Experiential Learning Assessment

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Experiential Learning Assessment
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Assessment

• On-going
• Aimed at understanding and improving learning
• Makes expectations explicit
• Sets standards for learning quality
• Provides a system to gather, analyze, and
  interpret evidence
• Uses the results to document, explain, and
  improve performance

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What are we assessing?

• Program assessment?
• External data/internal data - stats, GPA,
  graduate school participation
• Employer/student perceptions of the program,
  functioning and benefits to them
• Achievement of program mission
• University concerns - retention, persistence to
  graduation, critical thinking, information
  fluency
• Learning assessment?
• Assessing assessment tools

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Assessment of Student Learning

• Interactive process
• Employers report perception of student
  performance
• Students self-report perception of their own
  learning and/or use validated measure
• Students report perception of work sites related
  to benefits and learning

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Essential Questions

• WHY are we doing assessment?
• WHAT are we assessing?
• HOW do we want to assess?
• WHO are the results for?
• HOW will the results be used?

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Defining our goals

• Experiential Education - a learning process that
  takes place beyond the traditional classroom and
  enhances the personal and intellectual growth of
  the student. (Northeastern, 1997)
• Dewey/Kolb experiential learning is the process
  whereby knowledge is created through the
  transformation of experience.

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Defining our goals

• Seely Brown, Lave, Wenger situated learning
  cognitive apprenticeship, and" communities of
  practice
• Goes beyond integration to creation of new
  knowledge
• Classroom influence on experiential ed
• Experiential ed influence on the classroom

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Assessment cycle

• Define outcomes
• Set learning objectives
• Design assessment measures
• Gather data
• Analyze data
• Set new objectives
• Gather data
• Design new measures

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SCANS competencies

• Realistic Expectations
• Career Direction/Goals
• Independence/Initiative
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Oral Presentation Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Teamwork
• Integrity
• Flexibility/Adaptability
• Listening Skills
• Accuracy

• Resource Management (time, materials, space)
• Organization/Planning Skills
• Understand/Adhere to Organizational Systems
• Acquiring and Integrating Information
• Critical Thinking/ Problem Solving Skills
• Computer/Technical Skills

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Learning Outcomes

• Recent trend toward learning outcomes has
  increased research and reviews of research on
  learning outcomes and educational efficacy of
  programs
• National research project among 15 co-op programs
  on student learning outcomes (Parks, D.K.
  Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Cash, S.H.,2001)
• Reviews of Research
• On Co-op, 1988-2003 (Dressler, S. Keeling, A.,
  2004)
• On Service-Learning,1993-2000 (Eyler, J., Giles,
  D.E., Stenson, C.M., Gray, C.J., 2001).

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A Model for Co-op outcomes

• A four-component model for learning outcomes
• Personal
• Career
• Work
• Academic
• Structural Issues

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A Model for Service-Learning Outcomes

• Personal Outcomes
• Social Outcomes
• Learning Outcomes
• Career Development
• Relationship with Institution
• Structural Issues related to Outcomes

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Personal Outcomes
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Career Outcomes
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Work Outcomes
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Academic Outcomes
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Structural Issues
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Assessment of Programs

• What processes make a difference to
  constituencies?
• What measures are important within your
  institution?
• What issues are of concern to accreditors,
  parents, legislators, students?
• What outcomes would help you to meet your
  internal and external goals?

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Institutional Assessment

• What is the impact of experiential learning on
  the educational process institution-wide?
• What coordination exists or can exist to solve
  community problems, present a unified image to
  the community, reduce competition.

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Assessment for Community Partners

• What benefits are important to them?
• What issues are they addressing in their field or
  company?
• What positive or negative outcomes are they
  experiencing?
• What more could be done?
• How are your processes working for them?

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References

• Dressler,S. Keeling, A. (2004). Benefits of
  cooperative education for students in
  International handbook of cooperative education
  (Eds. Richard Coll Chris Eames). Hamlton
  Waikato Print.
• Eyler, J., Giles, D.E., Stenson, C. M., Gray,
  C.J. (2001). At a glance What we know about the
  effects of service-learning on college students,
  faculty, institutions and communities, 1993-2000
  3rd. ed. Vanderbilt University Corporation for
  National Service Learning and Serve America
  National Service Learning Clearinghouse.
• Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning,
  Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall
• Parks, D.K., Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Cash, S.H.
  (2001). Development of a measure for predicting
  learning advancement through cooperative
  education Reliability and validity of the PLACE
  scale. Journal of Cooperative Education, 36(1),
  23-31.
• Secretarys Commission of Advancing Necessary
  Skills. (1990) SCANS report. Washington DC US
  Department of Labor.

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• What are some of the
• challenges and issues you face in trying to
  define and document the transformation that
  occurs in experiential learning?