curriculum – Assessment by Design

Time and Space

Posted on December 2, 2015 by mmcmull5 — No Comments ↓

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→

New Beginnings!

Posted on August 18, 2015 by mmcmull5 — No Comments ↓

I love the beginning of a new school year. Everything seems fresh and new. New students, new classes, and, of course, new assessments! If you are a faculty member, the beginning of the academic year is a great time to consider if assessment strategies from last year accomplished your goals. Did the rubric measure what you expected? Did the pre/post test show the gains that your students achieved? Did students meet the benchmarks you established? Were the student results well over, or well under the mark? These are some pertinent questions to ponder as you review assessment strategies for the coming year: What student learning did you measure? Did the assessment instrument capture the learning as expected? If not, can the instrument be tweaked? Or Do you need to start over? How are you examining the assessment data? Are you looking beyond averages? Is the data evenly distributed? Are there large gaps in performance? How will you impact the curriculum Continue reading New Beginnings!→

It’s Complicated

Posted on February 3, 2015 by mmcmull5 — No Comments ↓

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→