Reaching Out to Reform Reaching in to Assess

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Reaching Out to Reform Reaching in to Assess

• Michael Feldstein, Ed.D.
• Monica McKinney, Ph.D.
• Paul Winterhoff, Ph.D.
• Meredith College

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Introduction

• Welcome!
• Introductions
• Outline of our Presentation
• Brief history and timeline of General Education
  reform at Meredith
• Overview of the revised goals requirements
• Overview of our assessment system
• Some practical exercises on embedded assessment
• Discussion

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History of Program Development

• Timeline (Handout)
• We have accomplished an incredible amount as a
  college.
• Review of highlights lowlights!

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The genesis of our new curriculum
The ideal side
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Colleagues collaborating and coming to consensus

• A task force of faculty, staff, and students.
• An open process spanning 2 years.
• A general education program that will serve our
  students well.

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The genesis of our new curriculumThe other side
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Changing a 30 year old curriculum involves

• Some hurt feelings
• Some hard feelings
• Accepting the open future the untried

• Politicking
• Turf battles
• Digging in the heels!

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We made it through all that to establish a
measure of unity. Our new program is begun.

• Now the Real Work Begins-
• Implementation!

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Making Connections Making a Difference

• A general education program for
• active learning
• intellectual development
• civic engagement

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The Program Goals

• Gain knowledge of self, others, and the world,
• Think critically, quantitatively, and creatively,
• Communicate effectively,
• Participate responsibly and ethically in society,
  the global community, and the natural world
• Develop a broad and discerning understanding of
  the richness of artistic expression and creative
  imagination
• Develop a thoughtful awareness of the spiritual
  dimension of human experience
• Lead physically active, health-enhancing lives
• Develop an understanding of the complexity of
  knowledge and a desire to engage in lifelong
  learning

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The Curriculum Skills

• The general education program in cooperation with
  major programs of study provides practice in the
  following skills
• effective and clear writing in English
• basic research skills information literacy
• Ethical reasoning
• effective oral communication
• And competencies
• fundamental technology competency
• foreign language speaking and reading

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The Curriculum Knowledge and Values

• Knowledge The Traditional Electives
• Our Fields of Knowledge choices
• Values
• Civic Responsibility
• Individual Responsibility
• The Spiritual Dimension
• Diversity Human Rights

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The Core Curriculum

• Courses at 3 levels designed to follow a
  developmental progression
• CORE 100 The Context of Culture
• CORE 200 Cultural Connections
• CORE 400 Global Perspectives
• Foundation Courses
• English composition
• History
• Religion

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Putting together an assessment process

• Considering effective practices
• Reviewing our existing efforts
• Developing a comprehensive plan

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Assessment to Date

• Institutional Testing
• NSSE- (National Survey of Student Engagement)
• ( of class presentations, hours studied,
  written papers)
• CIRP- (Cooperative Institutional Research
  Program)
• Academic Profile (MAPP) Measure of Academic
  Proficiency and Progress exam (Measures Critical
  thinking skills, Reading, Writing, and
  Mathematical ability)
• Administration (Problem)
• Freshman (Fall, 2002, 2003 2004)
• Juniors (Spring, 2005 and 2006)

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Assessment to Date continued

• Other Assessments (Indirect Methods)
• Course evaluations
• Focus groups with students
• Student and advisor surveys
• End of course surveys on learning outcomes in
  CORE 100 and CORE 200

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New Assessment Method (Direct)

• Course Embedded Assessment
• Techniques utilized within a classroom to assess
  students learning. (Exams, Paper, Presentation,
  etc.)
• Course Embedded Assessment Form
• Students do/dont acquire learning outcomes
• Scoring criteria used to evaluate performance
• Tasks used to measure objectives (e.g. class
  assignment, exam, etc.)
• Digital Locker (Xythos) - web-based tool that
  allows transferring of files on a server for
  storage and sharing with others

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An exercise on embedded assessment

• Handout Please decide what activities you would
  have students do to measure whether or not they
  have met a particular learning outcome.

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Reporting Out

• 10. oral comm/speech course sequence of 3 in
  growing sophistication videotape or rubric
• General portfolios? Utah - for writing
  requirement (grad students would evaluate) year
  long how long are they kept and can they be
  tied to a particular student?
• 1. genogram (family tree) map of environment
  family, school, friends, etc. as a way to step
  back and look at whole put down where there are
  medical/mental health issues (could see patterns)
• The outcomes are complex. Qual quant cultural
  comparison is multiple.
• 4. Recognize and improve demonstrate,
  explain are perhaps better?

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Through general education reform weve begun a
remarkable unique program. Implementation has
been trying! Assessment will be? Lets trust
that the way will open!

• Thank your attention and willingness to
  participate and discuss!
• Enjoy the rest of the conference.

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Contact us

• www.meredith.edu/academics/gened/
• Winterhoff_at_meredith.edu
• McKinneyM_at_meredith.edu
• Feldstein_at_meredith.edu