FaCET Workshop on
Assessment Basics
Nathan Lindsay
September 18, 2013
Can dogs talk?
Our Vision for Assessment
To provide sufficient support
and guidance to help you
realize the dividends for the
time/effort invested
 Enhanced learning
 Improved programs/degrees
 Greater communication
about teaching/learning
among faculty
 To create a culture of
learning, where striving to
enrich our students’ learning
is what is valued

I think that good teaching is more art than science.
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Agree
Neither agree nor
disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Not applicable
S
1.
Some Guiding Assumptions…
Teaching and learning can be
improved through systematic
inquiry
 Assessment is always a work
in progress, and it’s ok if
things don’t go perfectly
 Assessment is about lessons
learned in the efforts to
enhance learning/teaching
 Goal of the Assessment
Annual Report =


To demonstrate concerted effort
on the part of faculty to examine
student outcomes and make
appropriate adjustments to
improve program
I think that the quality of student learning at UMKC is
excellent.
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Agree
Neither agree nor
disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Don’t know/Not
applicable
S
1.
Four “Big Picture” questions to
ask about assessment
 How do you define a successful student?
 What have you learned about your students’
learning?
 Are you satisfied with the results?
 If not satisfied with the results, what are you
going to do about it?
Assessing Our University’s (& Your
Department’s) Assessment Efforts
Compliance
Commitment
External Questions
Internal Questions
Number & Amount
Quality & Utility
Reporting
Interpreting
Collecting it
Using it
Accreditation
Learning
Initial Assessment Components for
Each Academic Degree
 Mission statement
 Goals (usually 2-3)
 Learning Outcomes
(usually 3-7)

Remember: SMART





Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant/ResultsOriented
Time-bound
Measurements
Complete Measurements Process
 What instrument? why?



formative or summative
assessment?
direct or indirect measure?
if possible, it’s best to use multiple
measures
 How conduct measurement?



which students? when measured?
where?
how administered? by whom?
often good to use smaller samples of
students; capstone courses
 How collect and store data?
 Who analyzes data? how? when?
 Who reports?


to faculty: how? when? where?
to WEAVE?
Achievement Targets
 What kind of performance do you expect from
your students on your learning outcomes?

What is the desirable level of performance for your
students


Rubrics can clarify this (see the next slides)
What percentage of students do you expect to achieve
this?
Using Rubrics
•
A rubric is: “a set of criteria and a scoring scale that is
used to assess and evaluate students’ work” (Cambell,
Melenyzer, Nettles, & Wyman, 2000).
•
Addresses performance standards in a clear and
concise manner (which students appreciate!)
•
Clearly articulates to students the areas of improvement
needed to meet these standards
•
Blackboard has a new Rubric feature that makes the
process straightforward and easier
•
To find examples, Google rubrics for your discipline, or
see the Rubistar website http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Example of a Rubric
UMKC Foreign Languages and Literatures
Assessment Tool for Oral Proficiency Interview adapted from
“Interpersonal Mode Rubric Pre-Advanced Learner” 2003 ACTFL
Category
Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations
Does Not Meet
Expectations
Comprehensibility
Who can understand this
person’s meaning? How
sympathetic must the
listener be? Does it need
to be the teacher or could
a native speaker
understand the speaker?
How independent of
teaching situation is the
conversation?
Easily understood by
native speakers, even
those unaccustomed to
interacting with
language learners.
Clear evidence of
culturally appropriate
language,
Although there may be
some confusion about the
message, generally
understood by those
unaccustomed to
interacting with language
learners.
Generally understood by
those accustomed to
interacting with language
learners.
Language Control
Accuracy, form,
appropriate vocabulary,
degree of fluency
High degree of
accuracy in present,
past and future time.
Accuracy may
decrease when
attempting to handle
abstract topics
Most accurate with
connected discourse in
present time.
Accuracy decreases when
narrating and describing in
time frames other than
present.
Most accurate with
connected sentence-level
discourse in present time.
Accuracy decreases as
language becomes
complex.
How to build a rubric
 Answer the following questions:

Given your broad course goals, what
determines the extent of student
understanding?

