STUDENT LEARNING IN AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM USING A HELIX MODEL

OF ASSESSMENT

Lori Knapp

Margaret F. BoorsteinLong Island University

Presented at

AALHE June 6, 2016Lori.knapp@liu.edu

maboorst@liu.edu

Copyright Lori Knapp and Margaret F. Boorstein

Phases of Development

• Traditional: Initiation of OA structure

• Importance of Faculty involvement and leadership

• Necessity of Administration expertise and support

• Some re-routing of resources

• Formalized and sustained structure

– Examining learning in the major and general education led to beginning of reflection and sharing of results

• Integrative approach

– Faculty cooperation in the classroom

– Integration of faculty and campus life inside and outside classroom FYE, FY Seminar

• Helix

– Keeping all these pieces intact and well-oiled. Including all of the above with curricular innovation and new perspectives of looking at, and evaluating, student learning.

Incorporating additional modes of assessment

Inquiry-based

Data Elements for Phases of DevelopmentProgression of measures employed

• Traditional: Initiation of OA structure• MAPP; AP; Senior Student Survey and Senior Exit Interview

• Formalized and sustained structure examining learning in the major and general education

• Major and Program SLOs; General Ed; Student Artifact Studies; NSSE; Development of rubrics

• Integrative approach• First-yr retention, GPA; IR Graduate Survey; AACU Integrative learning rubric; Early-warning system

• Helix: – Campus Symposia;

• New modes of assessment: Inquiry-based– Investigation of the literature in the discipline combined with what faculty know are weaknesses and

strengths of our students

Implement: More holistic perspective

Outcome: Enhanced student success.

Student-centered with faculty and administration in the backgroundMore self-responsibility and taking of chances beyond the traditional studies to reap benefits

Faculty-Driven Process

Co-chairs

Outcomes Assessment

Steering Committee

Campus Outcomes Assessment Committee

Academic

Department Chairs, Faculty

and Deans

Support Services:

Associate Provosts and Area Directors

Assessment of Student Learning:

Faculty-ledAssessment of Support Services

Strengths and Weaknesses

+ -• Nascent culture of

assessment

• Formalized some administrative support

• Built representation of stakeholders

• Department-centric approaches and measures

• Campus approaches and measures: AP and MAPP

• Lack of clarity about terms or jargon• Lack of recognition of value• Misunderstanding of purpose• Lack of systematic approach to SL at

the program level• AP and MAPP: Limited usefulness• Campus support: Program

assessment over student learning• Limited faculty participation in OASC

and Campus-wide committee• Confusion about roles of academic

deans• Persistence of silos• Still missing: ways to use assessment

data to improve the whole-student experience

Campus –wide

Outcomes Assessment

Steering

Committee

Campus Support Services Branch

OASC

Student Learning Objectives

Institutional Effectiveness

Faculty Branch

OASCUniversity Director of

Assessment

Student Learning Objectives: Major, Program,

General Education

University Director of Assessment

AY10-11

Phase I – due November 15, 2010 Phase II –due May 31, 2011

Program Learning Goal:

Students will…

Student Learning

Objectives

Students will…

Direct and Indirect

Measures *

Findings (Learning

Outcomes)

Interpretation Actions Planned

Goal 2: Students should

understand the role of

water in sculpting surface

landforms.

Learning Objective 2.1

Students will explain how

streams shape the earth’s

surface

Measure 1:• Students will identify the erosional and

depositional features associated with a

meandering stream on multiple choice lecture exam questions.

sample lecture exam question

1) Point bars are deposited:

a) Where the river flows fastest around a meander bend

b) On the inside of a meander bend

c) On the outside of a meander bend

d) Next to a cut bank

Measure 1:

•

Measure 1:

•

Measure 1:

•

LONG-TIME AGO…CALLING IN OUTSIDE INFLUENCES:AAC&U…

• Standardized tests: • Academic Profile

transformed into MAPP

• Limited usefulness

Department Reports

AEC

• Liberal Arts faculty analyzed their department learning goals compared to Campus-wide Core goals

• Student Artifact Study• Cooperation of faculty:

Over summer and with actual student work

• Campus-wide symposium: Faculty and Campus Support Staff with invited speaker

• Followed by integrated break-out sessions

• Break-out sessions to delve more deeply into the themes of speaker

• and apply to Post’s particulars,

• e.g., what it means to be an educated graduate from Post, which is related to student preparedness, core, retention,…

• Have continued for the past five years.

