strategies for implementing program-level assessment through blackboard outcomes
TRANSCRIPT
Strategies for Implementing Program-Level Assessment through OutcomesJeremy AndersonManager, Academic Computing
Dr. Kaitlin WalshInstructional Designer/Technologist
American International College
Who are you?
• Faculty, staff, administration?
• What is your experience using Outcomes?– No experience
– Heard of it
– Investigated it
– Adopted it
• Three burning questions?
Assessment at AIC
President
Provost
Institutional Effectiveness
Deans & Departments
Senate
Assessment Committee
Faculty Secretary*
EVP Administration
IT
Getting the Framework in Place
External Feedback
• Assessment Plan Template
• Program Review Schedule
• Assessment Calendar
Internal Planning
• Other adopters
• Bb Consulting
Develop outcomes
Assessment Plan & Bb Outcomes
Gather Evidence &
Evaluate
Analyze & Discuss
Improve Instruction
Fall
SpringSum/Fall
Next AY
Assessment Calendar
Questions for New Adopters – Readiness Check
1. Do you have an assessment lead?
2. Are your goals ready?
3. Are your assignments ready?
4. Are your rubrics ready?
5. What is your assessment calendar?a. Frequency of each goal
b. Frequency of full cycle
Questions for New Adopters – Operational Decisions
1. What is your collection period?
2. Who will complete evaluation sessions? How many must complete evaluations?
3. What sampling level will you require?
4. Will you need to keep samples of student work with your reports?
Starting Small
Undergraduate Psych
• All outcomes
• 1 course
• Capstone assignment
• Independent evaluator
• Department rubric
MBA
• 2 outcomes
• 2 courses (1 o/c)
• Milestone assignments
• Independent evaluators
• AAC&U Value rubric
• Department rubric
Training
• Introductory section for faculty and chairs in several prospective departments
• One-on-one training with individual assessment coordinators in pilot departments
• Reconvened for follow-up training
• Next step: documentation
Roles – What Can They Do?
Alignments Goals Surveys RubricsEvidence
Collection
SystemAdministrator
AddRemove
CreateEdit
Delete
CreateEdit
Delete
CreateEdit
Delete
CreateEdit
Delete
AssessmentAdministrator
AddCreate
EditDelete
CreateEdit
Delete
CreateEdit
Delete
CreateEdit
Delete
Assessment Manager
None Run Reports None NoneCreate
EditDelete
RubricManager
None Read-Only NoneCreate
EditDelete
None
SurveyAuthor
None Read-OnlyCreate
EditDelete
None None
Goals Manager
NoneCreate
EditDelete
None None None
Roles – What Can They See?
Admin Tab Outcomes TabOutcomes
DashboardSurveys
SystemAdministrator
Yes Yes All All
AssessmentAdministrator
Yes Yes All Only their own
Assessment Manager
No YesGoals &
AssessmentsOrganizations
None
RubricManager
No No No No
SurveyAuthor
No No No Only their own
Goals Manager
Yes No No No
Caveat – Class and Program Size
• AIC’s class and program sizes are generally very small, therefore no need to limit sample size when evaluating outcomes.– Also no real need to make
evaluations anonymous - instructor often involved in evaluation
• Small program sizes also impact outcomes planning– Limits to number of outside
evaluators and assessment coordinators
Source: US News & World Report
Things We Considered (But Didn’t Adopt Yet)
• Help Desk Ticket to submit Outcomes changes
• Organization to distribute reports
• Having faculty input own outcomes
General Education at AIC
• Largely in flux
• Writing Intensive Courses
• Shared rubric for Title III
• AAC&U’s VALUE Rubrics
Pilot
• COM2200 – Information & Technology
• Writing Intensive Course
• 4 sections, 3 faculty, 2 evaluators
Building on What We Have
• New programs
• Assessment Hours throughout the year
• Expanding within departments
• ½-time position
More on Reports
• Depending on the type of data you need, you may need to adjust your reports.– Convert rows to columns
– Cleanup for SPSS
– May be no problem for some faculty
– Need different data? Submit an enhancement request
Lessons Learned – Assignment Submission
• Needed to train some faculty on collecting assignments in Bb
• No direct submit
• No multiple attempts
• Group assignments not recommended
Unexpected benefit!
Using outcomes rubrics motivated faculty to explore the use of Blackboard’s rubric tool within their own courses.