Honing Student Learning Objectives: Beginning the Assessment Process

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Honing Student Learning Objectives Beginning the
Assessment Process
November 4, 2009
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Assessment Council Membership

• Nancy Dubetz (ECCE) nancy.dubetz_at_lehman.cuny.edu
• Salita Bryant (English) salita.bryant_at_lehman.cuny.
  edu
• Robert Farrell (Lib) robert.farrell_at_lehman.cuny.e
  du
• Judy Fields (Econ) judith.fields_at_lehman.cuny.edu
• Marisol Jimenez (ISSP) marisol.jimenez_at_lehman.cuny
  .edu
• Teresita Levy (LAPRS) teresita.levy_at_lehman.cuny.e
  du
• Carl Mazza (SWK) carl.mazza_at_lehman.cuny.edu
• Vincent Prohaska (Psych) vincent.prohaska_at_lehman.c
  uny.edu
• Lynn Rosenberg (SLHS) lynn.rosenberg_at_lehman.cuny.e
  du
• Robyn Spencer (History) robyn.spencer_at_lehman.cuny.
  edu
• Minda Tessler (Psych) minda.tessler_at_lehman.cuny.ed
  u
• Janette Tilley (Mus) janette.tilley_at_lehman.cuny.ed
  u
• Esther Wilder (Soc) esther.wilder_at_lehman.cuny.edu
• Committee Chair
• Administrative Advisor Assessment Coordinator
• Ray Galinski - raymond.galinski_at_lehman.cuny.edu

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Committee Charge

• Develop written strategic plan for campus
  assessment of student learning, which will
  include
• definitions of key terms for campus assessment
  practices
• articulation of reporting procedures
• articulation of responsible parties
• recommendations for departmental processes for
  assessing
• learning goals
• recommendations on incentives for faculty
  participation in assessment
• Develop and promote a culture of assessment on
  campus
• Act in an advisory capacity to Provost Deans
  Council for developing campus assessment goals
• Act in an advisory capacity to departments and
  individual faculty to facilitate assessment
  efforts
• Work with campus Assessment Coordinator to create
  cross-departmental assessment teams and
  partnerships.

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Middle States Standards Accreditation

• Standard 14 Assessment of Student Learning
• Assessment of student learning demonstrates
  that, at graduation, or other appropriate points,
  the institutions students have knowledge,
  skills, and competencies consistent with
  institutional and appropriate higher education
  goals.

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Timeline
Ongoing assessment

• Spring 2011
• Middle States report due April 1
• Second completed assessment cycle of
• student learning goals
• Analyze evidence
• Report on how assessment results were used (May)

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This semester Fall 2009

• Again, this fall we will have
• articulated our learning objectives for our
  programs/majors.
• identified the learning opportunities in our
  curricula where students demonstrate learning
  objectives. This will be sent in to your
  associate deans by February 19.

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Next Semester

• Develop a way of measuring/evaluating student
  performance in the mastery of that objective.
• Gather evidence of student learning related to
  the objective youve selected.
• Analyze this evidence (or plan to do so in Summer
  / Fall 2010).

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Fall 2010

• Well continue (or start) analyzing data/results
  from evidence evaluated.
• Well be acting on the assessment results this
  process has yielded. (This may include curricular
  tweaks to improve students opportunity to master
  the objective assessed, designing new learning
  opportunities, rethinking content sequencing
  between courses, etc.) This will need to be
  documented by January and reported in the April
  2011 report.
• Begin gathering evidence on the next objective
  your program will want to look at.

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Workshop Refining Learning Goals Objectives

• Goals, Objectives, Outcomes
• Goal - A broad statement of desired outcomes
  what we hope students will know and be able to do
  as a result of completing the program/course.
  They should highlight the primary focus and aim
  of the program. They are not directly measurable.
  Rather, they are evaluated directly or
  indirectly by measuring specific objectives
  related to the goal.
• Objective - Sometimes referred to as intended
  learning outcomes, student learning outcome (SLO)
  or outcome statements. They are clear, brief
  statements used to describe to a specific,
  measurable action or task that helps achieve the
  target (goal).
• Outcomes - the learning results the end results
  -- the knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits of
  mind that students have or have not taken with
  them as a result of the students experience in
  the course(s) or program.

