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Transcript of Improving Undergraduate Education through the Assessment of Student Learning SACS-COC Institute on...
Improving Undergraduate Education through the Assessment of Student Learning
SACS-COC Institute on Quality Enhancement and Accreditation
July 30, 2006
Peter T. Ewell
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
Looking Back: Origins of the Assessment Movement Two Decades Ago
• Undergraduate Reform Reports of 1985-86
• Internal Stimulus: Call for More Coherent Teaching/Learning Approaches and Information for Improvement
• External Stimulus: Stakeholder Demands for Information on “Return on Investment”
• Tensions in Motive and Message Ever Since
Why Didn’t Assessment Go Away?
• Pressure to Produce Evidence of Student Learning Outcomes Never Let Up
• By Early 1990s, Accreditors Replace States as Primary External Stimulus to Get Started
• Intermittent Federal Interest in Assessment as an Element of National Accountability
• But Resulting Faculty Ambivalence About a Process Seen as “External” and “Administrative”
Looking Back: What’s Been Accomplished?
• Assessment Is for the Most Part Perceived as Inevitable and Legitimate
• Vast Majority of Institutions Have Statements of Learning Outcomes (General and Programmatic)
• A “Semi-Profession” of Folks Involved in Assessment
• Steadily Growing Sophistication with Respect to Methods of Gathering Evidence
Looking Back: What Hasn’t Happened?
• Authentic Integration of Assessment into Faculty Cultures and Behaviors
• Assessment Activities Still Largely “Added On” to the Curriculum Instead of Being Embedded In It
• Systematic and Widespread Use of Assessment Results for Institutional and Curricular Improvement
• Proactive and Sincere Institutional Engagement with Accrediting Organizations Around Topics of Assessment
Assessment as a “Perpetual Movement?”
• Most Social Movements…– Fade as Fads, or – Go Away Because Core Ideas are Mainstreamed
• The “Assessment Movement” Has Done Neither...– External Requirements Keep it Alive– But External Pressures also Constrain Faculty Buy-In and
Meaningful Institutional Use
• Moving Beyond a “Perpetual Movement” Will Demand...– Making Assessment Real to Faculty by Connecting It to the
Actual Practice of Teaching and Learning– Re-Focusing Accountability on the Authentic Student
Abilities that Society Says it Needs
Some Prominent Changes in Higher Education’s Operating Environment
• Doing More with Less- Need for Curricula that are Effective and Efficient- Need Information About Curricular Functioning to Enable
Effective Action
• Changes in Instructional Delivery- Competencies and “Deep Learning”- Student Engagement and Role of Technology
• New Views of Accountability- “Quality”— From Inputs/Processes to Results- Stakeholder Voices — Students and Employers
Challenges to the Academy: The Internal Dimension
• Changing Paradigm of Teaching and Learning
• Resulting Changes in Academic Roles, Behaviors and Structures– Nature and Role of “Faculty” in Instruction– Patterns of Student Enrollment
• [Technology as a “Wild Card”]
A Changing Paradigm of Teaching and Learning
• From “Faculty Teaching” to “Students Learning”
• Students “Make Their Own Paths” through Multiple Learning Opportunities
• Explicit Designs for Learning Based on Research
Changing Paradigm: Possible Lines of Response
• Demonstrated Achievement Becomes Paramount, not “Seat Time”
• Students “Teach” One Another
• Individual (and Asynchronous) Paths
• Technology Seen as Opportunity to Re-Think [not as a “Solution”]
Some Implications for Student Assessment Processes
• Assessments Reinforce Common Standards for Learning Across Curricula and Classes
• “Seamless” Assessments Become an Integral Part of Curriculum and Pedagogy
• Assessments Emphasize Connections and Longitudinal Development, not Just Attainment
Assessment Approaches: A Resulting Shift in Emphasis
• Accountability-Based: Assessments Added onto Instruction to “Check Up” on the System in the Aggregate
• Scholarship and Improvement: Assessments Built into the System to Simultaneously Assure Standards and Provide Feedback on Collective Performance
Kinds of Information Needed
• Alignment of Key Learning Outcomes Across Units, Sequences, and Courses
• Match Between Curricular Design, Delivery, and Student Experience
• Match Between Instruction and Needs of Diverse “Student Bodies”
• Effectiveness of Particular Innovations and Interventions
Changing Nature of the Faculty Role
• Dis-aggregation of Instructional Roles
