The GREAT Project…

1. The GREAT Project… Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

2. GREAT Core Committee Rose Mince, Lynne Mason, and Cynthia Roberts

3. We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

4. Our options are to learn this new game, the rules, the roles of the participants, and how the rewards are distributed or to continue practicing our present skills and become the best players in a game that is no longer being played. Larry Wilson

5. The Questions • What is it? • Where did it come from? • Why me/why now? • How can this benefit me? My students? • How often do I have to do this? • Does it interfere with academic freedom?

6. Why Are We Doing This? • To improve student learning • Learning-centered institution • Measure of institutional effectiveness • Accountability • Accreditation • Program Review for General Education

7. Middle States Standard 14 Assessment of student learning demonstrates that the institution’s students have knowledge, skills, and competencies consistent with institutional goals and that students at graduation have achieved appropriate higher education goals.

8. CCBC’s LearningFirst Strategic Plan • CCBC is committed to making learning its central focus, making students active partners in the learning process, and focusing on learning outcomes to assess the success of student learning. • Evaluating the effectiveness of instruction is a faculty responsibility that is necessary for the improvement and verification of learning.

9. Statement of BeliefsAs a learning-centered college, CCBC: • makes learning its central focus • makes students active partners in the learning process • assumes final responsibility for producing student learning • focuses on learning outcomes to assess student learning and success

10. creates a holistic environment that supports student learning • ensures that every member of the college community is a learner • evaluates all areas of the college by the ways they foster student learning

11. Learning Outcomes AssessmentGoals and Objectives • Document improved and expanded student learning • Create continuous improvement process for learning outcomes assessment • Provide continuous curriculum improvement

12. A Learning College succeeds only when improved and expanded learning can be documented for its learners. What does this learner know? What can this learner do?

13. CCBC Assessment Definition Assessment is a purposeful, systematic, and collaborative process driven by the institution’s desire to improve student learning. It is a deliberate course of action that defines expected student achievement in terms of learning outcomes and core competencies and measures actual student achievement using pre-determined internal standards and external benchmarks.

14. The assessment process is learning centered and gathers information from a variety of sources to determine what students know, what students can do with what they know, and how well they do it. The goal of assessment is to transform the institution into one which creates the best conditions for learning, encourages best practices, and inspires creativity and innovation.

15. CCBC’s Outcomes AssessmentPhilosophy • Natural, ongoing part of instruction • Consistent with traditional instructional practices • Designed to meet specific objectives • Can serve multiple purposes • Risk-free environment

16. Assessment: • Promotes a culture of accountability • Informs decisions for continuous improvement of learning Assessment should be: • meaningful = faculty designed and coordinated • manageable • flexible • truth-seeking/objective/ethical

17. LOA Projects at CCBC: An Overview • Course-level LOA Projects -- designed to measure all (most) of the objectives listed on the Common Course Outline for any course • Support from Tara Ebersole, Outcomes Associate, Rose Mince, Planning, Research and Evaluation Office • Program-level LOA Projects -- designed to measure all (most) of the program goals • Program Review – Rose Mince • Developmental Education -- Donna McKusick • General Education -- Rose Mince

18. High Impact LOA Courses(high enrollment, multi-campus, multi-section)

19. Based on course CCO Focused on course content and skills Assessment is different for every course Measures exit course competencies Based on Gen Ed goals Focused on Gen Ed Skills Assessment is similar for many courses = CGA Measures outcomes similar to all Gen Ed courses LOAs versus GREATs

20. General Education Assessment • Three-pronged approach, based on years of research by the General Education Review Board • The Academic Profile (Fall 2001 and Fall 2004) • The GREAT Project (Fall 2003-Spring 2006) • The SIR II (Data collected each fall semester) • Approved by Learning and Academic Affairs Council in Spring 2002

21. The GREAT Project • Faculty-designed Common Graded Assignments (CGAs) with accompanying scoring rubrics • Faculty Training Workshops • GREAT Team Leaders • Implementation Schedule

22. Implementation Schedule

23. GREAT Goal To gather evidence of student learning (as defined in the General Criteria for General Education courses) to provide for continuous quality improvement in student learning outcomes for all General Education courses.

