Since the past two Nutshell Notes on rubrics, the accreditation review team from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities came and went. Their ñFull-Scale Evaluation Committee Reportî revealed some areas with good assessments of student learning„largely in units that have a learning assessment plan as part of accreditation requirements of the professional sector correlative with their disciplines. They also recognized areas with ineffective or no assessment as serious problems. The report noted our own Center for Teaching and Learning is a place in which ñdevelopment efforts relate strongly to student learning models and styles,î and that ñFaculty instructional support has the necessary grounding in student learning needs.î They noted that parts of the university need to take better advantage of this support. Sooo... in the coming year, please do that!

They further recommended creation of an assessment coordinatorÍs position. Fortunately, this has happened, and our own Dr. Steve Adkison from CeTL will direct that effort. He will provide the assistance you need to develop an assessment plan, and Dr. Ed Nuhfer (me!) will provide the faculty development needed to help units and individuals meet those aspirations. After presenting at AAHE Assessment Conferences alone the past few years, I am happy to finally have an ISU colleague with a like interest in assessment. We have an exciting year ahead to accomplish good things. The programs and newsletters this semester will focus on assessment, development and tools for assessment.

Institutions that have begun to understand the nature of ña culture of assessment of student learningî have, frankly, found it to make a university a more pleasant place in which to work. It encourages collegiality, encourages inquiry and research, provides a clearer understanding of the link between oneÍs efforts and an institutionÍs mission and helps one understand how to better meet studentsÍ needs. It further can get a campus out of the rut of evaluating faculty without looking seriously at the outcomes of work being done in their classrooms.

Assessment of learning, like faculty evaluation, requires multiple measures. Faculty new to assessment are sometimes surprised to learn that their tests and course grades, in themselves, are unable to capture student learning or knowledge. As students move to high-level thinking (see NN V VIII, n1 - n7 at http://www.isu.edu/ctl/nutshells/index.html) it becomes harder and harder to capture learning with the kinds of learning that in-class tests can sample. In most cases, faculty give exams and quizzes without performing simple reliability checks. When one does such checks, one learns quickly why tests are not the rock-solid ñmeasures of actual knowledgeî often presumed. We have a number of assessment tools available in the Center for faculty use. These include knowledge surveys, student management teams, formative diagnostic surveys, and techniques described in this newsletter. Be sure to also consult the National Teaching and Learning Forum through any ISU computer at http://www.ntlf.com/.

Next, an early announcement on ISUÍs annual February faculty development bash! Over a hundred ISU folks benefitted each time from Bob LeamnsonÍs and Barbara MillisÍ workshops. This year, weÍll have Peggy Maki, one of the foremost experts on assessment of learning. The workshop will be held once again at the Red Lion on Friday, February 25, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Those who register early will have the holiday break to digest PeggyÍs recent book, Assessing for Learning, which weÍll send to your campus box when you register .HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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Assessing along the Continuum of Students' Learning
Dr. Peggy Maki
February 25, Friday, 8:30 A.M. - ~ 3:00 P.M., Red Lion Inn by I-15 Pocatello Creek Road Exit
Breakfast & Lunch provided
Early Registrants Receive Assessing for Learning: Building a Sustainable Commitment Across the Institution, 2004, Stylus Press, 204 p.
To register, email to nuhfed@isu.edu and give your ISU mail box number

 

Beginning with research on learning, this workshop will present collaborative principles, practices, and strategies for assessing student learning at the institution- and department levels as students progress through their studies. The workshop will demonstrate collaborative steps involved in assessing student learning.

 

Who’s Peggy Maki?

Higher education consultant, Peggy L. Maki, Ph.D., specializes in assisting institutions to integrate assessment of student learning into educational practices, processes and structures. Her work also focuses on assessment within the context of accreditors' expectations for institutional effectiveness. She has recently been named to the Board of Contributors of About Campus, Department Editor of Assessment for About Campus, Assessment Field Editor at Stylus Publishing, LLC, and to the Advisory Board of the Wabash Center for Critical Inquiry. She serves as a faculty member in AAC&U's Institute on General Education; this past summer she served as a faculty member in the Carnegie Foundation's Integrated Learning Project. Beginning in the Summer, 2005, she will be teaching graduate seminars focused on assessment at two universities.

Formerly, Senior Scholar and Director of Assessment at the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), she has served as Associate Director of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., New England’s regional accrediting body; Vice President, Academic Dean, Dean of Faculty, and Professor of English, Bradford College, MA; Chair of English, Theatre Arts, and Communication, Associate Professor of English, and Dean of Continuing Education, Arcadia University, PA. She is a recipient of a national teaching award, the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

She has conducted over 300 workshops and keynote addresses on assessment both in the U.S. and abroad, including New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mexico, Greece, Bulgaria, British Columbia, and Malaysia. Her articles on assessing student learning have appeared in AAHE’s Bulletin, AAHE’s Inquiry and Action series, About Campus, Assessment Update, Change Magazine, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, NetResults, and Proceedings of the International Conference on Teaching and Learning, held at the National University of Singapore (keynote address). Her writing also includes articles, chapters in books, and a book on the teaching of writing. Additionally she conducts writing-across-the curriculum workshops that develop and document student learning.

She is in the process of editing a book on assessment practices at the doctoral level and developing a workbook to accompany her recently published handbook on assessment: Assessing for Learning: Building a Sustainable Commitment across the Institution, published in June, 2004, by Stylus Publishing, LLT, and AAHE.