Engaging Students in
Assessment
National Conference on
First-Year Assessment
October 2008
Donald R. Whitaker, Ball State University
Sherry A. Woosley, Ball State University
Amanda R. Knerr, Pennsylvania State University
AGENDA
• Discussion of Current Practices
• Five Roles of Students in
Assessment
– Definitions of Roles
– Examples of Roles
• Applications
– Discussion
– Questions
– Suggestions
Discussion of Current
Practices
Small Group Discussion
1. What assessments are you
currently doing at your
institutions?
2. How are students involved in
those assessments?
Five Roles of Students in
Assessments
Definitions and Examples
Role 1: Students as
Subjects
Definition and Examples
Role 1: Students as SUBJECTS
DEFINITION
• Students are viewed largely as
numbers.
• Results typically refer to global
summaries or groups of students
(not students as individuals).
• Students have limited, if any,
contact with the assessment.
Role 1: Subject - Example
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
• Assessment Project:
– Study of transfer students using available data
• Results:
– Transfer students had a 66% retention rate
compared to 77% retention rate for new
matrics.
• Implications:
– There is a retention issue for transfer students.
– We need further information about transfer
students.
• Role of Students: Subject
– Students were not involved in the project.
– Results were statistics and referred to groups.
Role 1: Subject - Example
PENN STATE BEHREND
• Assessment Project:
– Student Evaluation of the RA (SERA)
• Results:
– Higher level of roommate conflicts where there
were tight living/learning connections
• Implications:
– Loosen the connections
– FIG/Living assignments based on school and no
longer based on FIGs
• Role of Students: Subject
– Students completed the survey.
– Results used numbers to describe groups of
students/not individuals.
Role 1: Subject – Other Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
Retention studies
Student surveys
Standardized testing
Crime statistics
Course evaluations
Service numbers, enrollment
counts, FTEs, etc.
This is probably the most common
role that students play in
assessment.
Role 2: Students as
Informants
Definition and Examples
Role 2: Students as INFORMANTS
DEFINITION
• Students are asked to share
information about their
experiences, expectations,
perceptions, etc.
• Results may refer to summaries of
groups of students but also often
include stories, anecdotes, quotes,
and individual perspectives
• Students must have contact with
the assessment effort, but may not
see the results
Role 2: Informant - Example
University of Southern Indiana
• Assessment Project:
– Reflexive Photography
• Results:
– Importance of the physical environment
on student perceptions
• Implications:
– Paths, sculptures, etc. are important and
are not easily assessed with traditional
assessment methods.
• Student Role: Information
– Students took pictures, described their
significance, and talked about themes.
– Results included both individual elements
and themes.
Role 2: Informant - Example
“When it rains or snows this is what we have
to walk through to do our laundry or go
to the convenient store.” - Becky
Role 2: Informant - Example
• “I like to sit here and study… …I am close enough
to make it to class in 5 minutes. Yet I am still far
enough that I feel all alone and can pay full
attention to whatever I am studying” - Abby
Role 2: Informant - Example
University of Southern Indiana
For more information about this
project…
– Harrington & Schibik, (2003). “Reflexive
Photography as an Alternative
Method for the Study of the First Year
Experience,” NASPA Journal, vol. 31,
no.1
– Check the USI Institutional Research
website
(http://www.usi.edu/depart/instires/ref
lexphoto.asp)
Role 2: Informant - Example
Ball State University
• Assessment Project:
– Focus groups about a department website
• Results:
– Need more information about internships
– Need for consistent, continual contact with
advisor and/or faculty
• Implications:
– Webpage should include internship info but
should also emphasize personal contact with
advisors.
• Student Role: Informant
– Students participated in focus groups.
– Results included both individual quotes and
themes.
Role 2: Informant - Example
Penn State Behrend
• Assessment Project:
– Survey for students who chose not to return to
on-campus housing
– Included scaled questions & open-ended
questions
• Results:
– Dissatisfaction with the damage charge policy
– Dissatisfaction that not all roommate/housing
style preferences were honored
• Implications:
– Damage charge structure may not be working.
– Importance of honoring roommate/housing
style preferences.
• Student Role: Informant
– Students participated in short survey.
– Results included themes and individual
quotes/short answers.
Role 2: Informant – Other Examples
• Qualitative Studies
– Interviews
– Focus Groups
– Reflexive Photography
• Feedback
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–
–
–
On-line feedback forms
Student advisory boards
Open Forums
Online chats and blog postings
Role 3: Students as
Users
Definition and Examples
Role 3: Students as USERS
DEFINITION
• Students are actual consumers
of the information.
