Presented to the Academic Senate April , 2002
Table of Contents
Introduction:
The IU South Bend Campus Assessment Committee has been very active this year with
its mission of monitoring, evaluating and improving academic assessment
activities. The Committee has been particularly interested in 2001/2 with
responding to the assessment concerns listed in the final Higher Learning
Commission (NCA) accreditation report. The primary concern listed in the
Challenges section of the report addressed by the Campus Assessment Committee
was, " . . . The assessment of student learning outcomes for purposeful
modification and enhancement of the curriculum remains a challenge."
The Committee has responded to this concern of outcomes and program modification
in a number of different ways. The Assessment Committee has been educating
members of the Committee and the wider campus in the latest assessment
philosophy and techniques through attendance at conferences and the collection
of written resources. The Assessment Committee evaluated currently collected
information in annual and third year reports specifically for outcomes
and feedback information, and has modified and improved current information
collection to emphasize outcomes and program improvements through assessment.
The Assessment Committee has also awarded a number of grants to academic
programs for improvement and enhancement of their assessment programs.
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2000/01 Departmental Third Year Review Summary:
The IU South Bend Assessment Committee asks each degree granting department at
IU South Bend to summarize assessment activities every three years and present
the Committee with a brief written and oral report. For the 2000-2001
academic year seventeen departments were scheduled to give reviews, sixteen
were done. The presentations were made in April and May of 2001. The following
departments gave reports: Special Education- Graduate and Undergraduate,
Women=s Studies, Secondary Education - Graduate and Undergraduate, Psychology,
Political Science, Foreign Language, School Administration, Fine Arts,
Business - Graduate, Mass Communications, Elementary Education - Graduate,
History, Master of Liberal Studies and Biology.
The committee reported that of the sixteen departments giving reviews,
eleven were quite positive. The Committee found these departments doing
an adequate job of assessing and monitoring their programs, and using
the results of assessment to make positive changes in the program. No,
or minor, suggestions were made to these departments for changes in their
assessment activities.
Three departments were given less positive feedback on their presentations.
In all of these cases, the assessment program was new, had lapsed, or
there had been major reorganization in the department. These programs
struggled with writing or substantially re-writing assessment plans. These
departments were unable to give assessment results or indications of how
assessment was being used to improve the program.
Two programs were asked to give an assessment update by next January
because the Committee felt that by then the programs would have more information.
Two programs did not submit a written report and are not included in this
summary.
A wide range of activities is being used to assess student achievement
in the five Educational Objectives identified in the IU South Bend Assessment Plan.
These Objectives are: Higher order thinking skills; Basic academic success
skills, Discipline specific knowledge and skills; Liberal arts and academic
values; and Personal development with work and career preparation. Most
departments use some sort of comprehensive evaluation of students which
includes techniques such as: capstone course, portfolio or standardized
exam. Other types of activities include focus groups, surveys, faculty
discussions and faculty evaluations.
The data collected from these assessment activities is being used to
make changes in the programs. For example, one of ten issues identified
and addressed in a Business Graduate focus group evaluation was a lack
of emphasis on International Business. The faculty responded by requiring
a particular course on this topic. Several departments have made improvements
in individualized advising for students. Many departments have also made
changes in particular curriculum, changed the course schedule or offered
a study seminar in response to needs identified by assessment activities.
Assessment, and documentation of assessment activities, is beginning
to be accepted at IU South Bend as a routine and important part of maintaining
academic excellence. The majority of departments have established assessment
activities and data collection. These results are being used to make changes
in curriculum and other aspects of the program.
However, there are still a few programs that have not established assessment
as an important monitor of program quality. In some instances assessment
activities are being done, but informally. Or, data is being collected,
but not analyzed or used to make changes in the program.
The biggest challenge for many of these departments is maintaining some
continuity of faculty responsible for assessment activities and evaluation.
Assessment needs to evolve with, and inform changes in the program. Having
an up-to-date, and useful assessment program requires constant revision
and vigilance. The departmental assessment programs need to be robust
enough to adapt to changes in the program and personnel. They also need
to provide some continuity of data.
The challenge for the Assessment Committee will be to encourage and support
those programs with excellent assessment activities, and to assist programs
that are struggling with new or unimplemented plans to establish assessment
as a priority.
