An Assessment Reporting System Focused on Improvement as “Common Ground” Paulette Popovich

1. An Assessment Reporting System Focused on Improvement as “Common Ground” Paulette Popovich Professor of Family and Consumer Science, Associate Dean of Instruction Tim Vierheller Professor of Physics Patsy Malavite Associate Professor of Business and Office Technology

2. Effective assessment requires a culture “in which teaching and learning are the subject of sustained, public attention and inquiry, and where members of the academic community take seriously their shared responsibility for ensuring and improving the quality of educational experience.” Hutchings, P. (1996). Building a New Culture of Teaching and Learning. About Campus, Nov-Dec., 4.

3. Purpose and Scope • Model for developing and evaluating an assessment reporting and archive system • Focuses on data and improvement • Makes assessment work and results more “public,” and establishes “continuous improvement” as “common ground” for instruction • Meaningful use of data to improve learning

4. Background • Branch campus of The University of Akron; separately accredited • Established a system of course and program assessment in 1998 • Embedded outcomes model, linking course-level student learning outcomes to program outcomes • These program learning outcomes were then linked to college-level (institutional) learning outcomes

5. Original Assessment Forms Illustrating Linkages Angelo T. & Cross, P. (1993).Classroom Assessment Techniques. (p. 208). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Diamond, R. M. (1998). Designing & Assessing Courses & Curricula. (p. 49). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

6. Original Assessment Forms Illustrating Linkages • Ratcliff, Lubinescu,Gaffney. (2001). How Accreditation Influences Assessment. (p. 90). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. • Glassick, Huber, Maeroff. (1997).Scholarship Assessed. (p. 33). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

7. Second Generation of Reporting Fall 2006 http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessmentlinks.htm

8. “The challenge for assessment specialists, faculty, and administrators, then, is not collecting data, but connecting them…assessment makes a difference when meaningful data are collected, connected, and applied creatively to illuminate questions and provide a basis for decision-making. Only then can data guide continuous improvement.” Banta, T., Lund, J., Black, K. and Oblander, F. (1996).Assessment in Practice. (p. 44). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

9. “For departments, being required to do an assessment report in a vacuum can produce resentment, mere compliance, and waste of resources.” Walvoord, B. E. (2004). Assessment Clear and Simple. (p. 12). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

10. Issues in Reporting Assessment Results • Massive output of paper • Data and their meaning to course and program improvements were often lost within the other details of the report • Obstacles to faculty, committees, administrators and others who needed to retrieve the information

11. Introduced Web-based Submission System • Improved the process in the desired ways • Helped establish “common ground” by encouraging dialog and collaboration within and across disciplines • Created a more open and “public” description of assessment and student learning at Wayne College

12. Assessment Information Reported • Program and course learning outcomes • Course learning outcome(s) being assessed by semester • Instructional techniques used to achieve the course learning outcomes • When appropriate, instructional changes based on previous assessment results

13. Assessment Information Reported (con’t) • Assessment activity(ies) to measure student learning (pre- post-tests, quizzes, exams, projects, assignments, self-assessment, in-class exercises) • Results/observations (including statistical data) for each learning outcome being assessed. In most cases, these are data captured during the current term • Suggestions for changes/improvements based on assessment results/observations from the current semester

14. Web-based Submission System http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessment/

15. Inputting Data http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessment/

16. Creating Reports http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessment/

17. Creating Reports http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessment/

18. “Can you improve the data-gathering process so as to yield information about why certain weaknesses in student learning are occurring and what actions most effectively address the problems?” Walvoord, B. E. (2004).Assessment Clear and Simple. (p. 62). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

19. Important Results • Establishment of common course learning outcomes across multiple sections • An important improvement in the college’s assessment efforts and a good example of the shift in focus from “reporting” to “using” data and information the new system provides

20. Important Results (con’t) • Incorporate assessment data results and improvements into our institutional program review process for all of our associate degree programs • Provide data to main campus departments regarding student learning in general education courses • Results are more public

21. Future Goals • Use data and system for focused “campus conversations” centered on student learning and assessment • Continuous improvement of the system with the context of the College’s mission and strategic plan

22. “These activities serve as a reminder of institutional values and help in examining how well overall goals are being met.” Palumba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999). Assessment Essentials. (p. 342).San Francisco: Wiley & Sons.

23. Thank You • This presentation can be accessed at http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/assessmentlinks.htm