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Assessment Matters @ Wmu, Fall 2019, Karen M. Stokes Chapo, Assessment In Action Committee

Assessment Matters @ WMU

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Competencies, Instruction, And Academic Leadership, Daniela C. Schroeter

Academic Leadership Academy

Background and Context

My primary research interests center on evaluation theory, methodology, practice, and capacity building. In particular, my current research focuses on evaluation competencies among public and nonprofit sector employees. In light of the 2018-2019 Academic Leadership Academy and Instructional Development grant, this poster revisits findings from a federal evaluator survey and examines: What evaluation and leadership competencies should be emphasized in the developments of public administrators?

A Rather Different ‘Operating System’ For Courses, Learning And Assessments — A Formative, Objectives-Mastery, Modular System (Fomms), David Schuster

Assessment Grants

This project involves a different way of running courses and assessments, in line with a very formative philosophy on learning. Being a whole system, it involves several components working together. Topics are designed as a sequence of small natural ‘learning units’, each with specific learning objectives. The aim is for all students to eventually attain high-level ‘mastery’ of all topic objectives, given the opportunity. Structured ‘learning tasks’ occur during learning, and ‘mastery assessments’ after topic completion. Both are formative rather than summative, in that students have an opportunity to learn from feedback and try again for mastery (assessment for learning). …

Graduate Student Success: Developing A Holistic Assessment Process For The Electronic Portfolio Using The Acpa/Naspa Professional Competency Areas, Ramona B. Lewis, Casey Dornhecker

Assessment Grants

The purpose of this project is to develop a holistic and sustainable assessment process for the Performance Driven Leadership electronic portfolio that is completed as part of the M.A. in Educational Leadership Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership (HESA) concentration.

Cliftonstrengths For Students: Developing Engaged And Thriving Students Through Strengths Awareness And Development, Adrienne Fraaza, Ewa Urban

Assessment Grants

The Office of Student Transitions embarked upon its second pilot year of implementing Gallup's CliftonStrengths for Students into First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses. Strengths development focuses on improving self-awareness and well-being, giving students a tool to understand how to leverage their natural talents for success. Nearly half of the FYS instructors chose to integrate Strengths activities and development into their courses. Final data indicated an increase in self-awareness, confidence, and affirmation of major/career choices. Nearly 89% of pilot students said that Strengths should be implemented in all FYS courses.

Assessing Creative Growth In The Frostic School Of Art, William Charland

Assessment Grants

This project examined the suitability of the Torrance Test of Creativity as a direct measure of determining growth in student creativity from matriculation to graduation among students enrolled in B.F.A. and B.A. programs across the areas of the Frostic School of Art (FSoA). Test takers were anonymous, representing an opportunity sample of incoming and outgoing student cohorts. This research project’s aim was to determine if creativity, as distinct from techniques and skills, increased between the first year and graduation among students in the FSoA.

Continuous Improvement In Student Affairs, Jen Wells

Assessment in Action Conference

Imagine booking a trip but never getting on the plane, or buying a movie ticket but never walking into the theater. Or what if you fully planned a program, but you never executed it? Barring environmental or extraneous factors, it’s hard to imagine not following through in these scenarios. Now, think about learning valuable information through an assessment project, but never using it. This should be equally unfathomable. The data collected in our assessments should be meaningful by informing our work and helping us continually improve. This presentation offers strategies on how to make data-informed decisions, demonstrate why this is …

Continuous Improvement In Academic Affairs, Jen Wells

Assessment in Action Conference

As faculty, we are asked to focus on teaching, research, and service; how we manage our work is often pre-determined by how we allocate time to these three elements. With that, the question is where assessment and continuous improvement fit. This presentation will offer a model of continuous improvement and ideas on how it can be integrated in your current work and not as a check the box exercise. We will also review how assessment can be scaffolded and implemented at the graduate level.

Writing & Connecting Learning Outcomes Across The Co-Curricular Environment, Marilyn Duke, Ciji Heiser, Anthony Helms

Assessment in Action Conference

This session focuses on the two primary areas of writing learning outcomes and then connecting outcomes to a co-curricular map. In the first part of the session, participants will work through a learning outcomes model to draft new outcomes or revisit existing outcomes and receive feedback from peers and session facilitators. In the second part of the workshop, the discussion will shift to how to connect learning outcomes across multiple programs and services to develop co-curricular maps. Outcome maps help staff identify areas of strength in student learning outcomes and gaps in outcome development. Participants will have the opportunity to …

Curriculum Mapping As A Path For Success, Susan L. Caulfield, David Paul, Cynthia Visscher

Assessment in Action Conference

This workshop engages participants in a conversation about their knowledge and experience with curriculum mapping. Examples of curriculum mapping are provided, along with assessment outcomes related to such mapping. Participants will be asked to articulate a class or program-level outcome and workshop facilitators will be able to assist with the definition and creation of outcomes. Such outcomes will then be related back to curriculum mapping. Participants will leave with two different examples of curriculum mapping, as well as some experience in engaging the process of curriculum mapping.

What's Your Assessment - Why?, Jen Wells

Assessment in Action Conference

Accountability. Accreditation. Resources. Student Success. Student Learning. Student Development. External Factors. Program Review. All of these terms and more are associated with assessment. In this keynote, I want to go back to the why! Why is this important? Why should we do this? What is the why of assessment and how do our own experiences translate and transfer into the concept of continuous improvement.

2019 Western Michigan University Assessment In Action Conference, Office Of Assessment And Undergraduate Studies

Assessment in Action Conference

Included here is the schedule and session descriptions from the 10th Annual WMU Assessment in Action Conference held on March 15, 2019. The conference, sponsored by the Office of Assessment and Undergraduate Studies at Western Michigan University, is a one-day event where those new to outcomes assessment can come and learn fundamental knowledge about the field, but it is also a place where those who have worked as leaders in outcomes assessment can come and extend their knowledge and skills and network with colleagues. Conference offerings included learning opportunities on various assessment topics for both academic and learner supports units.

Assessing The Assessors: Potential Barriers To Engaged Writing Assignments, Lisa Singleterry, Susan L. Caulfield

Assessment Grants

The aim of this project is to inform departments and schools within the College of Health and Human Services of how their faculty, in general, approach writing-related requirements with their courses. Authors adapted 3 surveys to measure faculty perceptions about writing, including faculty approaches to assigning writing, faculty comfort levels with writing and how equipped they are to assess writing. Data will be entered into SPSS for data analysis that will be used to inform needs for department and faculty support or policy development.

Collaborative Learning For High Voltage Engineering Education, Pablo Gomez, Edmund Tsang

Assessment Grants

The goal of this project is to evaluate the applicability and efficacy of a collaborative learning environment for high voltage (HV) engineering education. This environment is based on the interaction of two pedagogical approaches: computer simulation and experimental/laboratory work. Two courses on HV engineering were offered in parallel in the Fall 2018 semester – one taught at Western Michigan University focusing on computer simulation and the other one taught at Mississippi State University focusing on experimental/laboratory work.