Tag Archives: assessment

Taking the Lead in Assessment

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An interesting session to be offered by Rockhurst University faculty during the assessment conference here in April highlights the leadership aspects of their physical therapy program. Leadership is a tricky thing to define and measure because leadership requires both someone to take the lead and someone to follow the lead.  Much has been written on the topic of leadership, going back centuries.  Some view leadership as the person who charges the hill, while others view leadership as convincing followers to charge the hill for you. Look at any book on business published in the last 20 years and you will find a dozen or more quotes about leadership, probably in the first chapter.  Personally, I like this perspective on leadership offered by Wendell Willkie, American lawyer, corporate executive, and 1940 candidate for president: “Education is the mother of leadership.” I think the faculty at Rockhurst University would agree with Mr. Willkie since one of the goals for their Doctor of Continue reading Taking the Lead in Assessment→

Takeaways on Giveaways

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I recently participated in a conference call with the Regional Assessment Coordinating Council.  We regularly confer as we prepare for the April assessment conference.   One agenda item during this meeting was discussion about the type of “bling” we should offer conference participants this year.  In the past, we’ve provided useful items like insulated travel cups, mugs, tote bags, coasters, etc.  Our call ended with all council members promising to do some further investigating with the intent of sharing their respective findings during our January conference call. So I began to wonder, exactly what kind of “bling” is appropriate for an assessment conference? In pondering this conundrum, my mind wandered just a bit and led me to come up with more of a list of “best ever” giveaway options for assessment folks. I know I would very much like to discover the following tucked inside my conference bag: Magic dust that I could spread on any faculty members resistant to assessment Continue reading Takeaways on Giveaways→

Time and Space

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Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased. —John Steinbeck I enjoy discovering quotes. In fact, I have saved a few particularly poignant ones that I would be happy to share if you want to drop by my office. Recently, I came across this one by John Steinbeck. I’m a fan of several of Steinbeck’s books, but, interestingly, I didn’t find this in a book. It appeared in one of those little “inspirational” calendars that are very popular gifts at this time of year and for which it seems wholly appropriate. As I was musing on the quote, it came to me that assessment is very much like a trip that continues “long after movement…have ceased.” When assessing students, the movement generated in the collecting of data on student learning has an impact on the curriculum long after the actual data collection has stopped. With the act of analyzing the data, this movement amplifies as Continue reading Time and Space→

We Are All in the Same Boat

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All of my life, I have heard the phrase, “We’re all in the same boat.”  Growing up on the water in Florida gave me ample opportunity to hear it.  I recently tried to track down the original quote and found references all the way back to Sophocles, so I think it is safe to say that it has been operative for quite a long time. I thought of this phrase recently in chatting with some colleagues from a community college in St. Louis.  The campus is bringing a team here to JCCC in October to visit with our office and the college’s Assessment Council about assessment issues.  They want to know how we are approaching assessment, what is working well, and what doesn’t work.  I believe they are hoping we have a magic pill that we can share that will help them engage more of their faculty in assessment initiatives on campus. It is a conversation I have often with Continue reading We Are All in the Same Boat→

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→

Journey to the Center of Assessment

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Ever wonder what goes on at the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) assessment workshops?   Is your campus considering signing up for the Assessment Academy?  You might want to attend Highland Community College’s presentation during the morning breakout sessions.  Members of the Highland Community College Assessment Committee will share their experiences with the HLC workshop, pros and cons, advice for first-timer attendees, highlights of the experience, and benefits gained.  In addition, the presenters will provide an overview of the implementation of their college’s assessment plan. The presenters promise an interactive session with participants joining in a couple of activities/processes that their team brought back from the academy and found interesting, useful, and enjoyable.  The final line of their session description is my favorite, “Caveat: We are presenting as colleagues sharing the journey, not as accomplished experts providing authoritative advice!”  Sounds like a perfect session to me. Sheri H. Barrett, Ed.D

It’s Complicated

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General Education curriculum: Who owns it? Who assesses it? And, importantly, who decides on changes based on the assessment data? Big questions, even bigger answers. These are just a few of the complications that swirl around higher education assessment. At this year’s conference, we have two sessions that not only bring these broad questions into tight focus but also offer specific strategies for making gen ed assessment happen. In an afternoon breakout titled “Structuring and Scaling Up Embedded Assessment of General Education Outcomes at St. Louis Community College,” presenters will share their redesigned system-wide general education assessment, including best practices, early findings, obstacles, and future directions. In the final breakout session of the day, Johnson County Community College will share an AQIP action project to develop a comprehensive assessment plan which encouraged broad faculty participation, early implementation, and analysis of first results. These presenters will also address the difficulties of aggregating different kinds of data, hence the session title, “Apples Continue reading It’s Complicated→