Arizona Western CollegeAssessment Workshop 1

Workshop Objectives:

• describe the value and purposes of assessment as related to teaching and learning,

• identify and write measureable outcomes,• identify and write methods of assessment with benchmarks, and• enter course and/or program outcomes and measures in an assessment plan.

What is assessment and why do we have to do it?

“Assessment is the systematic collection of information about student learning, using the time, knowledge, expertise, and resources available, in order to inform decisions that affect student learning” (Walvoord, 2010).

We assess teaching, learning, and services to ensure we are providing top quality education and services. Without documented evidence of assessment, how do we know how well our students are performing for every course or program outcome? How do we know if we are providing the services that are actually needed? Talk is not enough. We must have evidence of what really is occurring.

As noted in the cartoon below, it is not enough to just teach. We must collect evidence of what the students did or did not learn to enhance student learning and improve instruction.

Blake, B. (n.d.). https://www.pinterest.com/pin/137922807311526231/Walvoord, B. E. (2010). Assessment clear and simple (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

How do we assess teaching and learning?

Assessment is easier than you think and you do it more often than you realize. You are engaging in assessment:– When you rephrase a piece of instruction because you realize the students did not understand what

you said.– When you ask the students what they learned that day or what they had difficulty understanding.– When you cover a topic again and/or change how you present certain material because over 60% of

the class failed an assignment, project, or test question.– When you change an assignment, quiz, project, or exam to include questions or activities that will

better measure the student’s understanding of what they learned.– When you collect evidence of student learning.

• Assignments• Quizzes• Exams• Projects• Focus groups• Surveys/questionnaires• Activities

Why do we have to document assessment? Why are grades not enough?

Instructors may be able to recall how many students they had that received a final grade of an A, B, or C but how many instructors will remember from one semester to the next, or one year to the next, how many students had trouble with one or more specific outcomes? Grades provide an overall assessment of a student’s learning. The real evidence of student success or failure is discovered when students are assessed on each outcome using a variety of methods.

– Assessment plans provide records of:• what the students should have learned (the individual outcomes).• how well or poorly they learned the outcomes (measure results for each measure).• what was done to improve the teaching and learning (recommendations for improvement).

Assessment plans are not for the accreditors or the administration. They are for everyone but mostly importantly, they are to help the instructors (current and future) improve teaching and learning. It is easier to produce higher quality students if everyone is aware of what works, what does not work, and which outcomes students struggle with on a regular basis.

Think of assessment plans as routes on a map to enhance teaching and learning. The first assessment plan is your starting point and the first route on the map. At the end of each route you assess the bumps in the road as well as any smooth sailing. Adjust your next route according to the findings and move forward. The plans will provide documented direction of where you started as well as the paths you took that helped propel your path forward. The documentation informs every one of the path to improving teaching and learning and can shed valuable insight over a long period of time, whether you are still plotting the route for a particular course or program or someone else is.

Time to get started.

Now that you have a better understanding of the purpose and value of assessment it is time to move on to identifying and/or writing learning outcomes and measures.

What are learning outcomes?Learning outcomes are statements of observable and measurable student performance which provide the foundation for the assessment of student learning. The statements define what a student will be able to do at the end of a learning activity, course, or program.

The key word above is ‘measurable’. How will you measure (assess) how well a student has learned an outcome? Learning outcomes should start with an action verb. Consider starting an outcome with: write, describe, present, analyze, compare, etc.

Below are some examples of learning outcomes from a variety of AWC course syllabi:• discuss historical concepts relative to artifacts. • draw accurate structural representations of saturated and unsaturated organic molecules.• compare and contrast attitudes towards race, gender and different cultures reflected in or

criticized by each work.• describe the basic principles of learning and memory, especially in relation to studying and

taking exams.– All current AWC syllabi have identified course outcomes. (all should start with an action

verb)– Academic programs with defined program level learning outcomes have been posted

online at: https://www.azwestern.edu/learning_services/instruction/assessment/program/academic_program_student_learning_outcomes.html

The assessment of student learning for any outcome can be tied back to another outcome or institutional value. Consider this scenario:• A student completes an assignment in a SOC 101 course that meets one of the course level outcomes. • That one course outcome is mapped (linked) to a specific program outcome in the Psychology/Sociology program

and to three general education outcomes: one in civic discourse, one in communication, and another in digital literacy.

