Author Archives: mmcmull5

More Than the Sum of Its Parts

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One of my hobbies is quilting.  I took it up later in life, meaning somewhere past my 40th birthday, and I have found that I really enjoy it.  When quilting, you have to consider the overall design of your creation and how the selection of patterns, colors, and shapes are going to fit together.  The most important part is deciding how you will bring all of these elements and the resulting individual pieces of fabric together to create a whole that is beautiful, durable, and, of course, keeps you warm on a cold winter night. I have determined through my experience that assessment is a lot like quilting.  There are many elements that go into a good assessment plan.  You certainly need to consider your overall design, starting with what exactly you want to know about your students.  If you design your assessment plan well, then all of the pieces will indeed fit together to form a cohesive whole focused Continue reading More Than the Sum of Its Parts→

Ambrosia

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I know I have mentioned before that I’m a Southerner.   I am actually one of those very rare native Floridians—rare because most residents of Florida are transplants.  One of the great food traditions of Florida is a winter dish called Ambrosia, a fruit salad made with fresh winter oranges and coconut.  Some of you may recognize another version: Homer referenced ambrosia in his poems as the food of the gods. I think the same could be said of the Florida fruit salad since it is one of my favorite dishes and is known to taste divine. After the Moving Forward with Assessment conference, I would like to offer another spin on the definition of ambrosia – not as a winter dish served in Florida, but as a spring treat generously shared in the Midwest.  This variation is composed of the wide variety of dialogues on assessment swirling around me this past Friday at the conference.  The opportunity to connect with Continue reading Ambrosia→

Moving Forward with Assessment

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This is it! Spring is in the air and flowers and trees are blooming all over campus. This is the week we’ve been looking forward to since last year’s conference.  The 5th Annual Regional Community College Assessment Conference – Moving Forward with Assessment, is finally here!  And I am excited. As you are on the countdown to attending the conference, here a few tips to make this experience amazing. Check out the schedule in advance on the blog site and determine which breakouts you want to attend (choose your top two picks). Bring your business cards to give to your new colleagues, and ask them for theirs – you may want to follow-up with them after the conference. Join us the night before for the reception; it will be a nice informal opportunity to meet, chat and network. Be prepared to take home lots of great ideas to share on your campus. I sincerely look forward to greeting each of Continue reading Moving Forward with Assessment→

All Roads Lead To…

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My husband and I decided to spend our 25th wedding anniversary in England.  We rented a car and spent time driving around to all the sites we thought were “must see.”  It really was a wonderful trip, but there was a time, every single day, when we were completely lost.  I don’t mean we took a wrong turn occasionally; I mean we got-lost-and-ended-up-on-the-wrong-coastline lost. If you are coming out to the conference on April 10th, I want to spare you some of the joys of the unintended—and time-consuming—sightseeing that my husband and I experienced in England. First, the college is located just south of I-435 at the intersection of Quivira Road and College Boulevard. The easiest way to come on to campus and get to the Regnier Center is to enter at the Quivira Boulevard entrance, which is due south of the College-Quivira intersection. The Nerman Museum (a bright white building) and the Regnier Center (an adjoining red brick building) Continue reading All Roads Lead To…→

Of Apples, Oranges, and Elephants

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    Over the last 2 years, JCCC undertook the monumental task of developing a comprehensive General Education Assessment Plan.  Given the diversity of general education classes, student learning outcomes, and opinions on what the new plan should contain as well as the sheer volume of general education courses offered by the college, the task seemed somewhat daunting at the outset. A task force of faculty and administrators were charged with developing, sharing, modifying, and launching the General Education Assessment plan.  The task force quickly identified key elements that would become signature features of the plan: Direct Assessment of Student Learning Indirect Assessment of Student Learning Strong engagement by Faculty Opportunities for improved learning Transparency of results And, most importantly, the plan needed to respect the differences of the departments and programs in which the General Education curriculum was offered.  If you would like to learn more about JCCC’s efforts, plan on attending the final breakout session, Apples to Oranges Continue reading Of Apples, Oranges, and Elephants→

True GRIT

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Although I’ve lived in the Midwest for over 20 years now, my roots are still firmly placed in the Deep South, and I identify myself, when asked, as a Southerner. I was thrilled to think one of my favorite Southern foods might be featured somehow in a breakout session on assessment – grits with cheese, after all, is a southern delicacy.  But, alas, “GRIT, Hope and the First Year Student” involves something far flung from my favorite dish. The presenters of this session, Kimberly Glackin, Melissa Geise, and Kristy Bishop, hail from Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri. They are going to focus on a question that every faculty member has likely pondered: why do students seem to lack the stick-to-it-ness (or GRIT) needed to be successful?  Join your colleagues on April 10 in this afternoon breakout session at the conference to learn more.  Look for me: I’ll be the one in the corner munching on grits–with cheese, of Continue reading True GRIT→

The Missing Link

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I really do love a quality animated film.  I am the one who usually rents a niece or nephew to take with me so that I don’t look too foolish heading into a children’s movie by myself.  One of my favorite of these films in the last couple of years was Monsters vs. Aliens.  And my favorite character from the film was a monster named Link—as in the “missing link”.  Link was a 20,000-year-old monster that looked like a spinoff of the main character in Creature From the Black Lagoon.  In the movie, Link did the heavy-lifting for the team of monsters so they could save the day. At this year’s assessment conference, Dr. Christopher Meseke from Park University will be presenting a breakout session with his own version of the missing link, only his link is in academia, of course.  Dr. Meseke will share his story of heavy lifting on the assessment front at Park with “The Missing Link: Continue reading The Missing Link→