Taft College Fall Assessment Team:Making Assessment More Comprehensive to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

October 31, 2008

Objectives for Fall Assessment Team

Dialog about SLOs, assessment, and existing practices at TC Identify course level SLO to assess this semester Align SLO with TC’s institutional SLOs Identify or design assessment for an SLO Identify or design rubric or evaluation instrument for

assessment Collect evidence and data of SLO Conduct assessment and complete Individual Assessment

Report Share your Individual Assessment Report with your division

Objectives for Friday, October 31

Discuss SLOs, assessment, and discursive terminology

Identify or create one SLO to measure this summer

Identify SLO with TC institutional SLO(s).Discuss types of assessmentsBrainstorm one or more assessments

Student Learning Outcomes

SLOs refer to a specialized process of assessment which includes identification, assessment, and improvement.

This process is cyclical and intended to increase student learning by collecting data through assessment, analyzing the data, and making improvements.

It involves thoughtful planning of instruction and services, clear standards of evaluation, and a commitment to change.

The Cycle of Assessment

identify

assess

interpret

improve

WASC/ACCJC Standards

Standard II.A.1.c “The institution identifies student learning

outcomes for courses, programs, certificates, and degrees; assesses student achievement of those outcomes; and uses assessment results to make improvements.”

SLOs Are Not Course Objectives

However, they are similar. SLOs do use cognitive verbs and Bloom’s taxonomy. The main difference is that the SLO itself must be

measureable. The SLO is what students should be able to

perform at the end of a course, not simply knowledge.

Refer to “SLOs versus Course Objectives” in your packet.

Sample SLOs from BChttp://www2.bc.cc.ca.us/tl/sampleSLOs.htm

“Use examples of infections, treatment, and epidemiologic control to compare and contrast the characteristics of prions, viruses, bacteria, protozoans, and multicellular parasites.”

“Explain the dynamics of commensal and pathological relationships that occur between microbes and humans.”

“Evaluate methods of microbial control and apply the proper methods necessary when given a scenario.”

There are many examples of SLOs in your packet.

An SLO for Your Class

Visit the Taft College SLO Webpage: http://faculty.taftcollege.edu/slos/data/slo_courses.shtml

If a link is present, SLOs have been defined by full time faculty and the SLO Coordinator.

If the course is listed, but there is no link, the revised SLOs have been drafted and are being revised.

If there is no SLO listed, you will need to work from the SLOs on the COR or define one new SLO for your course.

Targeting an SLO

Although collecting evidence of outcomes is important for accreditation, it is more important for improvement—for finding a means to improve the outcome in the future.

What does your experience and gut tell you students are most challenged by in your class?

What SLO deals with that weakness?

Guidelines for Writing SLOs Use active verbs that are measurable. Make them specific. Words like know or understand are too

general and, therefore, too hard to measure. “Make the SLO a statement of what students should be

able to DO,” not know (Fulks, 2004). Consider levels of learning (refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy,

pages 11-13 of binder). Consider how to assess them. Discuss them in the campus community. Consider TC’s institutional SLOs. Plan to share them with students.

Reflection

Take a few minutes to jot down answers to the following: Are there already SLOs in place for my course, or

will I need to write one? In either case, what is the most important

outcome of the course—what should students be able to do after completing the course?

Is there an outcome that I suspect is weak in the course I will assess? What is it, and why might it be weak?

Next Steps

Discussion: Share responses to reflection What steps does each of us have to take in

identifying an SLO?In Your Binder

On a blank Individual Assessment Form, pencil in the SLO (or draft of SLO) you think you will be working with. Align it with the appropriate TC Institutional Outcome

Assessment?

Assessment is the means by which we evaluate the level of success of a given SLO, collect data to this extent, evaluate the data, and suggest changes to improve the outcome without sacrificing our standards.

Riverside CC’s Definition

“‘Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving learning and development.1’

Assessment, thus, has come to mean something very different from grades and placement. If grading is primarily evaluative, a method of classifying students, assessment is primarily ameliorative, a method of understanding and improving teaching and learning.”

1 Palomba, C.A. & Banta, T.W. Assessment Essentials: Planning, Implementing, and Improving Assessment in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999, p. 4

Types of Assessment

Performances of the outcome through: Authentic Assessment Summative Assessment Formative Assessment Direct Assessment Indirect Assessment Capstone Projects Portfolios Multiple assessments

Consider Levels of Learning

What domain of learning will your assessment deal with—cognitive, psychomotor, or affective? (refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy in binder)

In either case, adapt or design your assessment to include the higher order thinking skills delineated on the right hand side of the chart in your packet for each

What Will the Assessment Tell You—and How?

Your assessment(s) must generate meaningful data—more than just a grade or holistic score.

If you opt to use a multiple choice test, you will need to distinguish what different questions assess (Specific Learning Objectives or Levels of Learning) and record the results for each.

If you incorporate a reflective, summative assessment, you will need to combine your interpretation of the students’ comments with another, summative assessment.

If you use an authentic assessment, writing assignment, or performance of skill, you will need an analytic rubric which deals with multiple criteria to create meaningful data.

Rubrics

You will need to identify or create a rubric or scoring matrix with which to assess the outcome of the SLO you are working with.

There are many ways to do this, and we will focus on identifying or creating one on Thursday.

For now, simply consider the criteria or primary traits you would use to assess the SLO you chose.

The Future . . . By the time you leave today, identify the SLO you want to

work with, align it with TC’s institutional SLO, and consider how you will assess it.

When you come back next Friday, have a working idea of how you think you will assess it.

We will identify or develop rubrics or data sorting mechanisms and finalize our assessment plans Friday.

Within the following month, you will conduct your assessment and complete your brief report.

After winter break, you will report your findings to your division

Works Cited Fulks,Janet. Assessing Student Learning in

Community Colleges (2004), Bakersfield College, jfulks@bakersfieldcollege.edu

Fluks, Janet, Pluta, and Granger-Dickson, “Sample Student Learning Outcomes.” Bakersfield College, http://www2.bc.cc.ca.us/tl/sampleSLOs.htm Riverside Community College District. “Definition” Assessment Overview. 10/30/08 (accessed). <http://www.rcc.edu/administration/academicaffairs/effectiveness/assess/overview.cfm>

Santa Monica College. “Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) versus Course Objectives.”

<http://academicsenate.smc.edu/curriculum/student_learning_outcomes.htm>