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Chain Reactions in Assessment at Taft College

WASC ARC, April 16, 2009. Chain Reactions in Assessment at Taft College. Geoffrey Dyer, SLO Coordinator Dr. Eric Berube Coordinator of Institutional Assessment, Research, and Planning. Authentic Assessment. Specified in the second tier of the ACCJC rubric on SLOs

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Chain Reactions in Assessment at Taft College

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  1. WASC ARC, April 16, 2009 Chain Reactions in Assessment at Taft College Geoffrey Dyer, SLO Coordinator Dr. Eric Berube Coordinator of Institutional Assessment, Research, and Planning

  2. Authentic Assessment • Specified in the second tier of the ACCJC rubric on SLOs • Simulates real world experience • Engages higher order skills • Has explicit criteria • Exhibits inter-rater reliability

  3. Taft College’s SLO Story • SLOs written by faculty, beginning in 2002, with minimum of training and limited shared vocabulary. • Last accredited by ACCJC in 2003 • Most faculty have overloads and/or multiple positions. • Campus culture of hardworking faculty characterized by resistance, frustration, and confusion concerning SLOs. • SLO Coordinator identified in fall, 2008, just one year before site visit.

  4. 3 Years Data for ACCJC Annual Report Update In 2008, Taft adopted a new database system, Banner. As a result, many repeatable courses that were identified separately (46A, 46B, 46C, etc.) are now counted as one course (1700). Additionally, many of the course SLOs written in 2008-2009 were revisions to existing course SLOs, and some classes were eliminated. This accounts for the drop in percentage of course SLOs identified from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009.

  5. What Happened? • We gave them money. • Faculty Association, Academic Senate, and Administration worked together with SLO Coordinator to create and authorize semester based “SLO Assessment Teams.” • Teams were designed based on a presentation by LMU, CSU Long Beach, and Mt. Saint Mary’s at last year’s WASC ARC.

  6. SLO Assessment Teams • The teams are trainings, shared discussions, and guided assessment that culminate in a completed SLO Assessment report on the course level. • The goals of the team are to bridge assessment and SLOs, thereby boosting faculty awareness. • This is a transitional effort, for which the funding will cease in fall, 2011.

  7. They Were Already Assessing • Faculty are recognized as central in the process, defining and executing their own SLOs and Assessments. • Faculty share their reports with their departments and post reports on Taft College’s SLO Webpage. • Faculty from all divisions have participated. • Many completed reports are documented assessments, linked to SLOs, that were based on assignments faculty had already been using.

  8. Fortify the Existing Structure • Taft College used in-service sessions and Academic Senate meetings to provide additional training and host guest speakers such as Janet Fulks. • When faculty in divisions saw what members of their divisions had completed, they were more willing to participate. • Hearing faculty’s voices and providing resources were essential.

  9. The Domino Effect • In Taft’s first SLO Team (summer, 2008), one member of the math/science division participated. • He documented an authentic assessment in Cell Biology, in which students designed and investigated their own scientific inquiries in a laboratory, culminating in a paper. • His work has been a model of authentic assessment for other faculty at Taft College. • Impressed with his rubric, a psychology instructor in the team adopted it and used it alongside her own the following semester.

  10. Dominos • Math promptly wrote new SLOs for all of their courses, SLOs that were measurable and manageable. • To date, four math faculty have participated in the SLO teams. • The use of Tablet PCs as ongoing formative assessment has helped the campus understand the benefit of formative assessment.

  11. Tablet PCs as Formative Assessment • Allow for low-stakes, instant feedback • Student work submitted “anonymously” for class review • Allow students to reflect on their own learning • Allow instructor to adapt teaching methodology/class time appropriately • Create instant documentation

  12. Each Student Solves . . .

  13. Class Discusses Submissions

  14. The Instructor Solves Last

  15. For Faculty to Lead Assessment, They Need • Training • A shared vocabulary • Ease of documentation • Resources (stipend, release time, tech.) • Recognition of efforts • An appraisal of how existing methodologies fit in to SLO assessment

  16. How have you gotten faculty involved at your campus?

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