1. 1 Assessment as A Catalyst to Deepen Student Learning Keynote Address: General Education and Assessment: Creating Shared Responsibility for Learning Across the Curriculum AAC & Us Network for Academic Renewal Conference, February, 2005 Peggy Maki--PeggyMaki@aol.com

2. 2 Chronology of learning Collaborative mapping of vertical themes in the curricular-co- curricular fabric that contribute to students learning along the continuum of their learning Foci

3. 3 Assessment methods that shape and chronicle how well students make meaning Ways to position students to construct meaning and solve problems based on their General Education program of study

4. 4 Chronology of Learning Students bring a learning chronology with themunderstanding, abilities, habits of mind, as well as misunderstandings Students learn differentlyat different times, places, and through different pedagogies, strategies, instructional design, and educational tools such as technology

5. 5 As a result of GE courses and educational experiences, we want students to: Integrate Apply Synthesize Transfer Analyze Interpret Reflect

6. 6 Collaborative Mapping of Vertical Themes Map vertical themes across GE and other contributing educational experiences such as : – nature of evidence – modes of inquiry and discourse – Interdependence – ethical decision making and problem solving

7. 7 Mapping a Vertical Theme Evidence that counts? Content/context of learning, such as in mathematics history sociology, etc. Teaching and learning methods Assessment methods

8. 8 Assessment Methods that Shape and Chronicle Student Learning: Every assessment is also based on a set of beliefs about the kinds of tasks or situations that will prompt students to say, do, or create something that demonstrates important knowledge and skills. The tasks to which students are asked to respond on an assessment are not arbitrary. National Research Council., p. 47.

9. 9 What and how students learn depends to a major extent on how they think they will be assessed. Biggs, J., p. 141.

10. 10 Characteristics of GE Assessment Methods: Integrated along the continuum of students learning to routinely prompt students to draw on their GE courses and related learning experiences Designed to position students to see learning as relevant, emerging, subject to change or revision based on new knowledge, perspectives, and understanding

11. 11 Focused on complex as opposed to simple problems/issues: rich, dynamic, muddy, interdisciplinary

12. 12 Methods Position Students: –Reuse and reconfigure what they have learned, leading to deeper or even new understanding, perspectives, ways of problem-solving –Value interdependence among courses and experiences –Self-reflect on their emerging learning

13. 13 Possible Methods: A case study or case studies over time as students move through courses and educational experiences Virtual simulations or scenarios Computer modeling Storyboarding Logbook or journal tasks that explore a complex problem over time

14. 14 Mind mapping, concept mapping, or other visual representation (3-D) Critical events/situations along the continuum of learning Self-directed group projects (personal and annotated websites)

15. 15 Mining and interpreting learning objects (artifacts) Development of a model that is then executed (artists maquettes) Problems with solutions. Are there other solutions?

16. 16 Shifted perspectives on a problem/issuefine tuned view versus maco-view ( a la Lewis Thomas) Lab work/field work/service learning projects

17. 17 Chronological task that challenges students to construct meaning over time--from remembering set solutions to applying to a new situation Magic box

18. 18 Positioning Students to Construct Meaning and Solve Problems oOrientation of new students to the continuum of learning and vertical theme maps oIdentification of assessment methods along the continuum of learning

19. 19 oIncorporation of self-reflection, analysis of frameworks, perspectives, ways of knowing and problem solving, and actions or decisions as part of assessment methods. oCreation of interdisciplinary teams that periodically work on a complex problem from orientation to graduation and track their chronological approaches to solving a problem.

20. 20 R.W. Emerson, Intellect, Essays (1841) How can we speak of the action of the mind under any divisions, as of its knowledge, of its ethics, of its works, and so forth, since it melts will into perception, knowledge into act? Each becomes the other. Itself alone is. Its vision is not like the vision of the eye, but is union with the things known.

21. 21 Works Cited Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What The Student Does. Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press, 1999, p. 141. Marton, F., & Saljo, R. (1976). On Qualitative Differences in Learning: IOutcome and Process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 4-11. Marton, F., & Saljo, R. (1976). On Qualitative Differences in Learning: IIOutcome and Process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 115-127. National Research Council. (2001). Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 47.