Instructional SLOs and Authentic Assessment Marcy Alancraig, Cabrillo College Joe Safdie, Mesa College

Activities for the Workshop SLO Quiz: How much do we know? Defining Authentic Assessment Analyzing Assessment Methods Discussion: What do you do with the data? Revising Action Plans

Dr. Harmony’s Musical Quiz A note about answering these questions: This is anonymous. Answer honestly. No one is looking. This is self-assessment. For each question, please select the best answer

True or False? Press A for true and B for false 1. SLOs (student learning outcomes) and assessment are new fads that began with the Bush administration.

True or False? 2. The U.S. Department of Education believes that accreditation is broken and that standardized tests will fix higher education quality.

True or False? 3. According to both the Academic Senate and WASC, writing SLOs and designing assessment processes is a faculty responsibility.

True or False? 4. The Accreditation Standards state that quantitative methods are the only acceptable measure of SLOs.

5. The Accreditation Standards require that SLOs are written and assessed in a.Courses b.Programs c.General Education d.Student Services e.All of the above

6. A Student Learning Outcome refers to student demonstration of: a.Knowledge b.Skills c.Abilities d.Attitudes e.All of the above

7. “Closing the feedback loop” means assessment results are: a.Used to evaluate students. b.Used to evaluate faculty. c.Discussed among campus decision makers and used to enhance teaching and learning. d.Discussed among administrators and then forgotten. e.None of the above.

8. When the Accreditation Standards state that “faculty and those responsible for student progress” should be evaluated on their “effectiveness in producing” SLOs, they mean: a.Only faculty, not administrators b.Course grades should be a measure c.Self-evaluation is NOT acceptable d.Our unions have no say in how a college meets this e.None of the above

9. Which of the following are methods for assessing course SLOs? a.Major assignments graded with rubrics and/or primary trail analysis b.Portfolios c.Embedded test questions d.Projects e.All of the above

10. Are you at the Proficiency level with SLOs on your campus now? a. Yes b. No c. I don’t know what that means d. You’re joking, right?

11. If you’re not at Proficiency now, do you have an action plan about how to get there by 2012? a. Yes b. No c. We’re working on it

Quickie Review: What is Assessment ? An ongoing process aimed at improving student learning. It involves faculty making learning expectations explicit and public. measuring if students have met them. making changes based on results – in the classroom, the program and the college.

So What’s “Authentic Assessment”? Simulates a real world experience Asks students to perform tasks that approximate those found in the work place or other venues outside of the classroom Evaluates students’ ability to apply what they’ve learned in class using critical thinking

Activity: Analyzing Your Assessment Methods Break into groups Fill out worksheet on assessment methods on your campus. Evaluate if the methods used are authentic – how does the activity mimic what might happen outside of class?

Report Out What happens to the data? How is it used? How much dialogue occurs about the data and who is doing the talking?

Activity: Revising Action Plans What do you need to add or change on your SLO action plan to help you reach Proficiency or beyond on the ACCJC rubric?