Suskie, Chapter 7: Organizing an Assessment Process

Basically, this chapter builds upon the information that was presented in the previous chapters. Assessment should consist of a committee under faculty leadership. The committee should develop an assessment plan beginning with the following: a clear understanding of why we are assessing; a clear understanding of the audiences for the assessment findings; a supportive climate for assessment; and adequate resources to support assessment efforts (p.99).
Take Stock of Curricula & Learning Opportunities
Suggested options for reviewing our curriculum to ensure alignment with learning outcomes:
Curriculum mapping—map learning goals against its courses; this helps to identify that some important learning outcomes are addressed in just one or two courses instead of throughout the curriculum (p.99).
Transcript analysis—review sample of graduate students transcripts to learn which courses they choose and when they take them; this will reveal which gen education courses students usually take, when they take them, and if the gen ed goal is achieved through courses in their majors (p.101).
Syllabus Analysis—this helps determine if students have enough assignments and class work to achieve intended course learning goals; this should be an ongoing review since syllabus may change often; best results occur when syllabi is required (p.101).
This whole process may reveal that the curriculum does not align well with our learning goals. Students may graduate without taking courses that include our overall learning goals (p.102).
Take Stock of Available Assessment Information
Time is better spent if we us any assessment information that is already available to us: student evaluations, capstone project results, retention & graduation rates, student transcripts, etc (p103).
Set parameters
Define key terms—develop locally accepted definitions of terms including assessment, goal, standard, and rubric (p.104).
Statement of principles of good assessment practice—should describe characteristics of good assessment and the college’s commitment to fostering successful assessment practices (p.105).
Provide guidelines on what everyone is to do—gives faculty and staff clear expectations and guidance on precisely what they are to do (p.105).
Identify who beyond students might provide assessment information
Other possible sources of information regarding student learning: students’ peers, alumni, former students who leave before graduating, field experience supervisors, employers, and faculty (p.105-8).
Work out the logistics
Table 7.2 (p.109) lists some logistical questions that may need to be answered for each key learning goal in a program or curriculum. Some examples: In which courses will faculty use this assessment strategy?; From which sections will you collect examples of student work?; How do you expect to use the results?; etc.
The logistics plan needs to be flexible which means that a single time line for everyone across the college may not work. Faculty, staff, and student need to be involved in deciding the details (p.110).
Special challenges
Four situations may have additional considerations: general education core curricula, interdisciplinary and independently designed programs, adjunct faculty, and a curriculum that’s about to change. Few general education curricula have fully developed assessment programs in place. A collection of interdisciplinary/independent courses from which students can choose from often lack curricular coherence and faculty ownership making student learning assessment a challenge. Lack of time to plan and implement an assessment plan is difficult when a fairly large number of part-time adjuncts teach general education courses. And finally, it may not make sense to begin an assessment plan for a curriculum that may drastically change or become obsolete soon (p.110-13).
Submitted by Tina Mesa.