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EXERCISE 1

• (Set Up Groups)
• Work on Reviewing Outcomes for Programs/Department
  s using the rubric provided.

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Assessment

• Assessment really begins with 1) selecting a
  learning objective youre particularly concerned
  about, 2)looking for the key learning
  opportunities and work produced by your students
  related to that objective, 3) then finding a tool
  to evaluate the work in order to see if students
  are in fact mastering the objective.

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Direct vs. Indirect Evidence

• Direct evidence of student learning is tangible,
  visible, self-explanatory evidence of exactly
  what students have and havent learned.
• Indirect evidence provides signs that students
  are probably learning, but evidence of exactly
  what they are learning may be less clear and less
  convincing.
• While indirect evidence (feedback/surveys) can be
  useful, direct evidence is often best for getting
  concrete indications that students are learning
  what were hoping theyre learning.

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Direct vs. Indirect Evidence

• Examples of Direct Evidence
• Embedded course assignments (written/oral)
• Department wide exams (blueprinted)
• Standardized tests (blueprinted)
• Capstone projects (with rubric)
• Field experiences
• Pre-Test Post-Test
• Examples of Indirect Evidence
• Student satisfaction results
• Alumni perceptions
• Exit interviews
• Placement rates into careers and/or graduate
  school
• Honors, awards and scholarships
• Course grades
• (Refer to the green sheet for additional
  examples)

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EXERCISE 2 Connecting Outcomes to Curriculum and
Identifying Appropriate Assessment Instruments
Outcome/Learning Objective Evidence Course
1. 2. 3. 4.
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Learning Opportunities

• Do our courses provide the learning opportunities
  for students to master your programs objectives?
• If so, identify specific assignments or exercises
  where students demonstrate the mastery of those
  objectives.
• If not, such opportunities can be designed.

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How This All Fits Together!
http//assessment.uconn.edu/mapping1.htm
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Curriculum Mapping

• Curriculum mapping gives you a picture of where
  the learning opportunities for students to
  acquire, develop, and demonstrate mastery of
  learning objectives are located in your course
  offerings.

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What well be doing next semester!

• Two workshops
• Developing tools to evaluate and measure our
  evidence.
• Using assessment results to improve student
  learning.

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The Next Workshop

• Developing
• Rubrics
• Checklists
• Rating scales
• ...to evaluate evidence collected.
• Blueprinting exams for assessment.

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How Can Rubrics Be Used to Assess Program
Learning Goals?

• Embedded course assignments
• Capstone experiences
• Field experiences
• Employer feedback
• Student self assessments
• Peer evaluations

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Action Items

• Now
• Select objective of concern to assess.
• Identify the learning opportunities in curricula
  where students perform the learning objective.
• Next semester
• Develop a way of measuring/evaluating student
  performance of that objective.
• Gather evidence of student learning related to
  the objective youve selected.

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Parting thought..

• The purpose of defining goals and assessing
  learning is to improve learning through teaching.
  Teaching lies primarily in the hands of the
  faculty members, and good learning cannot happen
  without their commitment and dedication.
  Assessment, first and foremost, is a tool for
  faculty members to use as they do their very best
  to teach their student well.
• Middle Commission of Higher Education

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Please share your thoughts with us!

• You will find a small sheet on which to jot a few
  thoughts. Take a minute to let us know
• Some things youve learned from these workshops.
• Some things youd like to know more about.
• Topics for other workshops going forward.
• THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!

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References

• Suskie, L. (2004). Assessing student learning
  A common sense guide. San Francisco Anker
  Publishing Co., Inc.