• Fall and Spring: Open to all CSS and faculty

Assessment Flash: Monthly e-mail update designed to inform and alert faculty and staff about what is happening and new possible paths of assessment

Assessment Fair

• Opportunity for Staff and Faculty to share results (and get a free lunch):

• Posters; PowerPoint presentations; Three-dimensional displays (Chemistry)

• Most recently: Three-minute PowerPoint summaries, then discussion

Welcome to the April 2012 Assessment Flash, a monthly e-message update from the LIU Post OASC. The Flash includes brief progress of current projects and keeps you informed about assessment-related events. Roundtable Discussions Two roundtable discussions held this semester resulted in a proposed version of the AY 2012/13 Template which will be distributed to Department Chairs and Program Directors by the end of May so that faculty have access to it and the AY 2012/13 requirements before leaving campus for the summer. Departments will have the choice to use the new template or the original template during the upcoming 3-year assessment cycle. As always, the first reporting for the new cycle will be due on November 15

th, 2012.

Assessment Fair LIU Post’s first annual Assessment Fair was held in the Tilles Atrium on Thursday, April 12th. Since the goal of the Fair was to get people talking about assessment and learning from each other, it was a great success! Those attending had an opportunity to learn from the assessment work being done by many programs on campus. Thanks to all the participants who translated the sometimes dense process of assessment into colorful and interesting presentations that made it all so much more understandable. Special thanks to the Information Technology Resource Center (ITRC) staff, the Provost’s Office and the Office of Academic Affairs for their support of the event. Fall 2012 Curriculum Mapping Workshop Early in Fall 2012, the Office of Academic Affairs will sponsor a Curriculum Mapping workshop. Curriculum Mapping is a process that addresses alignment between program goals/objectives and the program’s curriculum. Program faculty who collaboratively complete the curriculum mapping process often identify gaps in curriculum when they analyze the alignment b etween their curriculum and the program learning objectives, leading them to make curricular changes before they even begin to collect data on their objectives. With this in mind, the Outcomes Assessment Team decided to support Faculty in completing their Curriculum Mapping with this workshop.

Reminder: Phase II OA Reports are due on May 31. Directions have been sent via Academic Deans. Please contact your Dean’s office if you have not received these directions. OA Support Personnel

Kathleen Morley University Director of Assessment Margaret F. Boorstein, John Lutz, John McLoughlin, Elizabeth Mezick Co-Chairs for LIU Post OASC Michele Dornisch LIU Post Assessment Specialist Kathleen Keefe-Cooperman (CEIS), Dulcie Stoepker (CLAS), Nancy Frye (CLAS), David Jalajas (COM), Suzanne McGuirk (SHPN), Donna Tuman (SVPA) LIU Post Assessment Fellows Measurement Tool Resources

The OA website provides resources for faculty including the Rubrics Brief Overview, Designing Rubrics PowerPoint, Examples of Student Learning, and Suggestions Regarding Measurement Tools (see http://liu.edu/Academic-Affairs/Outcomes-Assessment/Assessment-Resources.aspx) Campus Labs Remember that Campus Labs, formerly StudentVoice, provides webinars for the Baseline products related to assessment. More information is available at: http://www.campuslabs.com/support/training-instructions/

For more information about Outcomes Assessment at Long Island University, visit http://www.liu.edu/Academic-Affairs/Outcomes-Assessment.aspx.

Institutional maturity: well-established framework for assessment and

documentation

Redistribution of Resources:

Board of Trustees Grant: Faculty Development, including:

FYE-sponsored AACU high-impact institutes

Widening pool of faculty fellows: including addressing general education, beyond traditional school/college boundaries

Continue gen-ed symposia

No longer solely driven by external forces, including regional

accreditor, rather program assessment findings

Expansion of understanding of assessing the “whole student.”

Campus OutcomesAssessment Committee

ProvostFaculty Co-Chairs:OASC

Clerical Support

Faculty-Administratorinteraction

Campus OutcomesAssessment Committee

Campus and Academic Leadership

Faculty Co-Chairs:OASC Facultyand CSS Branches

Expertise And resources

Faculty-Administratorinteraction

Whole

student

Partnership

And respect

Further exploration of diversity of approaches:

Assessment of student learning

Pedagogy

Further integration of student support services in assessment model

Formalized faculty governance driving and recognizing new modes of assessment and inquiry

Fine-tuning of redistribution of institutional resources which is one of the main objectives of OA. Based on logic: Coincides with Institutional Effectiveness efforts.

Helix: the shape formed by a line that curves around and along a central line (axis); tangent drawn at any point is at a constant angle with the axis. Our model incorporates a spiraling of

new approaches while remaining true in using data-driven evidence. Our campus faculty and staff built or revised interlocking support mechanisms, including transparency of data; directed financial education; targeted academic guidance; and teaching students how to integrate their learning with their campus and off-campus lives.

