Helping students know what they know

1. Helping studentsknow what they know Involving students in assessment

2. Presenter • Director of Learning Outcomes and Assessment • Hutchinson Community College • Hutchinson, Kansas • Dr. Martha S.M. Robertson • robertsonm@hutchcc.edu

3. Objectives • To describe Hutchinson Community College’s plan to integrate learning assessment to all units. • To outline how HCC plans to increase awareness among all stakeholders, including students, of assessment as a means to strengthen learning and increase success. • To identify ways to incorporate assessment into the culture of the institution.

4. Knowing What They Know The third circle from the inside is where learning takes place. • Spending time on the inner circle is a waste of time. • Spending more than a brief period on the second circle produces little benefit. • Spending time on the fourth circle, other than trying to move students into the third circle is not productive. Don’t know they don’t know Know they don’t know Don’t know they know Know they know

5. Who should assess? • Why should they assess? • What should they assess? • How should they assess? • Who should use assessment? • Why should they use assessment? • What assessment should they use? • How should they use assessment?

6. The assessment plan Is it good for students?

7. What percent of the upper-level administrators at your institution has each of the following attitudes about assessment to improve student learning and success? • Fully committed • Willing to comply • Resistant • Dead set against • Completely ignorant

8. Demands for Assessment • External • Public • Accrediting Agencies • Internal • Administrators • Faculty • Students

9. What percent of the faculty at your institution has each of the following attitudes about assessment to improve student learning and success? • Fully committed • Willing to comply • Resistant • Dead set against • Completely ignorant

10. Assessment Requirements • Public • Easy to access and interpret. • Accrediting agencies • Specific student learning outcomes using reliable, valid sources that produce consistent data. • Administrators • Not time-consuming to administer and grade, that are easily collected and stored, and that are low in cost. • Faculty • Academic freedom, autonomy in the classroom, freedom from mandates that take time away from instruction. • Students • Not concerned other than how affects grade.

11. What percent of student affairs personnel at your institution has each of the following attitudes about assessment to improve student learning and success? • Fully committed • Willing to comply • Resistant • Dead set against • Completely ignorant

12. Assessment Plan Goals • Balanced • Address diverse interests of various stakeholder groups • Unobtrusive as possible • Useful to all concerned.

13. What percent of students at your institution has each of the following attitudes about assessment to improve student learning and success? • Fully committed • Willing to comply • Resistant • Dead set against • Completely ignorant

14. Assessment Options • Course grades • Not acceptable to government and accrediting agencies • Nationally recognized, standardized test • Not acceptable to administration because of cost • Locally developed test • Not acceptable to faculty because of the additional time required to administer and grade

15. Knowing What We Want them to Know and Do Keeping Students Informed

16. Student Learning Outcomes • Institution-wide • Critical Thinking • Accessing Information • Communicating • Writing • Speaking • Demonstrating Interpersonal Skills • Program • Course • Non-Academic

17. Before Assessment • Outcomes • Assessment methods • Method of evaluating student performance • Required level of achievement

18. Documenting Assessment • Course Matrix • Example • Program Curriculum Map • Example • Institution-Wide Matrix • Example • Reporting Instrument • Example

19. Knowing what they know • After assessment • Upload assessment and faculty and professional staff evaluation to electronic portfolio • After reflection • Reminder to review and reflect on portfolio artifacts by advisor each semester • After graduation • Review and reflection on program and/or institution-wide outcomes

20. Finding If They Know What They Know Metacognition

21. Students’ Role • College can gather assessment information without students’ being aware that they are participating in a process to assess their achievement of learning outcomes • Information is richer and more meaningful when students are active participants in the process.

22. Developing Awareness • Placement Assessment • Reading • Writing • Mathematics • College Orientation • Learning Styles • Study Skills • Intrusive Advising

23. Involving Students • Assess prior knowledge • Classroom Assessment Techniques • Identify learning outcomes • Syllabus • Outline how outcomes will be assessed • Syllabus • Relate how performance will be evaluated • Key, Checklist, Rubric • Encourage self reflection • Portfolio

24. Discussing Assessment • ED105 : Success Seminar/College Orientation • Discussion of Assessment • Introduction to electronic portfolio • Individual Courses • Syllabus • Course Outcomes Matrix • Reminder on electronic portfolio • Program Advisors • Review of portfolio

25. Metacognition • Critically examining one’s strategies • Evaluating the effectiveness of one’s work • Revising one’s thinking or work when self-examination so warrants • Putting together what one has learned into a coherent whole

26. Portfolios • Course level • Assessment instruments • Instructor feedback on assessment • Student response • Program level • Artifacts • Reflection • Institution-wide level • Artifacts • Reflection

27. Electronic Portfolio • ANGEL • A New Global Environment for Learning • All courses Web supported • Outcomes • Assessment Assignments • Grades • Feedback • Upload to ANGEL e-portfolio

28. ePortfolio Evaluation • Random Sample • Rubrics • Thinking Critically • Accessing Information • Communicating • Speaking • Writing • Demonstrating Interpersonal Skills • Norming the raters

29. Results • Common Language • Consistency • Flexibility • Autonomy • Improved Communication Academic Affairs Student Affairs Operational Affairs Students