Assessment Workshop: Making a Difference in Student Learning - Assessment as a Core Strategy
 
Pre-Work
The Assessment Workshop combines concurrent workshop sessions with mentoring sessions that result in the team’s development of strategies for effective assessment of student learning at the institution. To make the work with a mentor as productive as possible, complete the following two pre-workshop assignments and return responses to kdavis@hlcommission.org no later than Friday, September 27, 2013. The assignments will be sent to a mentor before the workshop.

FIRST, the team leader or contact person should draft a short statement (no more than two pages) that addresses the following issues:

  1. What is the current state of assessment at the institution? Try to describe not only the stage of development of the institution’s assessment of student learning, but also at what levels (classroom, course, program/major, service, institution) assessment is occurring. Describe the extent to which assessment of student learning is occurring in the institution’s main functional areas outside the classroom.

  2. How are assessment activities organized or coordinated at the institution? Who (or what office) is responsible for coordinating assessment activity and data? Include in this response a description of what is done with assessment results.

  3. What is the institution’s essential current needs if assessment of student learning is going to grow and produce valuable improvements? What current practices seem to be producing good results?

  4.  What specific results would the institution like from this workshop?

  5. What specific help would the institution like a mentor to provide?

SECOND, convene a meeting to review the statement with the rest of the team and make any necessary modifications. At the same meeting, fill out this questionnaire on campus climate as a team (only one form gets sent back). 

Please give these assignments serious attention, so that your mentor can tailor your mentoring/teamwork sessions to your particular needs.

When you are ready to e-mail your responses, please send them to Kim Davis no later than Friday, September 27, 2013.