2. Assessment and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Dr. Anne Marchant, Director Center for Teaching and Learning

3. Learning Objectives Todays outcomes: Understanding of assessment as a tool to achieve continuous improvement. Understanding of experimentation as a means to improve learning outcomes.

4. What is Assessment? Assessment is a way to evaluate. We use this term in different ways: Assignments in courses. Evaluation of learning outcomes. Evaluation of programs.

5. Assessment occurs at different levels Accreditation/Departmental/School Evaluation Accreditation/Administration/Curriculum Committees Accreditation/ Fed. Department of Ed./ UniversityProgramCourse

6. Assessment occurs at different levels Course Level Assessment Curriculum Maps Programmatic Assessment

7. The Assessment Process: Remember to close the loop! Creating Objectives Determining Measures and Targets Gathering Findings Creating an Action Plan Implementing the Action Plan

8. Examples Students will be able to write about …. (Objective) 5 page research paper. (Assessment/Measure) 80% of students will be able to do X. (Target) 73% of students were able to do X. (Finding) Modules on education methods will be improved by … (Action Plan) What would the next step be?

9. Spotlight on Course Level Assessment Assessments should map to course objectives. They may be direct or indirect measures of learning. Can you think of examples?

10. Assessment Plan How do you know if your learning objectives are being met? How is this different from grading? How is your course going to improve each time you teach it?

11. Let’s Review We’ve talked about different types of assignments. We’ve talked about syllabus construction and scaffolding. How do we put these ideas together to build an assessment plan? (Keep in mind you will probably be expected to report these findings to accrediting bodies.)

12. One way to do this is in a chart format ObjectiveMeasure(s)Direct/indirectTarget Understand fundamental concepts Midterm Final Direct75% Write about historical events using peer reviewed sources Paper Website Project Direct75% Display ability to critically analyze events Discussion Blog Indirect80% Present historical topics effectively iMovieDirect75%

13. New Forms of Assessment Concept Maps Example: https://www.text2mindmap.com/https://www.text2mindmap.com/ Competency e-Portfolio Reeves, Alternative Assessment Approaches for Online Learning. Journal Education Computing Research, 2000.

14. New Forms of Assessment Analytics:

15. Feedback Expectations and criteria are clear. Feedback should be timely. Peer review is encouraged. Feedback should be varied. Rubrics can help ensure objectivity and help with assessment.

16. Thoughts for Discussion Theories about grading: What is your philosophy? Is grading different in online classes? What challenges does an online class present with respect to grading?

17. SOTL What is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning? (Google this if you are not sure.) Why is it hard to run experiments? Let’s take a sample research question: Does distance education result in the same or better learning outcomes as face-to-face instruction? (What are the challenges to conducting this research?)

18. SOTL Some organizations/journals: Georgia Southern: SOTL Commons Conference International Journal for the SOTL CASTL Online Learning Consortium POD To Improve the Academy

19. Wrap-up and Assessment Questions? Comments? Suggestions?