Jenny Simon, El Camino College Louise Yarnall, SRI International Jane Ostrander, De Anza College Assessment to inform practice

Agenda 2 1. Case Study (30 mins.) 2. Questions/Transition (10 mins.) 3. SBL Hands-on (45 mins.) 4. Reflection (15 mins.) 5. Closing comments (10 mins.)

1. CaseStudy Jenny Simon, El Camino College 3

The Zen of the El Camino College Response to the Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment Mandate Dr. Jenny Simon

Assess Reflect Identify Constructing a Zen Path: The Strategy – Complete Assessment Cycles 5

Constructing a Zen Path – The Goal: 6

Constructing a Zen Path – The Plan: 7 Three co-coordinators lead a college-wide Assessment of Learning Committee tasked with: Reporting forms and protocols Creating outcomes and assessment plans at all levels Designing faculty training (Flex Day & Assessment of Student Learning Week) Growing infrastructure as the project expands Establishing ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES

Selected Assessment Principles Personnel directly involved in a course, program or service are finally responsible, but broad participation in assessment cycles is a shared responsibility. One size will not fit all. Student learning outcomes are defined and assessed in various ways. Assessment results are used to improve student learning through curricular, planning and budget decisions. Adjunct faculty are invited to participate in assessments, but they are not required to do so before relevant contractual issues are settled.

How the ESL Department Took on the Challenge First Assessment: ESL 53A (low intermediate writing/grammar class) –ESL faculty created a rubric –Took a sample of essays (5 per section) –Adjuncts invited to participate—and they did –Data: total scores of essays –Results: used to improve assessment itself

How the ESL Department Took on the Challenge Second Assessment: ESL 53B (high intermediate writing/grammar class) –Rubric taken from California Pathways –Took a sample of essays (5 per section) –Adjuncts invited to participate—and they did –Data: total scores of essays and scores for each primary trait on the rubric –Results: used to improve teaching and program organization

Questions/Comments? Jenny Simon, Ed.D. ESL Faculty / SLO Assessment Coordinator El Camino College Torrance, CA (310) x 5187

2. SBL Scenario-Based Learning Project Task Modules: Students as employees Professional deliverables Faculty as managers Collaboration & problem solving Reflection on experience Fields: Network security Computer programming Engineering Environmental studies Bioinformatics 12

SBL Scenario-Based Learning Project Challenges of SBL: How do you know students are learning? How do you grade all the “soft” skills? Is this worth all the effort? Our approach to addressing these problems: Role of Assessment 13

SBL Scenario-Based Learning Project Assessment Activities: We engaged instructors in activities like you will do today We collaboratively designed assessments with them They helped us study how valid they were Goals to help instructors: Reduce the “signal to noise” around core learning goals in SBL Avoid the trap of “low expectations” of procedural proficiency Gain confidence in “soft skills” assessment and feedback 14

3.SBL Scenario-Based Learning Project Hands-on Task (Introduction, 10 mins.; Task, 10 mins.) We will engage you in an activity like we did with the SBL instructors Hand out sheets with interview protocols Team up in pairs Take turns interviewing each other for 5 minutes, filling out worksheets Hand in your worksheets 15

SBL Scenario-Based Learning Project Design pattern creation (10 mins.) We will engage you in another activity like we did with the SBL instructors Need a volunteer team selected from returned worksheets Louise will walk through worksheets and fill out part of design pattern 16

Design Pattern Title: Personal Business Communication Domain: Summary (what is the learning goal) How to use the Internet for ing business contacts. Writing and using . Rationale (why is it important?) Students need to learn to deal with businesses in their real lives. They can be more empowered if they improve their ability to communicate with these companies in . Focal KSAs (core learning goals) Frame sentences. Compose the sentences. Use the correct formal tone in the sentences. How to use software. How to get the response they wanted: get to the point. Ask for the specific solution. How to use protocol, etiquette. 17

Additional KSAs (background knowledge necessary, but not taught) Basic spelling Basic grammar and sentence construction Use the computer Keyboarding Potential observations (what attainment of KSAs looks like, quality of performance) They accomplish a goal with the letter. They can explain what they accomplished with the company letter. Potential work products (general categories of work products) Letter to the company Response from the company Characteristic features (assessment task must have these) Assessment asks the student to distinguish between an effective and ineffective complaint letter, request for service, or letter of praise. Variable features (you can vary the difficulty level with these) 18

4. Reflection assessment that informs practice 19

Reflect on… The Case Study SBL Activity Assessment informing Your practice What did the interview process feel like? 2. What did you learn from the interviews? 3. How would the case study’s processes work at your campus? In your Division?

Closing Questions? 21

Additional information 22