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Diversification Outcomes AssessmentThe General Education Assessment Committee proposed the following assessment plan at the December 15, 2004 assessment meeting. The following items are on this page: The plan was subsequently revised; see the Revised Diversification Plan.
Diversification Social Science (DS) Assessment PlanOverview Student work (exams, essays, projects, etc.) in Diversification Social Science courses will be collected and sorted into levels of achievement by a faculty committee. The results will guide us as we make improvements in course designation processes, hallmarks, and pedagogy.
Background UHM is slowing moving from a teacher-centered culture to a student-centered culture. We are not solely looking at traditional measures of student achievement such as grade point averages, retention rates, and course evaluations. We have turned our attention to direct measures of student learning. The Diversification Social Science Assessment Plan will provide us with information about how well our students are meeting our DS learning objectives. It will guide efforts to increase the likelihood that students meet our learning goals. The plan meets WASC requirements. The Diversification objectives are aligned with two points of the UH Mānoa Strategic Plan:
The Diversification Social Science objectives are aligned with UH Mānoa’s General Education Program which states that the Diversification requirement will “assure that every student has a broad exposure to different domains of academic knowledge.”
Assessment Plan
STEP 1—ESTABLISH Educational OBJECTIVES STATUS: COMPLETED Learning Outcomes. After completing the DS requirement, students will be able to 1. use the terminology of theories, structures, or processes in the social or psychological sciences 2. identify the concepts, models, practices, or issues of concern in the scientific study of these structures, or processes 3. understand the quantitative and/or qualitative methods employed in the scientific study of structures, or processes of these sciences STEP 2—CREATE LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT & CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS STATUS: DRAFT COMPLETED; NEEDS TESTING The DS Assessment Committee will identify levels of achievement through a scoring rubric (1=below expectations, 2=meets expectations, 3=exemplary) and representative samples of student work Criterion for success=90% of students score “2-meets expectations” or “3-exemplary” in the three areas STEP 3—IDENTIFY INDICATORS (EVIDENCE) STATUS: NOT COMPLETED We will collect pieces of student work completed in a DS course that address the desired educational objectives. Student work may include essays, exams, projects, and homework assignments. STEP 4—USE OF RESULTS STATUS: NOT COMPLETED Possible uses of results:
DS Assessment Plan: Timeline of Activities, January 2005-January 2006
Diversification Social Science Scoring Rubric
Diversification Social Science Hallmarks (used to designate courses) Designation criterion The Two-Thirds Guideline. In making its determination, the GEC will be guided by the "Two-Thirds Guideline": For a course to be designated in a particular area, approximately two thirds of the content of its governing syllabus and approximately two thirds of the required class meetings must demonstrate the hallmarks. (Thus, a course in Family Resources that is two thirds social sciences and one third humanities will count toward the social sciences area only; a course in Hindi that involves literary texts for half of the course and conversational skills for half of the course will not be designated as appropriate to fulfill any area of Diversification Requirements.) To satisfy the Social Sciences requirement, a course
Resources Needed to Assess General Education and Create a Culture of EvidenceAdministration: Support and Promote National experts and faculty from institutions at which general education assessment is taking place agree that the chief executive and chief academic officers need to support and promote assessment efforts. Coordination & Education General Education assessment committees will need a resident expert to serve as a consultant, facilitator, coordinator, and disseminator of information. The expert can also serve as a consultant to departments that are carrying out departmental-based assessment.
Logistics Logistical and staff support are needed because every semester UHM offers over 2,000 general education sections; over 30,000 general education seats are filled; and over 700 faculty members are assigned to teach general education sections.
Faculty Involvement General education assessment requires two types of faculty involvement: (1) all faculty teaching general education courses need to be willing to provide evidence of student work and to participate in discussions about assessment results and how to use those results to improve student learning; (2) a small group of faculty members who teach general education courses need to serve on assessment committees The first type of involvement can be secured through support of the Office of the Chancellor. The second type will initially require a significant amount of faculty input and expertise for each assessment plan (e.g., DS assessment plan). Committee members will be responsible for creating rubrics, training faculty members, assessing student work, making recommendations based on assessment results, and participating in faculty development workshops. The faculty members willing to engage in assessment efforts at this level will be compensated during the development stage. 6 faculty experts who teach a DS course ($1,600/faculty member; total of $9,600 January-June 2005)
Faculty Concerns About Assessment & the WASC RequirementsFACULTY: What’s the difference between course evaluation and assessment? WASC: Course evaluation is a perceptual snapshot of student opinion (e.g., CAFÉ, departmental course evaluations). Assessment is a continual process of demonstrating that students have learned at the course and programmatic level. When student learning falls short of the program’s learning objectives, steps are taken to improve student learning.
