The Art and Science of Teaching: Assessment Structures for College Faculty

TRUMAN COLLEGE ADJUNCT ORIENTATION

GEOFF MARTIN

AUGUST 20, 2015

Agenda

Introduction

Assessment at Truman

Assessment vs. Accreditation

Assessment Committee

Assessment in the Classroom

“We must change the status of teaching from private to community property”

- Lee S. Shulman

Assessment – What is it?

MCC: “gathering, interpreting, and acting on information to improve student learning”

Mission & Values

Mission:

• Our Mission dedicates us to deliver high-quality, innovative, affordable and accessible educational opportunities and services that prepare students for a rapidly changing and diverse global economy.

Vision:

• guides us to enrich the quality of life of our students and the community we serve through creative responses to educational, economic, social and global changes.

OutcomesGeneral Education Outcomes:

1. Communication (Written & Oral) – The student communicates effectively in both written and oral formats

2. Inquiry and Analysis – The student gathers, interprets, and analyzes data

3. Critical Thinking - The student demonstrates the ability to think critically, abstractly, and logically

4. Civic Engagement and Human Diversity - The student exhibits social and ethical responsibility and is aware of his or her place in the global community.

Program Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Master syllabus for each course (Illinois Community College Board approved)

Often confused…ACCREDITATION

• Department of Education: “The goal of accreditation is to ensure that education provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality. Accrediting agencies, which are private educational associations of regional or national scope, develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations to assess whether or not those criteria are met.”

• Compliance, standards

• “administration”

ASSESSMENT

• College, department, and individual faculty practices of “gathering, interpreting, and acting on information to improve student learning.”

• Research, best-practices, questions/curiosities

• “faculty”

Higher Learning CommissionHLC Open Pathway (10 year accreditation, 2010-2020)

Truman’s QI 2015-2017:

◦ Linked Courses: Streamlining & Enhancing Innovative Course Structures at Truman

Accreditation Review 2019-2020

Assessment Committee Charge

The Assessment Committee at Truman College is an interdisciplinary group composed of faculty and administrators who collect, review, analyze, and disseminate data to maintain high standards for learning quality, and ultimately, to improve student learning.

Members – AY 2015

Marwan Amarin (Biology)

Diego Baez (College Success)

Kate Connor (Child Dev. & Education)

Mike Davis (Education & Chemistry)

Akbar Ebrahim (Biology)

Cari Hennessy (Institutional Research)

Joshua Jones (Social Science)

Ana King (Communications)

Nick Lim (Library)

Derek Lazarski (Academic Support Services)

Geoffrey Martin (Communications)

Leone McDermott (Library)

Sarah McLaughlin (Communications)

Sweet Mordi (Nursing)

Farzana Najam (Biology)

Harry Sdralis (Biology)

LaSandra Skinner (Business)

DeShaunta Stewart (Office of Instruction)

Helen Valdez (Mathematics)

Joy Walker (Physical Science)

Assessment Committee Meetings (first Thursdays, Rm 2913) Assessment Committee Meeting Structure:

1. General meeting tasks

2. Assessing Teaching & Learning in the Classroom (IGNITE presentations)

3. Administrative Assessment (Internal Research, Office of Instruction, Academic Support Centers, etc.)

4. Assessment in the Disciplines (formalizing ongoing assessment practices)

5. General Education Assessment (cyclical study of GenEd outcomes)

6. Faculty-Only (reports/concerns/ideas related to assessment practices at Truman, CCC)

General Education Outcome #1: Study of Written Communication:

Edited Truman’s rubric for assessing Written Communication(Spring 2014 & Fall 2015)

Extensive committee discussion regarding process, sampling, and structure of the study (Fall 2015)

Compiled list of courses that “count to graduation” and “contain written component” to generate a structured sample (Dec 2015)

Generate structured sample, faculty letters, section rosters, & student ID sticker labels (Jan/Feb 2015)

Contacted sampled faculty/courses, collected student artifacts (March-May 2015)

Held two-day assessment of student written artifacts (May 13, 14)

Analyze data (quantitative & qualitative) and disseminate findings (Fall 2015)

Study of Written Communication – Spring 2015

Study of Written Communication – AY 2015

Last Name First Name Dept.

Mahoney Jessica Communications

Aman Naveen Biology

Mathis Michael Social Science

Jash Panchatapa Physical Science

McLaughlin Sarah Communications

Anelli Roberta Biology

Baez Diego College Success

Johnston Anthony Social Science

Nowacki Patricia Communications

Pavlik Melissa Communications

Martin Geoff Communications

Walker Joy Physical Science

Tollett Rachel Humanities

King Ana Communications

Sprewer Keith Communications

EL-Maazawi Mohamed Physical Science

Marcus Susan Dean, Instruction

Benglesdorf Toby Writing Center

Faculty Readers: May 13 & 14th 9-12pm

Assessment Committee: AY 2016

Transfer internal Sharepoint files to webpage for accreditation/assessment public viewing

Analyze “Study of Written Communication” data & disseminate findings/loopback and initiate actions

Continue building IGNITE presentation archive

Create and Conduct “Study of Oral Communication”

Plan for GenEd Outcome #2 Inquiry & Analysis Spring 2016

Gathering discipline-specific assessment practices and data for repository/posting/improving

Assessment in the Classroom

Ken Bain What the Best College Teachers Do (2004)

• Excellence in Teaching: “helping students learn in ways that made a sustained, substantial, and positive influence on how those students think, act, and feel” (5).

• The Fundamental Assessment Question:“What kind of intellectual and personal development do I want my students to enjoy in this class, and what evidence might I collect about the nature and progress of their development.” (152-3)

• This assumes learning is developmental (rather than only a question of acquisition)

• Grading becomes not a means to rank but a way to communicate with students

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning• “Teaching [is] challenging, intellectual work—work that poses interesting consequential questions.

The scholarship of teaching and learning invites faculty from all disciplines and fields to identify and explore those questions in their own teaching—and, especially, in their students’ learning—and to do so in ways that are shared with colleagues who can build on new insights” (Huber & Hutchings, ix).

• Growing the teaching commons (Higher Ed., Two-Years, Field/Discipline, Department)

• Making the private work of the classroom visible, talked about, studied, built upon, valued

• Transforming/ongoing improvement in higher education

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) – Angelo & Cross resource book, future PD

Formative vs. Summative Assessment

• http://marekbennett.com/2014/11/04/how-to-draw-up-a-lesson-plan/

Characteristics of Classroom Assessment• Learner-Centered

• Teacher-Directed

• Mutually Beneficial

• Formative

• Context-specific

• Ongoing

• Rooted in Good Teaching Practice

- Angelo & Cross, Classroom Assessment Techniques, 4-6.

Opportunities at Truman

• Departmental assessment projects (portfolios, common final exams, new scantron)

• Center for Teaching and Learning (coming back!)

• IGNITE Presentations (5 slides in 5 mins.) at Assessment Meetings

• OpenBook (personal research – past success & retention rates, longitudinal tracking, etc.)

Sources & Recommended Books• Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross, Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for

College Teachers, (1993)

• Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do, (2004)

• Mary Taylor Huber and Pat Hutchings, The Advancement of Learning: Building the Teaching Commons, (2005)

• Lee S. Shulman, Teaching as Community Property: Essays on Higher Education, (2004)

• http://marekbennett.com/2014/11/04/how-to-draw-up-a-lesson-plan/

Questions, Ideas, & Survey

Thank you!

Geoff MartinChair of AssessmentInstructor, Communicationsgmartin55@ccc.eduOffice #2753