Outcomes
Assessment
Reports
a newsletter and Web log
by Frank Vozzo
 
Director of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
 

 
January 16, 2006

In this report:

Sage annually surveys newly-graduated students about their employment.  Until recently, the data has been distributed only to a few faculty members (such as department chairs).  You can read two of the latest reports for yourself on CampusCruiser/My Cruiser/My Committees/TSC Faculty Staff and Administrators/Shared Files/Institutional Research and Planning/Career Planning Reports.  You’ll find data on each academic program across the four colleges.  The data include rates of initial employment in field of study, and rates of pursuit of further study in the field.

The National Survey of Student Engagement is known for helping colleges and universities to “use their data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education” (NSSE Quick Facts).  Project DEEP (Documenting Effective Educational Practice) studied twenty institutions that had consistently high marks on NSSE.  There were three main lessons learned from the study:

One of the shared characteristics of the project DEEP institutions is commitment to good academic experiences outside the classroom.  This includes improving a variety of environmental factors such as common study space, access to the faculty, respect for diversity, and support for student organizations (such as including students in all committees).  It also includes support for elements of the curriculum such as internships and senior projects, and innovative pedagogies in first-year courses.

You can view some PowerPoint slides about Project DEEP:

Jillian Kinzie, NSSE, “Promoting Student Success: DEEP Lessons for Teaching and Learning” available at

http://www.indiana.edu/~nsse/pdf/conference_presentations/2005/POD2005_kinzie.pdf

 

George D. Kuh and Jillian Kinzie, NSSE, “Enhancing Learning: DEEP Lessons about Effective Educational Practice and Student Success” available at

http://www.indiana.edu/~nsse/pdf/conference_presentations/2005/acpa2005.pdf

A student portfolio is a collection of specific artifacts (documents, products, performances, media, etc.) generated and collected over time, which are to be used by the student and others to assess both the development of the student and the effectiveness of the educational process.  The portfolio has long been considered one of the best available assessment tools.  Organizing and reviewing portfolio information can be very time consuming, so sampling is often employed.  There may be multiple groups interested in using the data in the portfolio, so electronic portfolios that digitize and organize the information and present it in a number of predetermined ways can be useful.

Portfolios have been used in K-12 education, and at the college level for the preparation of teacher candidates, for many years.  It has only been in the last eight years or so that a significant number of colleges and universities have begun using portfolios for assessment of major programs and general education.  Some colleges have assessment offices that collect the artifacts from students and do the organizing; however, most colleges that use portfolios have the students collect and organize the information themselves.  There are usually incentives involved, to insure adequate numbers of portfolios to work with.

An important element of a student portfolio is self-assessment.  For example, a senior “looks back”: writing (with guidance) a reflective essay about course work done in prior years as it relates to the specific knowledge and skills expected upon graduating.  This has many benefits.  The process of writing the essay can leave the student with a good feeling about the institution.  The essay can be used by the student as part of a job application.  It can be used by program faculty along with the specific artifacts mentioned to look for disconnect between student and faculty expectations.

Portfolios can also be used to inform the faculty.  I would like to pick up a portfolio and see what my advisees are spending their time doing (vs. what I think they are doing) in the courses I don’t teach (such as ENG-101 or CRJ-353).  I would have more of an appreciation for the breadth of their college experience, and would find ways to make better connections between the fragments.  Portfolio reading would be an efficient faculty development exercise for a junior faculty member.  One might learn as much about the institution from a week of portfolio analysis as one would get from leading the curriculum committee for five years!

Here are two Web sites for further reading (each with a different emphasis):

Douglas J. Eder, “Portfolios”, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Wing Portfolio Assessment Project (2005), available at

http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/portwing.html

Robert Sterken, “Student Web Portfolio Project”, Palomar Community College, San Marcos, CA (1999), available at

http://www.palomar.edu/alp/Portfolio.htm

 
 

In next week's OARs: assessment at some local competitor colleges.

Home...