24. General Education Goals • Content, Knowledge, and/or Skills • Written, Oral, and/or Signed Communication Skills • Critical Thinking Skills • Technology as a Learning Tool • Cultural Appreciation/Diversity • Independent Learning Skills

25. Project Outcomes • Improve and expand student learning by providing constructive feedback regarding student attainment of General Education goals • Identify areas for improvement in General Education courses and/or the General Education assessment plan • Develop strategies for effecting positive change. • Provide forums for faculty to discuss change and the change process • Incorporate additional best practices

26. Ensure that the CCBC General Education courses have institutional integrity • Maintain high levels of expectations for all General Education students • Provide opportunities for students to participate in the learning process by providing feedback regarding the project • Identify staff development needs for faculty • Identify student development needs

27. Project Checklist • Select/contact team leader • Create 1-3 Common Graded Assignments • Create scoring rubric(s) • Agree on CGAs and rubrics • Administer CGA in classes (distribute CGA and rubric to students) • Identify scorers • Select anchor papers • Attend scorer training • Refine CGA and rubric for the future

28. Common Graded Assignments • Common – similar format, varied content; applied in more than one class to allow comparison • Graded -- required by the instructor so that students put effort into the assignment; faculty provide feedback to the student • Assignment -- evaluation of the “routine” ongoing work of the students

29. Sample CGAs • Critiques • Lab Reports • Article Reviews: Comparison/Contrast • Projects (individual or group) • Research Papers • Case Studies • Essay Questions • The list goes on…

30. Rubric: A definition “…a one- or two-page document that describes varying levels of quality from excellent to poor for a specific assignment” Heidi Goodrich Andrade Two main components: • A detailed list of criteria • Gradations of quality

31. Rubrics • Holistic vs. Analytic • Holistic: all criteria are factored in together to determine the final grade for that assignment (one overall or total score) • Analytic: considers and evaluates each criterion separately (sub-scores) • GREAT Project uses analytic rubric: one score for each of the six General Education Program Goals

32. Grading Rubrics: Advantages • Assess student work more quickly and more efficiently • Provide a clear justification to student for the grade received • Act as a teaching tool to support student learning • Put more responsibility into the hands of the students

33. Facilitate students’ progress in completing assignment • Are easy to use and explain • Support the development of students’ skills and understanding • Provide informative feedback and detailed evaluations

34. Rubric Adjectives/Anchors • 6=evidence beyond the expectations (present, and, and) • 5=evidence is present; student has gone slightly beyond requirements (present, and) • 4=evidence is present without any extra supporting material (present) • 3=something lacking from the requirement (present, but) • 2=some evidence, but something important is lacking (present, but, but) • 1=very little evidence that skills have been achieved

35. Where do Ibegin? • Contact your team leader • Form a working cohort/team • Identify General Education Goals on CCO • Share existing course assignments • Design a CGA • Develop a rubric

36. Solicit feedback from discipline colleagues • Revise CGA and rubric as necessary • Implement!!! • Collect two copies of CGAs • Grade and return one copy to student • Remove all identifying information and give second copy to your team leader

37. Some Excellent Resources • Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom by Arter and McTighe (2001) • “Primary Trait Analysis: Anchoring Assessment in the Classroom” Benander, Denton, Page, and Skinner (2000). The Journal of General Education, 49, 280-302. • “Oral Presentations in Math Classes” (grading using a rubric) in Innovation Abstracts, (2002), XXIV, 23 • www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/assmt/resource.htm

38. The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step.Taoist Proverb

39. Handouts • Blank rubric • Gen. Ed. approval form • Rubric adjectives • Sample CGA and rubric • Team leaders