Interlocking support mechanisms:

Academic-Advising partnerships:FYE evolved into FY seminars:Curriculum Change by faculty

Campus-wide Faculty governanceIn contrast to school-college

Outside normal structure: curving around helix with constant target of improving student learning.

Novelty and old-school at the same time

LIU promise

• Advisory board of faculty integrated with advising

• Formal integrated individualized and dedicated advisement across 4+ years of study.

– Financial aid

– Resume building

– Academic program progression

Integration of classroom learning and campus and off-campus lives

• Greek life

• Time management

• Development of first-year projects

• Common Read: Process and themes for Post foundations

• Athletes: Service projects

• LIU Cares

• Experiential learning

• Student-run businesses

Learning Communities

Integrative learning

Energizing old and new faculty

Advisors excited about new courses

Enthusiasm spreads to new and existing students

Sophomore Learning Communities

• Happiness, Science and Humanity

• What is happiness and how do we achieve it? Should happiness be our sole goal in life? Recent research within psychology has revealed possible answers to these and other related questions that are often surprising and counter-intuitive. But philosophy often poses challenges to precisely psychology’s “answers” and approach to understanding human nature. The goal of these classes will be to address such questions regarding human happiness, reviewing what both psychology and philosophy have to say about the topic, as well as how we might apply these ideas to our lives.

• Thieves, Vandals and Forgers: A Look at Art and Crime Since the Beginning of Time

• Socialization and the Media

AACU Integrative Learning Rubric

• Connections to Discipline– Sees (makes) connections across disciplines, perspectives

• Transfer– Adapts and applies skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies gained

in one situation to new situations

• Integrated Communication

• Reflection and Self-Assessment– Demonstrates a developing sense of self as a learner, building on prior

experiences to respond to new and challenging contexts (may be evident in self-assessment, reflective, or creative work)

AACU rubric

• Audience experiences

• Integration with inside and outside classroom connections, not only for students, or staff, but faculty and administration.

• Integrative learning leads to ownership which leads to more growth and cooperation.

Measures of Student Success

• First-year retention:

– Increase of 4 percentage points from 2012 -16

• Graduation rates:

– Increase of 8 percentage points from 2012-16

• Faculty use of Early Warning System

– Increase of 13 percentage points from 2014-2015

Resistance to Resignation, Acceptance, Enthusiasm

• Terminology, defining, translating

• AP and MAPP

• Department Assessment reports

“How to”

• Intellectual reflection and inquiry at the academic program and department

• Assessment template

Silo• Intellectual reflection and

inquiry at the campus level

• Sharing of actual results

• Assessment Fair and Assessment Flash

• FYE

Nascent Campus Community

•Recognizing the importance and integration of learning in and outside classroom

Campus community Maturing

•Learning Communities

•First-year seminars

Curricular innovation

embedding •Formalized re-evaluation of assessment results, literature, advances in academic disciplines

New modes of assessment inquiry-

based

Helix Model

Identify the inquiry question and the student learning outcome(s) related to it.

Describe the overall approach and timeline for the entire inquiry.

Describe the data collection methods for the inquiry. These should align with the best practices for, and at least one of the data sources must involve a directexamination of student learning.

For each data source, include a description of -

The tool being used (assignment description with rubric, test blueprint, survey, interview protocol).

When and where the tool will be employed (semester(s), number of administrations, course number, type of course)

The people with whom each tool will be employed (seniors in the major, all students in the course, program graduates, program faculty).

What challenges do you anticipate in implementing this inquiry study?

Any proposed assessment inquiry model must be built upon best practices for assessment by:

• centering on meaningful, continuous improvement of student learning

• focusing on knowledge and skills needed upon graduation

• using multiple measures, including direct measurement of student learning

• having annual data collection & some level of annual reporting

• proposing program-level changes (across the program, as appropriate)

• reporting on implemented changes & eventual re-assessment over time

What is your inquiry question?

What literature might help inform the inquiry?

What potential data/evidence might help answer the inquiry question?

Data source When is that data available?

• Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC): Discipline-based

• Learning Communities: Linked Interdisciplinary courses: Common themes in different disciplines, aka, Integrative Learning

• FY seminar: Core course linked to Introduction to College Life

• Quantitative concepts in different disciplines: Graphing Across the Curriculum (GAC)

• What obstacles have you faced in integrating support staff and faculty• Diverging goals? Resource scarcity? Others?

• What strengths have your campuses built on?• Sharing of success stories? Successful use of standardized

tests?

• What projects have induced enthusiasm?

• What types of data or methods of collection that work for both classroom and out-of-classroom assessment

• How does your campus share outcomes results?