What criterion counts as EVIDENCE of
student learning?

What specific characteristics in student
responses, products or performances should
be examined as evidence of student learning?
Developing a rubric helps you to clarify
the characteristics/components
of your Learning Outcomes:
For example: Can our students deliver
an effective Public Speech?
eye contact
style
appearance
gestures
rate
evidence
volume
poise
conclusion
sources
transitions
examples
verbal variety
organization attention getter
Rubrics Resources at UMKC
 Two new pages discussing rubrics are available
on UMKC’s Blackboard Support Site.

http://www.umkc.edu/ia/its/support/blackboard/fa
culty/rubrics.asp

http://www.umkc.edu/ia/its/support/blackboard/fa
culty/rubrics-bb.asp
Training for Rubrics on Blackboard
For assistance with using Rubrics in
Blackboard, please contact
Molly Mead
Instructional Designer, E-Learning
Experiences at 235-6595 or
meadmo@umkc.edu
More rubric help
 AACU Rubrics

http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics
 Rubrics from Susan Hatfield (HLC Mentor)

www.winona.edu/air/rubrics.htm
 Rubistar

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
Findings
What do the data tell you?
 Part I: specific findings





Compare new data to
achievement targets
Did students meet or
deviate from expectations?
Important: Include specific
numbers/percentages
when possible
Do not use course grades
or pass rates.
Optional: Post anonymous
data or files in WEAVE
Document Management
section
Findings (cont.)

what do the data tell you?
 Part II: general findings



What lessons did your
faculty learn from this
evidence about your
students?
What broader implications
do you draw about your
program?
Ex: curriculum, admissions,
administration, policies,
requirement, pedagogy,
assessment procedures,
and so on
◦ Conversations

The more people involved,
the better!
Action Plans
 Concrete Steps for Change
 list of specific innovations that
you would like to introduce in
AY 2013-14 to address
lessons learned in AY 201213.
 Again, in curriculum,
admissions, administration,
policies, requirement,
pedagogy, assessment
procedures, and so on
 Resources? Time Period?
Point Person?
 It is best to have
documentation of the changes
made through these Action
Plans (e.g., in syllabi, the
course catalogue, meeting
minutes)
Submitting the Assessment Annual Report

Part I: Detailed
Assessment Report



“Assessment Plan
Content”
All items (mission ->
action plans)
submitted in
WEAVEonline
to log in to WEAVE,
go to
https://app.weaveonl
ine.com/umkc/login.
aspx
Using WEAVE for the 2012-2013
Assessment Cycle
 Everything from previous cycles has carried over into the
2012-2013 assessment cycle
 If you are creating entirely new goals, learning outcomes, etc.,
don’t write these over the top of old items (this will mess up
your linked associations in WEAVE). Create new ones.
 If you need to delete something in WEAVE, please contact
me, and I will do it for you
Sharing Assessment Plans:
Printing Reports from WEAVE
 Click on the “Reports” tab
 Under “Select cycle,” choose your cycle (the
2012-2013 cycle should be chosen if you’d like
your findings listed)
 Under “Select a report,” there is a button you
can select for “Assessment Data by Section” to
make your report a little shorter
 Under “Select report entities,” choose the areas
you would like to report
Printing Reports from WEAVE (cont.)
 Click on “Next” (on the right side of the page)
 On the second page, under “Report-Specific
Parameters,” click on “Keep user-inserted
formatting.”
 Click on “Run” (on the right
side of the page)
 The Report will come up in
a new window, and this can
be copied and pasted into a
Word document.
Assessment Plan Narrative