• More Things for Faculty to Do
• New Potential Career Patterns and Paths
New Faculty Roles: Possible Lines of Response
• Emphasize Peer Support and Collaboration in Faculty Development
• Recognize and Regularize Alternative Career Paths
• Recognize “Mentorship” as the One Thing You Can’t Responsibly Outsource
Kinds of Information Needed
• Capturing and Re-Aggregating Data About Discrete Instructional Functions
• Accounting Technology-Based Costs
• Tracking Faculty “Assets”
Changing Patterns of Student Attendance
• Increased Levels of Multi-Institutional Attendance
• Increased Complexity in Course-Taking Behavior within Institutions
• Greater (and Unpredictable) Time Lapses Between Instructional Encounters
Changing Patterns of Attendance: Possible Lines of Response
• Coherence Based on Common Practices [and Outcomes], not Common Content
• Stress Ways for Students to Exploit and Reflect on Their Own Experiences
• Establish Clear Transition Points at which to Assess Student Mastery of Key Concepts
Kinds of Information Needed
• Relationships Between Particular Institutional Experiences and Particular Outcomes
• Tracking Student Learning Styles and Individual Paths of Development
• “Episode-based” [as opposed to time-based] Data Structures
Challenges to the Academy: The External Dimension
• Increased Accountability
• Changing Expectations Regarding What Students Know and Can Do
• The “New Competition”
What Are States Doing?
• Forces Influencing State Approaches– Decreased Agency Capacity Due to Funding Cuts
– Momentum of K-12 Reform (NCLB)
– Political Uncertainty and Instability
• Types of State Policy Responses– P-16 Alignment
– Performance Measures and “Report Cards”
– Achievement Testing (Driven by K-12)
What’s Shaping Accreditation?
• Forces Influencing Accreditors– Pressure for Specific Performance from Federal
Government
– Demands from Institutions to “Add Value”
– New Models from Other Sectors and Abroad
• “New Looks” in Accreditation– Focus on Outcomes and Effectiveness
– Presenting Evidence [e.g. “Portfolios”]
– Review Approaches [e.g. “Academic Audits”]
– Connection to Institutional Planning [e.g. QEP]
Learning Outcomes: What Employers Expect
• Higher-Order “Literacies” as Well as Specific Skills
• Framed in Terms of “Practice” [not “Knowledge”]
• As Much About Attitudes as Academics [“Soft Skills”]
External Forces: Some Resulting Influences on the Academy
• Increased Emphasis on Credentialing
• Modularity and Acceleration to Increase Accessibility
• Pressure to Respond to “Students as Customers”
• Accountability “Superstructures” that Divert Attention and Information Resources
Kinds of Information Needed
• Outcomes and Performance Measures
• Data on What Experiences/Services Students Can Expect
• Peer Comparisons [Increasingly Outside the Academy] and Comparative Performance
• Needs and Satisfaction of External Stakeholders
Attributes of a Meaningful “Culture of Evidence”
• Shared Recognition That Many (But Not All) Things Are Knowable
• An Accessible Store of Information About Organizational Condition and Performance
• An Attitude Toward Problem-Solving that Minimizes “Finger-Pointing”
• Clear Follow-Through On Decisions Made and Why They Were Taken
Cultures of Evidence: Success Factors
• Visible Metaphor of Scholarship
• Beginning with Real Problems and Processes, not with “Method”
• Consistent Messages from Leadership
• Periodically “Re-Socializing” the Community
• “Closing the Loop” with Action
Cultures of Evidence: Inhibiting Factors
• Either Excessive or Non-Existent Consequences
• Alien Language and “Management Culture”
• Excessive Complexity
• Burnout and “Committee Fatigue”
• Changing the Rules
Meaningful Assessment is More About Mindset than Method
• Questions About Learning are not Just Matters of Opinion– What Information Might We Collect?– What Might We Expect to Find?– What Difference Would Finding Out Make?
• Assessment is About Improving Practice– What are We Trying to Fix?– How Good is Good Enough?– What Changes are Implied?
The Bottom Line
• For Internal Management, “Seat of the Pants” Decision-making is no Longer Sufficient– Information Used Openly, Consistently, and Continuously to
Inform Academic Decisions
• For External Constituencies, “Trust Me” is no Longer Sufficient– Need Clear, Understandable Evidence of Student Academic
Attainment
• Be Vigilant about the Information You Choose and the Signals it Sends– Make Sure that What You Measure is What You Value– Harness the Accreditation Process to Make it Happen!