Our Quest: Looking for answers we need without a process we’ll hate

1. Our Quest: Looking for answers we need without a process we’ll hate Assessment Design in the Geology Department at the University of Dayton

2. Why Assess? • Self-evaluate performance in order to Improve educational outcomes for our students. • Facilitate communication of strengths and needs to internal and external audiences (Upper Level administration, alumni, funding agencies, community partners) • Evaluate alignment with institutional priorities. • Because “they” (Administrators, Accreditors) tell us we have to. 

3. Balancing Assessment with Improvement • Does time & effort expended in assessing outweigh benefits of comparable time & effort expended in improvement? (But how do you know unless you assess?) • Does Law of Diminishing Returns apply to Assessment? • At UD: one chair + one admin  We have to look for “bang for buck.” What strategies yield the most valuable information with the minimum expenditure of time & energy? • Assessment is a means, not an end

4. Character & Mission of UD • Founded by Society of Mary (Marianists) in 1850 • “A leader in American Catholic Education” • Key values: Community, inclusion, service, practical education, faith formation, strategic adaptation (“reading the signs of the times”) • Comprehensive, urban • Largest private University in Ohio Fr. William Joseph Chaminade, founder of the Marianist order.

5. Character & Mission of Geology Department • 1st Majors graduated in 1949 • Historical focus on undergraduate education, graduating 6-12 a year • New grad certificate program in GIS • Preparation for graduate school (70% of students), but also for employment. • Strong focus on getting students into field early • Partnering students with faculty mentors early on in developmental model. • Collaborative student-faculty research. • Marianist character expressed through a service orientation.

6. Old Assessment Framework • Over-reliance on vague, qualitative statements from subjective exit survey • Never fully implemented • Never systematically reported back to faculty! • Faculty-driven “Competency-based” assessment never implemented at all. • The Good news: It shouldn’t be hard to improve!

7. New Assessment Framework at UDHabits of Inquiry and Reflection • Scholarship • Faith Traditions • Community • Diversity • Practical Wisdom • Critical Evaluation of the times • Vocation Departments tasked to define own outcomes, at least some of which must map to HIR

8. Measures We’ve Considered • Survey-based Measures • Graduating Students. • Alumni three years after graduation. • Survey of Employers and/or Graduate Advisors of Alumni (?) • Evaluative Measures • Competency-based measures derived from classroom evaluations, possible portfolio requirement. • Comprehensive 2nd Year Review. • CountingMeasures • Proportion of graduates going onto grad study, • Proportion of students completing thesis, presenting at UD Research Symposium and/or Professional Meetings, participating in summer research or internships. • Proportion of students participating in service projects or team-learning • BoardofVisitors • How frequently? (10 yrs?) • Who? Alumni, Academics, Community Partners (esp. for new GIS program)

9. Competency-based Assessment • Based on ~14 broad competencies expected of graduating Geology majors • Faculty would use rubric to assess individual majors at time of grade submission and submit to Dept. office which would track each student. • 2nd Year Review would be instituted to identify student progress and needs for add’l assistance to attain competencies (Developmental Approach) • Possibility of portfolio-based assessment tied to competencies, or a 2nd year comprehensive ‘qualifying’ exam (?)

10. Competency Categories • Information Literacy • Quantitative Reasoning and Inquiry • Communication (Reading/Writing/Oral) • Living in Community • Each broad category subdivided into component and subcomponent skill sets • Top three Categories map mostly to Scholarship & Practical Wisdom; “Living in Community” accents Marianist identity.

11. Information Literacy • 1. Students will understand the structure, form, and access methods of recorded information and develop effective strategies to use information technologies to seek knowledge. • 2. Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and analyze information gathered from a variety of sources. • 3. Students will use information and information technology responsibly and ethically.

12. Quantitative Reasoning & Inquiry • Students will demonstrate an ability to understand geological processes in space and time. • Students will meet the university’s quantitative competency standards by completing the basic math sequence through at least MTH149: Calculus II • Students will demonstrate the capacity to plan and design protocols, experiments or procedures to address scientific problems or societal needs. • Students will apply technical skills and analytical methods to collect, record and interpret Earth science data in the field, lab and/or office.

13. Communication Reading, Writing, Oral • Students will develop scientific arguments through the diverse modes of written, graphical and/or spoken scientific communication. • Students will work effectively in small groups, teamwork situations or general discussions, meeting basic standards of respectful discourse. • Students will demonstrate basic professional skills.

14. Living in Community • Students will be able to articulate an understanding of the vocation of earth science and will demonstrate a commitment to the scientific and broader community through service. • Students will understand the evolving challenges of our times pertaining to the sustainable habitation of humans on planet Earth. • Students will demonstrate an appreciative understanding of the value of diversity and inclusion in the scientific community. • Students will be exposed to the diverse ways that earth processes and human culture and human vulnerability interact.

15. The Quest Continues The Quest Continues . . . • Additional Discussion & pruning or elaboration of competencies. They are skills-based; should we also include some knowledge-based outcomes? • Revisit Exit Survey; Design of Alumni survey • Establish a system of collection for “counting measures.” • Establish an Assessment Schedule • Implementation! – We are tasked to begin collecting data on at least one outcome this year!! • Establish System for annual engagement of faculty as well as generating reports to upper administration.