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IU South Bend Faculty Attendance at the Assessment Institute:
The 2001 Assessment Institute in Indianapolis featured a number of highly
respected assessment scholars and experts, and included in-depth sessions
with individuals with successful assessment initiatives. The members of
the IU South Bend community who attended this event, sponsored by the Assessment
Committee, brought back many valuable ideas and inspirations from the
conference.
The five IU South Bend attendees at the Assessment Institute in Indianapolis were
unanimously enthusiastic about the experience. They found the sessions
and interactions with other participants to be valuable and enriching.
The conference was well attended with over 500 participants from 40 states
and three countries. Linda Fisher, Alec Hosterman, Paul Newcomb, Barbara
Peat and Marcia Sheridan from IU South Bend took part.
Marcia Sheridan presented a session on the use of metacognitive journals
and portfolio assessment in a graduate Education course for teachers.
Her analysis dealt with the major problems set for education by the pluralistic
culture of American society. With the use of these techniques the graduate
students she studied showed increased use of metaphorical language to
describe the internal development of both their perceptual and conceptual
worlds.
Linda Fisher found the session on "Doing Assessment as if Learning
Matters Most," by Thomas Angelo to be particularly helpful. He honed
in on the type of information and statistics that should be collected
by Assessment Committees, and how that information should feed back into
improving assessment and student learning. Angelo's comments on how Assessment
Committees should function will be very useful to Linda in her role as
Chair of the IU South Bend Assessment Committee.
Linda also described a pre-conference session led by John Taylor, Associate
Director of the Higher Learning Commission of the NCA. He outlined the
assessment expectations of the NCA when they do accreditation visits.
The NCA is particularly interested in documentation of student learning.
This information will be very helpful as the Assessment Committee collects,
analyses and reports on assessment data over the next several years before
the next NCA accreditation visit.
Alec Hosterman, as a newcomer to the assessment discipline, praised the
sessions he attended, and the chance to interact with the presenters and
other attendees informally. He specifically mentioned the session on "Assessment
Essentials: Planning and implementing assessment programs," by Trudy
Banta and Douglas Edler as one that presented a good overview of assessment
basics. He came back with many ideas and plans that can be adapted to
his own department's assessment program.
All of the IU South Bend participants in the Assessment Institute came back with
a fresh perspective and new enthusiasm for assessment work at IU South Bend.
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Assessment Grants:
The members of the Campus Assessment Committee were pleased to announce
that they received a number of excellent applications for Assessment Grants.
The Committee awarded grants to the following departments:
Computer and Information Sciences - This proposal, submitted by David
Surma and James Wolfer, will fund the development of a comprehensive test
for assessing student knowledge of topics from the IEEE/ACM 2001 program
standards.
Dental Education (Dental Hygiene) - This proposal, submitted by Jennifer
Klein and Judith Shafer, will fund the purchase of video-recording equipment
to help in the assessment of students' clinical and communication skills.
Dental Education (Dental Assisting) - This proposal, submitted by Barbara
MacMillan, will allow the Dental Assisting program to develop a mock exam
of the Dental Assisting National Board.
Elementary Education - This proposal, submitted by Michael Pickle, will
allow the Elementary Education department to do a sophisticated analysis
of assessment data already collected, and to improve the surveys which
are currently being used.
School of Education - This proposal, submitted by Karen Clark, funds
the analysis of a number of surveys related to the Teacher Education programs.
This information will help the department to conform to new IPSB standards.
English - The English department will use their grant for a survey of
their graduates. This survey will provide valuable information for program
reviewers.
English - This proposal, submitted by Ken Smith, will allow for an in-depth
analysis of final course portfolios of students in W130. The analysis
will help the department in improving this fundamental course.
Fine Arts - This proposal, submitted by Alan Larkin, will fund a conversion
of the Fine Arts advising documents from a word processing template to
a database template. The new templates will allow for more accurate and
efficient advising of Visual Arts students.
Congratulations to all of the successful applicants. These projects should
help in the important work of excellent assessment of student learning
at IU South Bend. The Assessment Committee hopes to offer Assessment Grants in
future years when funds are available.
