1A

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Faculty and other assessment professionals are increasingly being asked to provide comparison data to benchmark institutional effectiveness measures. IPEDS (The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) is one source for such data. Participants will see how to run some basic reports examining data on completions, retention and graduation rates using the IPEDS Peer Analysis System, a valuable tool for developing comparison groups and benchmarks. The Executive Peer Tool, a powerful and easy to use tool will also be demonstrated.

Kimberly A. Thompson, Association for Institutional Research (AIR) and Regis University

1B

Never Enough Time to Work on Assessment!

Does this sound familar? If so, bring a campus team to Indianapolis on (October 26) for an all day work session focused on an assessment project or task of your choice. Campus teams (max. of 10 members) attend with a set of questions and a purpose to be achieved in a day-long work session. Each team will have an assessment mentor for the day plus access to assessment experts and materials focused on the following: program review, outcomes-based designs, institutional assessment, rubrics, indirect and direct assessment, analysis of student evidence, course and program level assessment, and more depending on the interests and needs of the teams. Mini-workshops will be scheduled during the day for individual teams, or groups of teams, or individuals to address issues, problems or interests that emerge from the work. Team intentions will determine the agenda for the day.

The registration for this work session is limited and priority will be given to early registrants and to those campus teams with specific intentions for their work.

To register, the team leader will provide a one page description of the questions and purpose to be achieved, and a list of team members and their roles related to assessment.

MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO REGISTER COMING SOON

Amy Driscoll, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Mary Allen, California State University Bakersfield; Doug Eder, University of North Florida; Swarup Wood, California State University Monterey Bay; and Joshua Smith, IUPUI

(Special application and approval required before registering.)

1C

Assessment Clear and Simple:  Practical Steps for Institutions, Departments, and General Education

Emphasizing simplicity, feasibility, and effectiveness, this workshop offers a step-by-step plan for institutions, departments, and general education to build on what they are already doing, discard what is not working, get faculty on board, enhance student learning, meet the institutions own needs, and work with external accreditors. Special attention to current national developments such as the Spellings Commission report , the Voluntary System of Accountability, and appropriate uses of standardized tests or survey instruments.

Barbara E. Walvoord, University of Notre Dame

1D

A Comprehensive Assessment Plan for a Large Entering Student Unit:  Planning, Implementing, and Using Assessment Results

Assessment is an essential component of program development and refinement in University College, the entering student unit at IUPUI that serves over 8,000. Comprehensive assessment activities are often necessary to plan, implement, and continuously improve first-year programs. All major programs, including orientation, advising, and peer mentoring, are regularly scheduled for reviews, a two-year process with self-study and outside review components. We plan to present some major assessment strategies such as improving and proving effectiveness, using assessment results for planning and resource decisions, involving faculty, measuring student learning outcomes, using quantitative and qualitative approaches, and linking data to action. We will also discuss some major challenges we have faced with implementing assessment plans. This workshop has been designed to appeal to those who are just beginning assessment activities on their campuses and for those who are interested in improving existing assessment programs.

Scott Evenbeck, Michele J. Hansen, and Gayle Williams, IUPUI

1E

Capstone Experiences and Their Use in Learning and Assessment:  Mountaintops, Magnets, and Mandates

This interactive workshop presents information on capstone experiences and their uses in assessing undergraduate learning outcomes at the program level.  Case studies, best practices, instructional objectives, model syllabi, and student, faculty, and administrator issues will be addressed.  Ways to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve capstones in a variety of disciplines will be covered.

Stephen P. Hundley, IUPUI

1F

Going for Gold

Implementing educational innovations creates new needs to assess student learning. External funding enables faculty to experiment with new pedagogies and the assessment of learning gains. However, as competition increases for external funding, strong assessment plans can make the difference between successful proposals and the ones that are declined. Drawing upon the grant-selection experiences of a former program director at the National Science Foundation and a nationally-recognized faculty development leader, this workshop provides a model for helping faculty in the arts, sciences, and professional schools develop strategies for creating effective assessment plans to enhance their proposal writing.

Pratibha Varma-Nelson and Sharon J. Hamilton, IUPUI

1G

Can We Have It All? ePortfolio as a Tool for Integration Learning and Assessment @ LaGuardia

Over the past five years, LaGuardia Community College has built one of the nation’s most extensive ePortfolio initiatives, serving thousands of students every year and transforming teaching and learning across the campus.  This workshop focuses on LaGuardia’s integrative ePortfolio program:  vision, classroom practice, faculty development, and assessment.  It will address such questions as:  What are effective instruments for studying the impact of ePortfolios on student learning? How can faculty use ePortfolios in their own classrooms?  What does it mean to involve students in an inquiry into learning?  How can ePortfolios be used for authentic assessment?

Bret Eynon, LaGuardia Community College

1H

Moving From One-Shot Wonders to a Coherent Campus Plan for Diversity: Using Assessment Results to Create a Campus Culture of Diversity

Institutions of higher education state that they value diversity among their faculty, staff, and student body, as well as development of the knowledge, attitudes, and skills required to work in a diverse environment. However, assessment of outcomes associated with efforts to promote diversity is challenging. Participants in this workshop will experience the process used to develop diversity performance indicators that evaluate campus efforts toward living the mission of a diverse campus community. This process may also be applied to diversity efforts within a campus unit or an overall campus diversity plan.

Karen M. Whitney and Robert W. Aaron, IUPUI; and A. Katherine Busby, University of Alabama

1I

Assessing Administrative and Support Areas

Accreditors want outcomes assessment throughout the institution, including administrative and support (A&S) areas. This workshop introduces basic assessment concepts in general terms and shows how they apply to A&S units. Exercises help participants ask "how does this apply to me?" and develop concrete ideas for their own assessment processes.

Ephraim Schechter, HigherEdAssessment.com

1J

Using Electronic Portfolios to Assess Student Learning in Undergraduate Research Experiences

This session will report research about student learning resulting from a mentored research experience. Rubrics, usable across multiple disciplines, are included in an electronic research portfolio to examine student skills in three areas: 1) core communication and quantitative skills, 2) critical thinking, and 3) integration and application of knowledge.

Kathryn J. Wilson, John Gosney, Elizabeth Rubens, Jackie Singh, and Anthony Stamatoplos, IUPUI; and Mary Crowe, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Electronic Institutional Portfolios for Accountability and Accreditation

As government, accrediting associations, and other higher education stakeholders ramp up demands for institutional accountability, electronic institutional portfolios can play a role in demonstrating universities’ accomplishments and commitments and encouraging institutional cultures of evidence.  Over the past ten years, IUPUI and Portland State University have each developed web-based institutional portfolios focused on student learning, civic engagement, and institutional effectiveness.  Combining evidence of student learning and community engagement with aggregated data, narrative analysis, and performance indicators, the portfolios have catalyzed improved campus planning and assessment and served as the foundation for well-received accreditation self-studies.  In this session, two institutional portfolio veterans discuss the multiple purposes and audiences their portfolios serve, pros and cons of such portfolios, what it really takes to develop and maintain them, and the life-cycle of electronic institutional portfolios.  Participants will have the opportunity to consider whether an electronic institutional portfolio would help to address their institutions’ accountability needs.

Susan Kahn, IUPUI; and Kathi Ketcheson, Portland State University