Academic Freedom &
Meaningful Assessment
Ursula Waln, Director of Student Learning Assessment
Central New Mexico Community College
Academic Freedom
Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
“
The common good depends upon the free search
for truth and its free exposition.
American Association of University Professors. (1940). Statement of principles on academic
freedom and tenure. AAUP Policy Tenth Ed. (2).
”
“
Academic freedom is necessary not just so faculty
members can conduct their individual research and teach
their own courses, but so they can enable students
—through whole college programs of study—
to acquire the learning they need to contribute to society.
”
Excerpted with permission from Academic Freedom and Educational Responsibility. Copyright
2006 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from
http://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/about/academicFreedom.pdf.
“
... Faculty are responsible for establishing goals for student
learning, for designing and implementing programs of general
education and specialized study that intentionally cultivate the
intended learning, and for assessing students’ achievement. In
these matters, faculty must work collaboratively with their
colleagues in their departments, schools, and institutions as
well as with relevant administrators…
”
Excerpted with permission from Academic Freedom and Educational Responsibility. Copyright
2006 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved from
http://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/about/academicFreedom.pdf.
“
... When properly undertaken – that is, undertaken in
concert rather than conflict with academic freedom –
learning outcomes assessment relies upon faculty
enacting their rights and upholding their responsibilities,
including assuring that students, individually and in the
aggregate, are meeting their intended goals and those of
the institution and its constituent parts.
”
Cain, T. R. (2014). Assessment and academic freedom: In concert, not conflict. Occasional Papers.
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. Retrieved from
http://learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/OP2211-17-14.pdf.
Collaboration
Part of Shared Governance
“
Assessment rightly conducted does not ask faculty to
repress their knowledge or judgments. Rather, it asks
faculty to work together as colleagues to assess student
work fairly by criteria respected in the field and to
share their knowledge of student strengths and
weaknesses, in order to improve curriculum, pedagogy,
and other factors affecting learning.
Woolvard, B. (2004). Assessment clear and simple: A practical guide for institutions, departments, and
general education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
”
“
The results of assessment can help educate faculty and
administrators, suggest new practices, and inform
curricular revisions. They should be used to generate
thoughtful discussions and encourage improvement but
not to force the adoption of new styles or techniques and
not to mandate changes in the classroom.
”
Cain, T. R. (2014). Assessment and academic freedom: In concert, not conflict. Occasional Papers.
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. Retrieved from
http://learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/OP2211-17-14.pdf.
Customization
Finding the Right Fit in Course-Level Assessment
“
…If faculty have very diverse teaching goals, then it is
not meaningful or responsible to assess the outcomes
of their efforts with common instruments.
And if faculty teaching goals differ from the stated
goals of the program or institution, then focusing
assessment on the latter goals risks failing to notice
what is being accomplished…
Angelo, T. A. (1994). Teaching goals, assessment, academic freedom and higher learning. Essays
on Teaching Excellence. Vol. 5 (No. 7). Retrieved from
http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V5-N7-Angelo.pdf.
”
“
Put assessment fully under faculty purview...
Have flexible plans that embrace disciplinary differences...
Make use of what faculty are already doing...
Frame assessment in terms of improvement – and mean it...
Use the results wisely...
”
Cain, T. R. (2014). Assessment and academic freedom: In concert, not conflict. Occasional Papers.
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. Retrieved from
http://learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/OP2211-17-14.pdf.
“
The institution’s processes and methodologies to assess
student learning reflect good practice, including the
substantial participation of faculty and other instructional
staff members.
Higher Learning Commission. (2015). Criteria for Accreditation (Core Component 4.B.4). North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Retrieved from
http://policy.hlcommission.org/Policies/criteria-for-accreditation.html.
”
Assessment and Academic Free dom
Compatibility
• Requiring faculty to articulate
learning goals
• Requiring faculty to contribute to
identified program outcomes
• Requiring faculty to participate in
outcomes assessment and
improvement efforts
Abridgement
• Abrogating faculty control of
measure selection and application
• Imposing models that do not allow
for disciplinary differences
• Allowing standardization of
measures to require standardized
approaches to teaching
GOAL
VALUES
Academic Freedom
Balanced
External mandates are balanced by the freedom to pursue internally
relevant interests, and reporting requirements encourage reflective
Authority
practices without imposing undue workloads, commandeering faculty
efforts, or undermining faculty authority.
Academic
Assessment is valued primarily for its usefulness in improving student
Merit
learning outcomes, and accountability is a welcome side effect.
Institutional Faculty members feel safe to probe uncertain terrain because assessment
Solidarity
leading to insights is valued over pro forma assessment.
Program
Faculty choose assessment approaches at the course level and relate the
Integrity
findings to the program level via aligned learning outcomes.
VALUES
Balanced
Authority
Academic
Merit
Institutional
Solidarity
Program
Integrity
GOAL
Shared Governance
The faculty is strongly represented in the institutional leadership that
determines the policies and procedures governing assessment reporting.
Assessment is steeped in an ethos of inquiry, scholarly analysis, and civil
academic discourse that encourages faculty participation in decisionmaking.
Focusing on assessment at the program level promotes shared
ownership of program goals and outcomes without spotlighting
individual faculty members.
A decentralized assessment model encourages collaborative programlevel analysis and application of findings.
GOAL
VALUES
Professional Relevance
Balanced
Faculty and departments draw upon their field expertise to: determine
what the learning outcomes and pedagogy should be, formulate their
Authority
own assessment questions, employ appropriate measures, interpret
results, and respond to findings.
Academic
Faculty members care about the quality of information assessment
provides because they gain from it insights and perspective they can
Merit
apply toward meaningful changes.
Institutional Decisions and requests based on credible evidence and thorough
Solidarity
analysis receive administrative support.
Program
Individual faculty members interpret findings as they pertain to their
own classes and collaborate with their colleagues to interpret findings at
Integrity
the program level.
Clearly Articulated Program Goals
Provide structure
for defining success from a variety of angles
“Be Together. Not the Same”
Alignment of course
goals to clearly
articulated program
goals allows faculty to
apply course-level
measures to programlevel assessment.
Nebulous program
goals fit broadly but
serve scantily.
Examples of Program Goals
(a.k.a. Competencies or Student Learning Outcome Statements)
Apply knowledge of mathematics.
Use mathematical methods to model biological systems.
Perform mathematical calculations essential to the duties of pharmacy
technicians in a variety of contemporary settings.
Demonstrate creativity.
Apply knowledge of literary techniques and principles of composition to
write original, innovative works.
Apply knowledge of art techniques and design principles to solve creative
problems in innovative ways.
Unambiguous Criteria
• Common understanding of how
program-level learning outcomes are
to be evaluated
• Rubrics, lists, performance standards, etc.
• Describe what the learning looks like
• Fleshed out enough to support tangible
connections
Deriving Meaning from
Diverse Course-Level Assessments
Instructors on their Own
• Interpret and use for own course
analysis and professional growth
• Share findings as they relate to
program goals
Program Faculty in Collaboration
• Pool and analyze findings from
multiple measures, all related to
program goals
• Explore answers to questions
relevant to the discipline
• Seek ways to improve student
learning outcomes