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New Assessment Resources:
The IU South Bend Assessment Committee has selected a number of new resources
on Assessment which should be very valuable to campus departments as they
plan and implement assessment programs. Copies of these books are available
at the Schurz Library, or by contacting a member of the Assessment Committee.
Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses; shifting the focus from
Teaching to Learning by Mary E. Huba and Jann E. Freed. Boston: Allyn
and Bacon, 2000.
Assessing Student Competence in Accredited Disciplines; pioneering approaches
to assessment in higher education. Edited by Catherina A. Palomba and
Trudy W. Banta. Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2001.
Student Assessment in Higher Education; a handbook for assessing performance.
Allen H. Miller, Bradford W. Imrie and Kevin Cox. London: Kogan Page,
1998.
Classroom Assessment Techniques; A handbook for college teachers. Thomas
Angelo and K. Patricia Cross. Second edition. San Francisco: Josey Bass,
1993.
Student Learning: A Central Focus for Institutions of Higher Education.
Edited by Austin Doherty, Tim Riordan and James Roth. Milwaukee, WI: Alverno
College Institute, 2002.
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Assessment Third Year Reviews 2001/2:
Because academic programs are the fundamental unit for student education
at IU South Bend, the primary tool the Campus Assessment Committee uses for monitoring,
evaluating and improving assessment is the Third Year Review. On a rotating
basis, each academic program presents to the Campus Assessment Committee
an evaluation of results of assessment activities, and an overview of
ways in which assessment will progress in the coming years.
This year, in response to the Higher Learning Commission (NCA) report,
the Assessment Committee is asking departments to particularly emphasize
the outcomes of assessment activities, and the ways in which assessment
has been used to change and improve programs.
The following departments are scheduled to present Assessment Third Year
Reviews this spring: Undergraduate Business, Chemistry, Counseling and
Human Services, Criminal Justice, Dental Assisting, Dental Hygiene, English,
General Studies, Music, Physics and Astronomy, Social Work, Sociology
and Theatre.
Based on these Reviews, the Assessment Committee will compile a report
on Assessment at IU South Bend to be presented to the Academic Senate next fall.
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Future Directions:
The IU South Bend Campus Assessment Committee has a number of important projects
and goals for the coming year.
An Assessment Website is in development. This should be an extraordinarily
valuable resource to the campus. It will have the reports of and information
about the Committee. It will have blank forms and examples of the standard
Assessment Committee activities, grants, Annual and Third Year Reports.
It will also have a web and print bibliography of assessment resources.
The Assessment Committee also plans to evaluate and improve on the new
annual data collection forms tested this year.
The Assessment Committee also plans to maintain its accountability to
the Academic Senate and to the Administration by continuing to regularly
report on the results of assessment activities and data collection while
maintaining the confidentiality of academic programs.
The Assessment Committee plans to offer a round of grants each fall,
and to continue to sponsor attendance at conferences and collection of
resources as funds allow.
Finally, the Assessment Committee wishes to encourage interested members
of the IU South Bend community to consider becoming a part of the important work
of assessing student learning by being a member of the Committee next
year. The Committee strives to maintain a balance of disciplines and tenured
and untenured faculty. The work of monitoring, evaluating and improving
assessment at IU South Bend can only be accomplished by a balanced and effective
Committee.
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2001-02 IU South Bend ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Karen Ackoff
Fine Arts
4124
NS01A
kackoff@IU South Bend.edu
1
Karen Clark
Education
4350
G127
kbclark@IU South Bend.edu
3
Linda Fisher - Chair
Library
4442
L002A
lfisher@IU South Bend.edu
3
Barbara MacMillan
Dental Education
4155
R152
bmacmill@IU South Bend.edu
4
Paul Newcomb
Social Work
4464
N416
pnewcomb@IU South Bend.edu
2
Barbara Peat
SPEA
4549
DW2231
bpeat@IU South Bend.edu
4
Michael Pickle
Education
4202
N375
jpickle@IU South Bend.edu
2
Nanci Yokom
Dental Education
4154
RS102
nyokom@IU South Bend.edu
1
Linda Fritschner - ex officio
Administration
4338
A246A
lfritsch@IU South Bend.edu
Rhonda Culbertson - assistant available on Tues and Thurs mornings
Assessment
6598
A246A
rculbert@IU South Bend.edu
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