• The general education outcomes are linked to the institutional values . By assessing that one assignment, we have data regarding how well that one student has met five learning outcomes and AWC’s institutional values. Assessment at even the lowest of levels can provide students, instructors, and the institution a great deal of information on how well or poorly the students are learning at a variety of levels.

COURSE OUTCOMES

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

GENERAL EDUCATION OUTCOMES

COLLEGE VALUES/MISSION STATEMENT

It is not only important that faculty can identify what students should be able to do at the completion of a course or program but that the students are also aware of the learning outcomes.

Go beyond just introducing the learning outcomes at the beginning of a course, point out which course outcomes students are fulfilling as they complete the different assignments and activities throughout the course.

Measuring student outcomesAWC’s courses have defined learning outcomes. What may not be defined however is how each instructor will measure student learning for each outcome. Instructors may use one of many different measures. The following are just a few examples.

– Written assignment– Presentation/Performance– Quiz/Exam– Group work

Once an instructor has decided how they will measure the student’s knowledge for each outcome, he/she should set a benchmark of how many students should meet the mark and at what level. For example, for the following outcome “students will be able to recognize most woody species and many of the herbs and grasses that are native or naturalized in southern Arizona”, the instructor may write the measure as:

– 90% of the students will score an 85% or higher on the woody species, herbs, and grasses identification exam.

The benchmark is set to allow the instructor to determine at the end of the semester if the students met the mark or not. In workshop two, the results will be critical in completing the assessment plan.

Each outcome should have two or three measures. Best practices recommends measuring students a few different ways over the semester to ensure the students are learning and retaining the material.

Let’s make an assessment plan!

To this point, we have learned:• the purposes and values of assessment as related to teaching and learning,• how to identify and write measureable outcomes, and• how to identify and/or select methods of assessment and set learning benchmarks

Now it is time to enter course and/or program outcomes and measures into an assessment plan in Tk20.

Getting started in Tk20

• Open the Mozilla Firefox browser (Tk20 does not function well when using the Internet Explorer browser). If you do not have the Firefox browser, and you are on your personal computer, you can download it at: www.mozilla.com

• Using the Firefox browser, go to https:azwestern.tk20.com The link is also accessible on the Assessment and Program Review webpage.

• Log into Tk20 with your AWC username and password.

If you have trouble logging in, try your AWC username and your AWC employee ID number with any leading zeroes. If you are still having problems please contact the Assessment and Program Review office at (928) 344-7651.

Entering learning outcomes in Tk20Step 1: Click on the ‘Planning’ Tab.

Step 2: Click on ‘Outcomes/Goals’ in the left side menu.

Step 3: If you are entering outcomes for a program, select your program from the ‘Organization’ drop down menu and then click on ‘Edit/Create’ under ‘Outcomes/Goals’ in the left side menu.

If you are entering outcomes for a course, click on ‘Courses’ in the side menu then enter the course subject and or number in the search field and then click on ‘Search’. Click on the course you would like to create outcomes for.

Step 4: Add outcomes for the program or course. This process is the same for programs and courses, the layout is just a little different looking.

Program outcome screen: Course outcome screen:

Click on the ‘Add Outcome’ button. Type the outcome in the text box or copy and paste from a file on your computer. Be sure to save each outcome. The outcomes do not have to start with ‘Students will be able to…’ as shown in the image below. The outcomes can start with the action verb (demonstrate, describe, analyze, etc.) NOTE: The Tk20 software has a problem with leading or trailing blank spaces. Be sure the text starts all the way to the left and that there are no spaces after the period.