Part II: Timeline/Account of
Activities




“Assessment Plan Narrative”
In 1-2 pages, tell the story of
all the work and careful
consideration you and your
colleagues accomplished in
your assessment work this
year (Ex.: meetings,
mentoring, experiments,
setbacks, lessons learned)
Submit this in the Document
Management section in
WEAVE
Please follow the four
outlined questions (see
next slide)
Four Questions for the Assessment Narrative
1)
Process: Please describe the specific activities and efforts used to
design, implement, and analyze your assessment plan during this
academic year. This narrative might be organized chronologically, listing
meetings, mentoring sessions, and experiments at each stage of the
developmental process including the names of people involved in various
capacities, with each event given one paragraph.
2)
Positives: Please describe what was most useful about the assessment
process, or what went well. What did you learn about your faculty,
students, or program through this experience?
3)
Challenges: Please describe the challenges you encountered in terms of
the development or implementation of your assessment procedures, as
well as the lessons you learned from this experience and your efforts or
plans for overcoming them. This section might be organized topically.
4)
Support: Please describe your program’s experience during the past year
with the support and administrative structures in place at UMKC for
Assessment: the Provost’s Office, the University Assessment Committee,
FaCET, and so on. If there are ways in which these areas could be
improved to better support your efforts in assessment, please make those
suggestions here.
Avoiding “Garbage In, Garbage Out”
 An assessment plan submitted
for each degree is not enough
 Focus on encouraging best
practices
 Enhancing overall quality
through:



One-on-one mentoring
Multiple drafts/iterative process
Timely and thorough peer review
given for all degrees and
programs (requiring many hours!)
Submission: October 1st 2013
 Final reporting complete
for the 2012-2013
assessment cycle
 No edits allowed after
1st of October
 During the fall semester,
the University
Assessment Committee
and the Asst. VP for
Assessment will give
feedback on these
Annual Reports
After October
st
1
 Assessment entries for AY




2013-14 begin
Assessment Cycle runs
from June 1, 2013 to May
30, 2014
Need to implement the
Action Plans from last year
Update mission
statements, goals, learning
outcomes, and
measurements based on
feedback from UAC. Items
in WEAVE carry over from
last year unless changed.
Enter new findings and
action plans.
Assessment Resources
 University
Assessment
website:
http://www.umkc.edu/asse
ssment/index.cfm



Academic degree
assessment
General education
assessment
University
Assessment
Committee
Assessment Resources
 Assessment Handbook





Core principles and
processes regarding
UMKC assessment
WEAVE guidelines
Assessment glossary
10 FAQs
Appendices
 Available at
http://www.umkc.edu/provost/academicassessment/downloads/handbook-2011.pdf
Assessment Projects from Recent
Years
 UMKC Assessment Plan (see handout) and General
Education Assessment Plan
(http://www.umkc.edu/assessment/downloads/generaleducation-assessment-plan-6-28-12.pdf)
 Develop assessment plans for free-standing minors and
certificate programs
 Use the major field exams, WEPT (now RooWriter),
and ETS-Proficiency Profile to inform practices across
the campus
 Conduct pilot assessments for General Education
Goals for 2011-2012, 2012-2013
 Here’s what we hope to see in the WEAVE reports and
narratives

More faculty/staff involvement within each department

Additional learning outcomes measured (so that all outcomes
are measured in a three-year cycle)

Data showing that changes made to curriculum, pedagogy,
advising, services, etc. were related to higher student learning
outcomes. In other words, if scores from 2012-2013 are
significantly higher than the previous year, please highlight
these.