• Students are provided with the
results of the study.
• Students may participate in the
actual assessment, see the
results, and have the
opportunity to use the
information from the results to
inform their choices, activities,
and experience.
Role 3: User Example
Ball State University & EBI
• Assessment Project:
– Making Achievement Possible (MAP-Works)
• Results:
– Students’ expectations ≠ their experiences
– Students’ plans will not produce their desired
outcomes.
• Implications:
– Students need information to realign their
expectations and behaviors to produce the
outcomes they want.
• Student Role: User
– Students complete the MAP-Works survey.
– Students receive personalized feedback
based on their survey responses. They can use
the information to inform their behaviors.
Example of
Feedback
to Students
Example of Feedback to Students
Example of Feedback to Students
Role 3: User – Other Examples
• Students use many sources to assess or
evaluate us.
– Sources such as websites, ranking reports,
internal and external publications, etc.
– Students use them to assess the quality, to
evaluate the fit, or to determine the nature of
an institution, department, or service.
• Students use many sources to assess or
understand themselves. Tools such as
alcoholedu, BASICs, etc.
– Students use them
• To understand their perceptions, attitudes, and
activities related to alcohol and other substance
use
• To compare that information to the normative
data of their peers.
These sources can include assessment data.
Role 4: Students as
Collaborators
Definition and Examples
Role 4: Students as
COLLABORATORS
DEFINITION
• Students are actively
involved in the
assessment project
• They may assist with
– Planning the assessment
– Collecting the
information
– Making sense of the
results
– Implementing the
changes
Role 4: Collaborator - Example
Ball State University
Longitudinal Evaluation and Assessment
Panel (LEAP)
• Students provide input about assessment
activities.
– Students suggested issues that may need
attention such as alcohol use, social support,
and differentiating between major and nonmajor courses
– They suggested questions to be asked.
• Describe a time when you thought you might
want to quit school and how did you overcome
that?
• How do you deal with professors you don’t
particularly like and how do you survive the
semester with them?
• They are helping us design new formats
for new on-line MAP system, which will
provide feedback to students.
Role 4: Collaborator – Other
Examples
• Collaborators give input,
feedback, suggestions, etc.
about assessment activities
and topics.
– Assessment Advisory Boards
– Individual Students
(undergraduate and graduate)
– Work Study Students
Role 5: Students as
Authors
Definition and Examples
Role 5: Students as AUTHORS
DEFINITION
• Students are
instrumental in the
assessment project
because they are
responsible for it.
• They may be
involved in every
step or they may
seek assistance in
some areas.
Role 5: Author - Example
Ball State University
Student Government Association (SGA)
Shuttle Bus Survey
• SGA wanted to survey students about
Shuttle Bus Service and Needs. They
developed a survey.
• The Assessment office provided assistance:
–
–
–
–
Survey revisions
Methodology
Survey administration
Analysis of results
• SGA publicized the survey and the results.
They also used the results to formulate
policy recommendations.
Student Role: SGA instigated the study,
sought assistance, and acted as the
author of the work.
Role 5: Another Author Example
Ball State University
Amanda Knerr Master’s Thesis
• Research Question: How are hall
directors (HDs) using the
assessment reports from MAP?
• Knerr found:
– HDs were using student reports to
facilitate discussion in meetings and to
initiate contact with at-risk students.
– HDs were not prepared to link
summary statistics to practice.
Role 5: Another Author Example
Knerr Master’s Thesis (continued)
• Implications:
– Individual student report formats are
working.
– Need to change summary report
format to focus on practical
implications.
– May need further discussions with HDs
to reinforce the links between
assessment results and practice.
• Student Role:
– Knerr was an author who evaluated
the effectiveness of assessment
reporting and made suggestions for
how to improve it.
Role 5: Authors – Other Examples
• Authors are responsible for the
assessment project
– Graduate and undergraduate
research projects
– Graduate assistantships
– Student initiatives
Small Group Discussion
Small Group Discussion
What roles are students currently
playing in your assessment?
What other roles would be useful
on your campus?
Additional Questions
and Discussion…
Amanda R. Knerr
Associate Director of Student Affairs
Pennsylvania State University
ark14@sa.psu.edu
Donald R. Whitaker, Ph.D.
Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness
Ball State University
dwhitake@bsu.edu
Sherry A. Woosley, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Institutional Effectiveness
Ball State University
sawoosley@bsu.edu