Quality in Undergraduate Education QUE

1. Quality in Undergraduate Education QUE Susan Albertine The College of New Jersey Nevin Brown Education Trust Ron Henry Georgia State University

2. Roles • Communication specialist – Nevin Brown • Project director – Susan Albertine • Standards process experts – Education Trust • Ruth Mitchell • Patte Barth • Funders • Pew Charitable Trusts – Ellen Wert • ExxonMobil Foundation – Truman Bell • Project evaluators - PSA

3. Roles • Critical friends – disciplinary consultants • Spencer Benson – biology – U.Maryland • Jay Labov – biology – NRC • Gordon Uno – biology – U. Oklahoma - AIBS • Lendol Calder – history – Augustana College • Noralee Frankel – history – AHA • Mills Kelly – history – George Mason • Kathleen Blake Yancey – English – Clemson • Bernie Madison – mathematics – MAA • Jerry Sarquis – chemistry – Miami Univ. Ohio - ACS

4. Language [NPEC] ‘Learning outcome’ - the knowledge (facts, concepts, principles) and skills (processes, strategies, methods) to be learned ‘Standard’ - a predetermined criterion of a level of student performance ‘Assessment’ - the process of collecting data/evidence about student learning outcomes

5. Context of our work • Taxonomy of learning outcomes includes the following objectives: • Outcomes for a course • Outcomes for a program • General Education • Discipline

6. Context of assessment work Taxonomy of assessment includes the following activities: • Assessment for student in a course • Assessment for student in a program • Assessment of a course • Assessment of faculty instruction in course • Assessment of a program • Assessment of a department • Assessment of an institution

7. Context of our work Taxonomy of assessment includes the following activities: • Assessment for student in a course • Formative • Summative • Assessment for student in a program • Developmental • Summative

8. Why we are here - Objectives • Assessment – the heart of the matter – Standards in practice – Scoring guide development • To develop teaching strategies for assisting students in achieving standards

9. Agenda Cluster Groups: Friday after dinner • Discussion of successes, barriers; faculty/department buy-in; two-year/four-year collaboration Disciplinary Groups: Saturday 8:30-10:30 am; Saturday 1:00-3:30 pm; 3:45-5:00 pm; Sunday 9:00-11:00 am • How are we accomplishing valid and reliable assessments? • How do you know they work? • Designing rubrics; Using Understanding by Design • Practicing, modeling, using rubrics to score student work • Discussion of successes, barriers; faculty/department buy-in

10. Agenda • Plenary Session: Saturday 10:45-noon Kathleen Blake Yancey On Evaluating Student Work

11. Some items to ponder The essential purpose of professional development should be the improvement of student learning, not just the improvement of the instructor who is involved in the professional development activity. Professional development should be designed to develop the capacity of instructors to work collectively on problems of practice, within their own institutions and with practitioners from other institutions, as much as to support the knowledge and skill development of individual educators.

12. Some items to ponder Other assessment initiatives: • CUSE – evidence-based learning in intro science courses; indicators for assessment of program; evaluation of instruction • ECS – How do institutions move towards a competency-based system that ensures that all students acquire AKS? • NGA – How to develop online data bases that measure course-level quality? • Psychology

13. QUE Deliverables • Department and campus draft learning outcomes, performance descriptions, collections of student work, and assessments of student learning

14. QUE Milestones • Stage 1: Learning outcomes: What should students know, understand, and be able to do? • Learning outcomes for level 14 • Learning outcomes for level 16 • Disciplinary contributions to General Education learning outcomes

15. QUE Milestones • Stage 2: Assessment: What is acceptable evidence that students have attained desirable understandings and proficiencies? • Aligning assignments with standards • Developing scoring guides or rubrics – analytical and holistic • Constructing performance standards for a learning outcome • Scoring student work

16. QUE Milestones • Stage 3: Practical ideas for learning experiences and instruction • Coping with large numbers of students • Using electronic portfolios • Moving to program level • Gap analysis or Super-matrix

17. Course 1 Course 2 Course 3 Course 4 Course 5 Total Outcome 1 1 4 4 0 4 13 Outcome 2 2 1 2 0 2 7 Outcome 3 1 2 0 2 0 5 Super-matrix or gap analysis

18. Super-matrix or gap analysis • Major (4): Outcome is fully introduced, developed and reinforced throughout the course. Students demonstrate an “application knowledge” or “understanding.” • Moderate (2): Outcome is introduced and further developed and reinforced in course. Students demonstrate a “working knowledge” of the outcome. • Minor (1): Outcome is introduced in course. Students have a “talking knowledge” or “awareness” of the outcome. • Not at all (0)

19. Super-matrix or gap analysis • For the matrix of courses within program, comparing program outcomes: • Does the course add significantly to the learning of the program outcome? • Does the course add significantly to the assessment of the program outcome?

20. QUE Objectives • Development and use of standards for lower division to facilitate the transition to upper division within 4-year institutions and for transfer from 2-year to 4-year institutions • Development and use of standards for graduation from college • Levels 14 and 16 represent performance-bound learning [not the time it takes to get there] • Learner-centered learning, not time-specific or place-specific learning

21. Next meetings • Bi-coastal meetings in February/March 2003 • Spring breaks • Major association meetings • Focus on design and student work • Potential speaker – Grant Wiggins • National meetings in fall 2003 and spring 2004

22. QUE web site • QUE Web site is atHttp://www.gsu.edu/que • private section • user name standards • password standards

23. Quality in Undergraduate Education QUE Susan Albertine The College of New Jersey Nevin Brown Education Trust Ron Henry Georgia State University