The outcomes entered will be associated with every assessment plan for that program or course. If you want to limit the number of outcomes to be assessed each year (3-5 is considered best practices), then you can ‘hide’ outcomes by utilizing the ‘Disable Selected’ button. This is handy for courses with a large number of outcomes.• Click the small checkbox to the left of the outcomes you do not want to assess this year and then click on

‘Disable Selected’.

Next year, if you decide to assess one or more of the hidden outcomes, view the list and select the outcomes to be assessed. Click on ‘Enable Selected’ and then click on the ‘save’ button.

The outcomes will not be deleted! They are hidden until you restore them. To view the hidden outcomes simply click on the ‘View Disabled Outcomes’ link.

Once you have finished adding new outcomes and/or ‘hiding’ the outcomes you do not want to assess this year you are ready for the next step. Starting the assessment plan!

Creating an assessment plan in Tk20

Step 1: Click on ‘Assessment Planning’ in the side menu, under the ‘Outcomes/Goals’ heading.

Step 2: Click on ‘Plan Data Entry’ to create a program level assessment plan or click on ‘Course Data Entry’ to create a course level assessment plan.

If you are assessing a program, the program you just entered outcomes for will be listed and the outcomes you elected to assess this year will be listed. Click on an outcome to open the assessment plan for the stated assessment period.

If you are assessing a course, after clicking on ‘Course Data Entry’ you will need to enter the course subject and/or number and click on search. Click on the course you entered the outcomes for. The outcomes you elected to assess this year will be listed. Click on an outcome to open the assessment plan for the stated assessment period.

Step 3: Enter the measures you will utilize to assess the student learning for the selected outcome. Best practices is 3-5 measures for each outcome. Your outcome is listed at the top of the page so you can keep track of the specific outcome you are working in. NOTE: Some measures are entered as simple one sentence phrases and some are more detailed (see below).

At the beginning of each assessment period (August-September) you enter the measures with benchmarks and mark, ‘Direct’ for the type of measure. ‘Indirect’ can be used if you are going to utilize mapping to support an outcome.

You will not enter measure results until measures have been assessed. The results can be entered as they are obtained, at the end of a semester, or the end of the academic year. Assessment plans are due on June 30th each year.

Scroll down the page and click on ‘Save’ when you have finished entering the measures for the first outcome. Now repeat the process for the remaining outcomes.

Congratulations! You have completed part 1!

You have successfully entered outcomes and measures for your assessment plan. That is all that is required for the first part of your assessment plan.

Workshop 2 will cover:• entering collected evidence of assessments and notating the findings in your assessment plan,• evaluating the findings and formulating an action plan to improve teaching and learning based on the

assessment plan findings, and• completing and submitting your assessment plan.

Workshop 2 can be completed in the end of January or the end of April. If you only teach in the fall, the best time to complete your plan will be in January. If you teach in fall and spring, you can combine both semesters data into one assessment plan and complete the second workshop in April. You have until June 30th to complete your assessment plans. If you have any questions regarding the quality of your assessment plan check your plan information against the assessment plan rubrics on the Assessment and Program Review website: https://www.azwestern.edu/learning_services/instruction/assessment/assessment_plan_timeline.html

Individuals who submit well developed assessment plans and demonstrate closing the assessment loop may be awarded the Excellence in Assessment Award. Everyone is eligible! The recipients of the awards are listed each year in the Annual Assessment Report. Check out last year’s report to see who earned an award: https://www.azwestern.edu/learning_services/instruction/assessment/assessment_reports.html

Questions? Problems?

If you have questions, run into any problems, or just need a little more guidance, please contact the Assessment and Program Review Office Monday through Thursday, 7am-5pm.

Brenda Ellis, Assessment Specialist- 928-344-7651 brenda.ellis@azwestern.edu

Elaine Groggett, Director of Assessment, Program Review, Curriculum and Articulation – 928-317-6043elaine.groggett@azwestern.edu