I have always been fascinated by how our brains work. Specifically, how my brain can remember all the lyrics from songs in the 1970’s but can’t remember a conversation I had in the hallway with a colleague 20 minutes ago. I am the perfect lifeline if you are on a game show and need someone to sing “Midnight Train to Georgia” or “More than a Feeling”.
At this year’s Regional Community College Assessment Conference on April 22 (#RCCAC16) at JCCC, Heather Seitz, Associate Professor in Microbiology at JCCC, will share her own contribution to national research. In her breakout session on using concept inventories for measuring student learning gains in the classroom, Professor Seitz will provide an overview of the history of concept inventories and discuss the process for creating them.
Faculty can use concept inventories to measure the impact of teaching and compare their students’ successes with national data. Professor Seitz will be sharing some very interesting research as well as a great tool for assessment in the classroom. I’m marking my calendar now to attend her session which is titled, “Accurate Measurement of Student Learning Gains with Concept Inventories.”
Now if only I could get her to map a way for me to get “My Sharona” out of my song concept inventory – then perhaps I could recover some space to store more relevant and important ideas!
Sheri H. Barrett, Ed.D.