Faculty Assessment of Student Learning, Department by Department
Go to: Workshop website
A workshop with funding from the ACM FaCE Project.
- October 24-25, 2008 (Friday evening through late Saturday afternoon)
- Host: Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, IL
- ACM contact: Betsy Hutula at the ACM office (312-263-5000)
- Coordinators at Lake Forest College: Andrea Muench and Rachel Ragland (Dept. of Education; 847-735-5198)
Go to: Workshop website ... overview ... schedule
Workshop overview
Assessment of student learning is being emphasized today across all higher education institutions, as indicated by the many initiatives supported by organizations such as the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Higher Learning Commission (HLC), and the Teagle Foundation.
Use of effective assessment strategies in student learning can enable faculty to reflect comprehensively and critically on the progress of their students, thereby improving their overall teaching effectiveness and the learning of their students.
Within each department, faculty who are proficient in assessing the learning of their students can substantively respond to fundamental questions such as "What evidence do you have that students actually achieve your stated learning outcomes?" Moreover, it is faculty members who should have the fundamental role in developing and sustaining systematic assessment of their students' learning.
This workshop will be a collaborative event for ACM faculty members with a goal of demonstrating the effectiveness of a departmental, or discipline-specific, approach to the development of effective practices in assessment of student learning.
To do this, we will focus on six departments that enroll large numbers of students on ACM campuses to serve as models for other departments: Art, Biology, English, History, Politics, and Psychology.
Workshop activities will include:
- General discussion of rationales and effective general practices in assessment of student learning and critical thinking, particularly in the context of small, liberal arts colleges;
- Group discussions of issues and practical solutions regarding assessment of student learning within that specific discipline;
- Within each department group, collaborative development and presentation of effective and practical assessment plans for that discipline; and
- Development of plans for continued consultation and collaboration beyond the workshop.
Workshop schedule
Friday, October 24
7:00 - 7:15 pm: Registration and Welcome
7:15 - 8:00 pm: Dinner
8:00 - 9:00 pm: Keynote address
- Marie Baehr, Dean of Coe College and Higher Learning Commission consultant
Saturday, October 25
8:00 - 8:30 am: Morning coffee
8:30 - 9:30 am: Workshop on the relationship between assessing disciplines and assessing the work of the college
- Teagle Consortium Panel: Marion Fass, Beloit College; Frank Gersich, Monmouth College; Robin Woods, Ripon College
9:30 - 10:00 am: Presentation on use of discipline specific direct assessment and development of rubrics
- Marie Baehr, Dean of Coe College and Higher Learning Commission consultant
10:00 - 10:15 am: Break
10:15 - 11:45 am: Discipline-specific breakout groups to develop model of assessment strategy examples
12:00 - 1:00 pm: Lunch and faculty networking
1:15 - 2:45 pm: Breakout groups complete assessment model example and prepare to share results with other groups
2:45 - 3:30 pm: Sharing/poster session of breakout group products
3:30 - 4:30 pm: Closing plenary, debriefing, presentation and Q & A
- Marie Baehr and Teagle Consortium Panel