1. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES Products / Reflections
NW Biology instructors Conference 2017
Initial Development of Program-Based Assessment Using Vision & Change Core Concepts & Competencies
College of Southern Idaho
Alex Doetsch, Jan Simpkin, & Bill Ebener
Photos should be at least 300dpi, but not more than 5-12 mgs each. Your poster is set to be enlarged 200% so do not change the page size to fit another poster size. Posters (3’ x 4’) will be printed at WWU using the same purchase order at the same time. Please your poster as a PPT file to by Joann Otto at WWU by Wednesday, April 21, 2017, by 5 pm. Please contact Joann Otto with questions about poster printing. Also please put your institution “logo” on your poster.
Please note that this template is provided to simplify your effort to prepare a poster for the NW Biology meeting. You can change the font size, colors, column widths, add photos, institutional logos, graphics, etc. This template can also be used as a starting point and you can be as creative as you want in your poster. However, we would like to have all of the posters the same size and we will be printed at the same time, at the same print shop in order to easily pay for printing with one purchase order.
MAIN GOAL – Release time for development of a program-based outcomes assessment framework
ACTIONS
BARRIERS & CHALLENGES
SUSTAINABILITY
Release time granted for one faculty member.
Alignment of department goals with V&C CCC and the science general education objectives established by the Idaho State Board of Education.
Initial mapping of individual biology courses into the new department goals.
Current educational discourse in Idaho revolves around general education and program-level assessment; we framed our proposal in this context.
A need to improve teaching facilities to foster active learning environments.
A lack of a unified and consistent post-secondary education system; program and course inconsistencies plague the educational aspirations of Idaho.
A lack of a tracking system for monitoring student progress through and beyond our program.
Unofficial commitment by administration for continued release time for one faculty member.
Cultural commitment within the biology department to implement this framework.
Continued advocacy for V&C to demonstrate this framework is a nationally supported movement in undergraduate biology (and science) education.
When unanticipated challenges arise, it is wonderful to know that we can rely on the V&C community for support with our administration.
STRENGTHS & LEVERAGE
RESOURCES & ALLIES
FUTURE GOALS
Attendance at the Northwest Biosciences Consortium workshop 2017 for aligning non-majors biology to V&C CCC.
Associate Dean of STEM – successful advocacy for release time and our proposal for program-level assessment.
Unified biology department consisting primarily of full-time faculty.
Political / Human Resources lever: We utilized the Associate Dean of STEM as our communication point into the system.
Structural lever: We framed our work within the context of the current emphasis of the institution and the state legislature on general education and program assessment.
Officially adopt our new biology department goals.
Align each course syllabus / curricular guide with our new department goals.
Adjust individual courses so that they support our new department goals.
Develop a program-level assessment for use at various time points throughout the program to demonstrate student improvement within the program.
Develop a student portfolio process that documents exemplary assignments / evaluations for each program goal.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Positive: Addressing program-level assessment first provides framework for subsequent course-level implementation.
Negative: Multiple revisions of our department goals within the last 5 years.
Products / Reflections
Successful proposal for release time to develop a program-based outcomes assessment.
Department goals fully aligned with V&C CCC and the Idaho State Board of Education objectives for general education science courses.
This work was supported in part by an NSF RCN UBE award #