Again, we need to have assessment findings and action plans
from 100% of departments for our Higher Learning Commission
requirements
Ongoing Assessment Initiatives at
UMKC




Helping faculty to develop their
assessment plans for the new
General Education courses
Integrating assessment work
more effectively with the
Program Evaluation Committee
Having departments post their
student learning outcomes on
their websites
Encouraging departments to
establish departmental level
assessment committees
A Few More Areas of Assessment Progress
 Encouraging higher order thinking as students
progress through the curriculum
 Using multiple types of assessments
Assessing students’ learning in high impact
experiences (internships, undergraduate research,
service learning, study abroad)
 Student surveys gauging their learning/satisfaction
in the department
 Making sure that the curriculum and pedagogy is
more directly tied to your learning outcomes (i.e.,
curriculum mapping)

COMPREHENSION
ANALYSIS
EVALUATION
APPLICATION
SYNTHESIS
KNOWLEDGE
Cite
Count
Define
Draw
Identify
List
Name
Point
Quote
Read
Recite
Record
Repeat
Select
State
Tabulate
Tell
Trace
Underline
Associate
Classify
Compare
Compute
Contrast
Differentiate
Discuss
Distinguish
Estimate
Explain
Express
Extrapolate
Interpolate
Locate
Predict
Report
Restate
Review
Tell
Translate
Apply
Calculate
Classify
Demonstrate
Determine
Dramatize
Employ
Examine
Illustrate
Interpret
Locate
Operate
Order
Practice
Report
Restructure
Schedule
Sketch
Solve
Translate
Use
Write
Analyze
Appraise
Calculate
Categorize
Classify
Compare
Debate
Diagram
Differentiate
Distinguish
Examine
Experiment
Inspect
Inventory
Question
Separate
Su rize
Test
Arrange
Assemble
Collect
Compose
Construct
Create
Design
Formulate
Integrate
Manage
Organize
Plan
Prepare
Prescribe
Produce
Propose
Specify
Synthesize
Write
Appraise
Assess
Choose
Compare
Criticize
Determine
Estimate
Evaluate
Grade
Judge
Measure
Rank
Rate
Recommend
Revise
Score
Select
Standardize
Test
Validate
Lower level course
outcomes
COMPREHENSION
ANALYSIS
EVALUATION
APPLICATION
SYNTHESIS
KNOWLEDGE
Cite
Count
Define
Draw
Identify
List
Name
Point
Quote
Read
Recite
Record
Repeat
Select
State
Tabulate
Tell
Trace
Underline
Associate
Classify
Compare
Compute
Contrast
Differentiate
Discuss
Distinguish
Estimate
Explain
Express
Extrapolate
Interpolate
Locate
Predict
Report
Restate
Review
Tell
Translate
Apply
Calculate
Classify
Demonstrate
Determine
Dramatize
Employ
Examine
Illustrate
Interpret
Locate
Operate
Order
Practice
Report
Restructure
Schedule
Sketch
Solve
Translate
Use
Write
Advanced
Course / Program
outcomes
Analyze
Appraise
Calculate
Categorize
Classify
Compare
Debate
Diagram
Differentiate
Distinguish
Examine
Experiment
Inspect
Inventory
Question
Separate
Summarize
Test
Arrange
Assemble
Collect
Compose
Construct
Create
Design
Formulate
Integrate
Manage
Organize
Plan
Prepare
Prescribe
Produce
Propose
Specify
Synthesize
Write
Appraise
Assess
Choose
Compare
Criticize
Determine
Estimate
Evaluate
Grade
Judge
Measure
Rank
Rate
Recommend
Revise
Score
Select
Standardize
Test
Validate
Program Level
Student Learning
Outcomes
1
1xx
2xx
2xx
A
K
K
2
3
1xx
A
2xx
3xx
A
3xx
3xx
4xx Capstone
A
A
K
K
S
S
K
K
4
5
S
K
6
K
K
A
7
S
A
A
A
S
S
K= Knowledge/Comprehension; A= Application / Analysis; S= Synthesis /Evaluation
Questions?
Contact Information

For assistance with
assessment, please contact


Nathan Lindsay, Assistant Vice
Provost for Assessment at 2356084 or lindsayn@umkc.edu
(After November 1st)
Barb Glesner Fines, FaCET
Mentor for Assessment at 2352380 or glesnerb@umkc.edu