1. Presentation to Faculty September 15, 2015

3. Reasons: It has been eight years since we created our Major assessment plans. It has been several years since we created our General education assessment plan. We have not take a comprehensive look what we do in assessment for several years. We have had many new hires in many disciplines We have been finding it difficult to draw global conclusions about student learning. Upcoming PRR review will probe our progress in student learning assessment. So this is a good time to kill two birds…..

4. The structure of assessment Academic (Student Learning) General Education Majors Institutional Effectiveness College/campus services CAS—Functional area performance assessment Capstone

5. General Education: Seeks to train students in the habits of thinking and doing that we value as a College. Major programs: Seeks to train students in the skills and content in a given subject area. Capstone: Empowers students to create something new using the skills and content learned in general education and in the major.

7. How does GENERAL EDUCATION assessment work?

8. What do we assess?: Core skills: Writing Oral Communication Information Literacy Problem Solving/Critical Thinking Additional Skills/habits: Ethics Religious Studies Gender and Multicultural Studies Global Culture and language Creative expression

9. How do we assess? (The “mantra” of assessment) Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic. Though isolated, "one-shot" assessment can be better than none, improvement is best fostered when assessment entails a linked series of activities undertaken over time. From AAHE statement on assessment, located on DePaul university webpage http://condor.depaul.edu/acafflpc/aahe.htm

10. Division requirement: Each division requirement must address a core learning competency (assigned to division) Capstone: Must assess at least two core learning competencies as part of capstone experience. General Education: Students introduced to competencies

11. Example: Charles and Information Literacy As a First year student, Charles is introduced to Information Literacy in First Year Seminar. As a sophomore, Charles takes his Humanities Division required course and is againexposed to Information Literacy As a Junior, Charles has the good taste to choose History as a major--which trains students in Information Literacy as a learning goal within the major. As a senior, Charles submits his capstone thesis to History faculty and it is assessed against Information Literacy rubrics. His thesis is collected and may be subjected to further review for institutional effectiveness purposes.

12. Capstone skill map M A J O R S Humanities Division Natural Sciences & Professional Studies Division Social Sciences DivisionVisual Arts & Letters Division History Modern Languages Philosophy Religious Studies Biology Chemistry Mathematics Business Economics Political Science Psychology Sociology Communication English English & Communication History of Art Studio Art Written Communication XXXX XXXXXXXXX Oral Communication X XXXX XXXXXX Information Literacy X XX XX X Critical Thinking XX X X X XX Problem Solving X X Discipline-Specific Skill Document Analysis Philosophy program goal Scientific Method Quantitative Literacy Economic Analysis Case Analysis Case Study Analysis Analysis, recog.,, and classification Creative Expression X Global Awareness- Culture X Global Awareness- Language Multiculturalism and Gender

13. General Education assessment: What we need to do 1. All faculty who teach in a given General Education competency should review the rubrics that govern that area. 2. They should reach conclusions about how well the rubrics describe student learning goals. 3. Decide whether to keep/alter/tweak/redo the rubrics.

14. Major Assessments : What we need to do 1. Each major assessment plan needs to be overhauled. Take a look at goals Do they speak to the College’s Mission, and what we want our students to be once they are graduate? Do they describe the goals of the major well? Do the objectives serve the goals? Do the objectives match up with higher order thinking skills?

15. Major Assessments : What we need 2. Each major needs to create a “curricular map” Graphic representation of which courses satisfy which major goals.

16. Major Assessments : What we need 3. We need to answer questions about the process. Can this process be simplified without losing efficacy? Does the present GenEd structure serve our needs? Who should draw conclusions about student learning? What accountability measures should we have? Why do we struggle with major reports? These questions and others will be tackled in division meetings.