Has your department made any changes in the way instructors (faculty or graduate students) teaching your core courses in the areas listed above are trained, oriented, or supervised?
In December 2011, I added a new assignment for instructors. All current instructors at that time were required to write several of the first-year writing required assignments, as it had become clear that many didn’t understand the basic requirements of a rhetorical analysis or literature review without completing one themselves. Now, when an instructor teaches either of our courses for the first time, he or she must write specific assignments.
Has your department made any changes in the base syllabus for your core courses in the areas listed above in response to assessment results?
Beginning Summer 2012, we added additional materials on critical reading. Both assignments used for assessment rely on students having appropriate critical reading skills. We’ve also integrated questions, the answers to which demand critical reading, in at least 4 assignments
Have you adjusted the way the courses are assessed, the examinations, or the base content in the areas listed above in response to assessment results?
Have you made any changes in the way content is delivered such as adding on-line modules, improving classroom technology, using on-line quizzes or exams, making lectures available to students on-line, or flipping the classroom?
In Spring 13, we began adding brief audio companion lectures to both courses so that students could have access to the material beyond the classroom and our online sections could have access to material as comparable as possible to our onsite students.
Have you made any changes in how students are provided with help to improve their comprehension of the material such as on-line tutoring, face-to-face or group help sessions, etc.
Spring 13, we instituted 5 face-to-face study sessions for students. These took place in the evenings a week to 10 days before the assignments were due. Approximately 150 students attended.
I’ll know more about the effects of these changes in the next couple weeks as I look at grades and rubric scores on the major assignments.