Author Archives: sbarre13

I have always been a big fan of Thursdays.  I know the prevailing opinion that Fridays are best because you are ready for the weekend to start, but I like Thursdays.  There is a great sense of anticipation that something is coming – something wonderful.  You are still engaged in what you are doing but you can feel it coming – just around the corner. That is what I am feeling right now – anticipation!  The Assessment Matters Conference is JUST AROUND THE CORNER.  I can hardly wait.  We have a two workshop sessions on Thursday, April 29th in the afternoon, and on April 30th we have scheduled a series of terrific breakout sessions, a wonderful plenary session on Equity Applications in Assessment Work by Dr. Joseph Levy.  The keynote speaker is Dr. Susan Hatfield, a Senior Scholar with the Higher Learning Commission and Professor Emerita from Winona State University.  She will be speaking about Assessing Assessment.  All of this – Continue reading Anticipation→

On the right track.  Headed down the right road.  Off on the right foot. Picking up steam.  Headed in the right direction.  I’m sure there are a few more idioms that could be thrown into the mix above.  But I think you get the general drift – Johnson County Community College has made great strides in its assessment processes and we have a great deal to be proud. The AEIO office and the Assessment Council co-chair recently had the opportunity to spend 4-half day sessions with the assessment scholars and mentors of the Higher Learning Commission discussing general education assessment good and best practices.  There were roughly 70 plus faculty and staff in the webinars.  Our team had the opportunity to hear what some other schools were doing, discuss what efforts we want to pursue in our assessment journey, and meet with an assessment mentor to make sure we were on track. Our team was delighted to hear during the Continue reading On the right track→

Breaking Down the Barriers to Good Assessment There are lots of issues I’ve shared before about the challenges of assessment.  I’ve blogged about the nature of assessment in trying to address two masters, external accountability, and internal faculty focus on improving student learning.  I’ve blogged about the need to provide strong assessment resources and support for faculty in order to build a strong culture of assessment.  With this post, I wanted to explore some barriers we need to break through on our campuses.  These are barriers that I have encountered both at this campus, and when I have visited with other schools on assessment issues. We need to break through the not us – I still hear this barrier articulated when faculty are sure that “other” programs and departments need to assess their students, but we are doing just fine!  When we understand assessment is not about faculty or department performance, but rather focuses on improving student learning then we will Continue reading Breaking Down Barriers→

Recognize your True Identity I heard a great sermon this past weekend that included lessons from the movie series Toy Story.  There was some scripture included too, but Toy Story provided the analogy for the sermon. The main thrust of the sermon was to recognize your true identity, which was a problem for the character Forky that had been made out of leftover trash by Bonnie in Toy Story 4.  To Bonnie, Forky was a much-loved toy, but to Forky, well he was just some trash. Listening to the analogy made me think of my colleagues in higher education right now.  Life is very different than it was a year ago or even a semester ago.  This hasn’t just been a shift in culture we are experiencing, it has been a seismic upheaval. But, I want to remind my colleagues of who you are in this time of change and adaptation. You are equipped for this moment. Although it may Continue reading Recognize Your True Identity→

Wow, what a semester.  Hats off to educators everywhere who have continued to engage their students through a whole new paradigm of teaching and learning. During this time I have been monitoring the listservs and getting emails from faculty at the college concerned about assessment projects.  So I’m going to offer my perspective on what to focus on this semester as we all shift to a new teaching and learning reality. Keep your focus on the students.  Help them move into an online environment that they may or may not have previously experienced, and continue to work to engage students in learning experiences.  This is the MOST IMPORTANT thing. If you have an assessment project that you were working on in your courses, program or department that translates to an online format, terrific!  Go ahead and capture the assessment data, but be sure and annotate in your data collection that the methodology and pedagogy of this semester was impacted. This Continue reading Assessment in the age of pandemic→

I was driving home yesterday and thinking of a myriad of things I needed to accomplish at the office.  There is an upcoming site visit I am chair for the Higher Learning Commission that I need to finalize, I’m chairing and Institutional Committee that is having listening sessions, our Program Review software implementation and first cycle are starting to wrap up and I need to reach out to different groups, etc., etc.  It dawned on me in all my musing that I wasn’t thinking about assessment. When I looked at the blog site today I realized how little I had blogged this Fall on assessment.  I found that I had allowed myself to become distracted with all the other components of my life in higher education.  That’s not acceptable!  But I know that faculty at my institution have the same problem.  It is not that they don’t care about assessment or improving student learning.  It is the distractions of all Continue reading Distractions→

“What is the purpose of assessment?”  I think every assessment director, coordinator, and faculty member has been asked this question at some point.  It is a great question.  I think the answer lies in your “philosophy” of assessment.  I believe there are two distinct ways of looking at assessment – there are those who look to use assessment to “prove” learning and those who use assessment to “improve” learning.  What’s the difference? Proving Student Learning Focuses on an external audience Faculty often have little influence or control in the assessment processes Results can be difficult to tie to the actual teaching that occurs in the classroom Purpose of the assessment is to satisfy accountability requirements from the state, accrediting bodies, external stakeholders, etc. Improving Student Learning Focuses on the program and the discipline Faculty drive the assessment processes and the interpretation of the results Results are based on what happens in the classroom and program Purpose is to improve student’s learning in Continue reading Proving or Improving – that is the question→