5. How to Amass Evidence (Evaluation) of Change and its Effects? How does assessment drive transformative change in the classroom, at the department level, and in the entire institution?

Key Findings Need for expert online resource(s) for assessing evidence of change (interactive web-based portal) –Student learning outcomes –Faculty teaching practices/behaviors Need to articulate value of assessment to stakeholders –Students –Faculty –Administration –Public

Recommendations and Roadmap Plan online resource(s) –Who builds and sustains? (individual, committee, network, organization) –How does it work? (interactive, flexible, non-linear, iterative, scalable) –How is it used? (“Assessment for Dummies”) Articulate value to stakeholders –Use PULSE as starting point

KEY FINDINGS – GENERAL BIOLOGY EDUCATION  There is a growing knowledge base on effective teaching strategies thanks to an emerging collection of assessment tools, program designs, and institutional efforts.  As a result of V&C, assessment and evaluation have greater value to our community and serve multiple purposes.  Our community recognizes that being proficient at both assessment and evaluation is a critical part of being a life science professional.

RECOMMENDATIONS  Life science professionals should receive training and support to develop proficiency in assessment and evaluation methods.  Our community needs an accessible repository for validated assessment/ evaluation tools that could be used in the following ways: cross-institutional studies; curriculum development; collaborative research, and sharing results.  We should encourage, support, and fund longitudinal research.

ROAD MAP/NEXT STEPS  Engage professional societies in developing a national plan for establishing standards and models and providing a "home" for raising professional standards for teaching.  Top down support is critical. It opens opportunities for creative ideas at the departmental level to become reality.  Identify a home for the central repository and support vetting of materials to populate the repository, offer training and support, and provide collaborative support. Develop decision tree to help users identify appropriate resources and collaborators and mentors.

Present: There are a lot of assessment resources, but not located in one place Faculty don’t know about the resources and how to best use them Assessment is not widely viewed as part of the instructional cycle Growing emphasis on scholarly teaching What processes and methods provide evidence of change now and in the future?

Future- Faculty across biological sciences will: learn about, access, and utilize tools and assessment methods that have been vetted align assessment with institutional general education goals and nurture institutional support There will be: collaborations between faculty and education researchers to facilitate evidenced-based teaching across multiple levels research on teaching that will apply to ALL students What processes and methods provide evidence of change now and in the future?

Action needed: Creation of a curated and moderated clearinghouse of assessment tools Professional development and continuing support of faculty, postdocs, and graduate students Leadership development to motivate and support a culture that values assessment as part of teaching Professional development to support ongoing evidence-based teaching practices Leadership to foster institutional capacity for adoption of evidence-based teaching practices for ALL students What processes and methods provide evidence of change now and in the future?