FACULTY: We grade students. Why aren’t grades enough for assessment? WASC: Grades are important indicators of how well students are meeting instructors’ course objectives, but course grades alone do not measure how well students are meeting program- or university-level learning objectives. WASC asks that institutions assess at the program level and university level.
FACULTY: We don’t have enough time to do this. WASC: Assessment does take time, but a shift in the university’s culture from a teacher-centered to a student-centered institution helps minimize the “extra” burden because gathering assessment evidence and using that evidence to improve instruction becomes part of the standard operating procedure. Additionally, an effective assessment plan capitalizes on what is already happening at the university instead of only creating new tasks for faculty, staff, and students.
FACULTY: Is this a way of evaluating faculty members? WASC: Assessment is a demonstration of student learning. The results are used by groups of faculty members to improve instruction and campus activities. The focus is on the program, not individual faculty members. However, individual faculty members can use the results to reflect on what takes place in their classrooms.
FACULTY: The goals of our program can’t be measured. WASC: Some goals of higher education are difficult to measure. However, faculty members are well equipped to critique complex situations and pieces of evidence. Faculty members can develop appropriate criteria and apply that criteria to student learning experiences so that they can demonstrate how well students are meeting the criteria.
FACULTY: Let’s form a committee a couple months before the WASC visit, have the committee write the report, and be done with it.
General Education Committee Assessment MeetingDecember 15, 2004 9:00–11:30 a.m. QLC 208 Conference Room The GEC Assessment Subcommittee (Randy Hensley, Monica Stitt-Bergh, and Megumi Taniguchi) presented a plan to assess the Diversification-Social Science area of the General Education Program. The goal of the subcommittee was to get feedback and thus improve the plan and the procedures to implement it. Documents that were distributed to participants: · Agenda · Faculty Concerns about Assessment and the WASC Requirements · WASC: Educational Effectiveness · Diversification Social Science (DS) Assessment Plan · Timeline of Activities (blue) · Diversification Social Science Scoring Rubric (yellow) · Resources Needed to Assess General Education and Create a Culture of Evidence (green)
Participants: 24 (GEC and its Boards, and OVCAA staff were invited.) (Sorted by boards)
Assessment Committee’s summary of the December 15, 2004 meeting After the Assessment Committee presented the proposed plan to assess Diversification Social Sciences, the floor was opened for discussion. Issues raised include:
· It is not feasible and not efficient for faculty members to assess a diverse range of student work (e.g., homework, exams, essays, projects, etc.). · Sampling issues: selection criteria issues; confound of major; confound of transfer students; etc. · There should be a control group for comparison. · “Social sciences” cannot be defined. · The learning outcomes are too broad to be useful. · No useful results will occur as a result of the proposed plan. Results will not help faculty members make changes to improve learning, courses, or processes. o Assessment should give information back to individual faculty. · An assessment plan should include a longitudinal element that will let us see student development. For example, a pre-test and a post-test. o The tracking issues pose a serious problem (only 1/3 of the Mānoa graduates started at Mānoa) · Individual students should be tracked through the GenEd requirements. · Use grades as a means of assessment. o Collect syllabi; use grades in the classes that assign “social science” activities as a demonstration of evidence of student learning. · A “UH Career” assessment is needed instead of assessing individual components of GenEd. o Minimize the burden on faculty by choosing a single assessment mechanism that assesses all areas. o An exit interview could be used to assess multiple GenEd areas. o The current Writing Placement Exam could include questions about the Diversification areas; the essays could be assessed for writing and for Diversification content knowledge. o A national standardized exam can be used to assess Diversification (e.g., ACT’s CAAP exam). § National exams do not take the local culture and UHM curriculum into consideration. · Not all areas of GenEd can be assessed in the same way. For example, Oral Communication needs to be assessed much differently than Diversification Social Science. · The budget included in the proposal needs to be more detailed. · Release time, not money, is needed for faculty who participate in assessing student work. · Start small (e.g., ACT exam) and scale up as we can.
After discussion, two possibilities appeared to garner the most attention: 1) The Assessment Committee should add more detail to the proposal; a revised proposal should be re-submitted; the scheduled spring activities should take place.
2) The Assessment Committee should create an assessment plan that includes a pre-test/post-test component. The plan should include adding elements to the Mānoa Writing Program’s Writing Placement Exam so that additional areas of the GenEd Program can be assessed at the entry-point and exit-point of a student’s academic career.
The Assessment Committee agreed to revise the proposal in ways that will take the discussion into consideration.
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