Last Wednesday a day-long Professional Development event was held in the BCC Dining Area, with about 75 faculty and staff in attendance. The theme for the day was on Assessment, and each session explored an aspect of that topic. The day began with remarks by Dean Feinerman outlining exciting changes that occurred over the summer, and a preview of what’s coming for the Fall. New faculty and staff were introduced next, including Ed Wierzbicki (Theater), Chuck Prescott (English – now FT), Lois Cooper (Languages – now FT), Mary Parkman (Service Learning Coordinator), Scott Richards (Facilities Coordinator), and Mark Bushey (Criminal Justice – now FT).
Next was our plenary session on “Making Assessment Sensible and Useful” with Dr. Barbara Walvoort. Barbara began the session by defining assessment as “Assessment of student learning is the systematic gathering of information about student learning and the factors that affect learning, undertaken with the resources, time, and expertise available, for the purpose of improving the learning.”
She continued by letting us all know that some perceive that higher ed has not been “accountable” and now must be accountable with a capital A. She acknowledged that assessment is always taking place in the classroom, program, and institutional levels, but it is often “stealth,” and we can do ti better and in a way that will be sensible, helpful and acceptable. Barbara led us though a flow chart indicating how data about student learning makes its way through all levels of the college, and how we can augment the collection of classroom, program, and institution-wide data.
Session II with Barbara focused on applying a department/program assessment model in three stages. Stage one involves creating clear and measurable student outcomes; Stage two involves designing direct and indirect student measures of how students are doing: focusing on their strengths and weaknesses; and Stage three involves sharing that data on a department/program level and devising areas for improvement.
Throughout the morning session, faculty raised questions that ranged from time issues to student preparadeness for college, to the role of adjuncts in the process. Faculty reactions included “direct application to our work,” “recognizes issue of limited resources,” “very helpful,” “clear, well-presented, and practical,” “could have been tailored to program needs,” “deepened my understanding of and stimulated new appreciation for assessment,” “positive and clear,””most assessment strategies are currently used, but got me thinking of program level.”
After lunch, there were four breakout sessions offered:
What’s All The Hype? Using Rubrics As A Viable Means Of Performance-Based Assessment
Putting the Wheels On Eportfolio
Beyond the Survey: Running A Student Focus Group
Program Review Clinic
Everyone came back together at 2:45pm for evaluations and raffle. It was a great day altogether, and thanks to everyone who made it successful!!
