • Will students confidence improve?

46. Future Projections on Assessment • Engagement of Students • Narrative Inquiry • Qualitative Strategies • Triangulation • Dashboard/Top Box Model • Standardized Testing and Mandated Metrics

47. Deliverables:Shared Governance System • Results in demonstrable outcomes • Improves documentation of student learning & institutional effectiveness • Produces better assessment process • Ensures buy-in from critical constituents

48. Deliverables:Shared Governance System • Develops practitioners whose “knowledge of ill-structured problems is constructed from inquiry which leads to reasonable solutions based upon evidence currently available.” (King & Kitchener) • Builds a learning organization. (Senge)