Sep 9, 2020
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Pre-Conference Workshops
Curriculum Design and Student Writing: Cooperating to Facilitate Assessment in Community Engagement, Student Learning and Civic Awareness
William McCauley PhD:, Professor of English & Russell Stone PhD: Assistant Vice Provost, University Assessment & Accreditation, University of Nevada Reno Zoom Room 1
Higher education curricula continue to address two challenges beyond general education and the major: developing civic/community engagement and promoting students’ employability. These curricular efforts do not always fit neatly into curricular infrastructure, including assessment, because of their often fluid and uniquely-experiential nature. While there is often intentional clarity, operational certainty remains a challenge. Students, faculty, curriculum designers, administrators, and learning assessors can contribute in meaningful ways to the development of both civic and career awareness (and the assessment thereof) at multiple levels, both in informing their articulation in practice, ongoing development, and outcomes assessments. While it is often difficult to capture a sense of the relationships between student learning and curricular experiences incorporating community, this workshop will examine the role of student writing in aligning individual learning, curricular design, and community engagement. Student writing is present at so many levels and in so many disciplines that what might seem familiar can be used in new ways to inform the development of service-learning, civic-engagement, entrepreneurial, and several other types of `new’ engaged off-campus curricula. These efforts can begin at the individual assignment level and expand to inform institutional curricular planning.
Attendees who attend this workshop will be able to:
Identify intersections of these curricula and their outcomes;
Explore and develop local activations and assessments for these curricula;
Develop student writing as a rich and available means of assessing such programs in their development, their actuation, and their outcomes.
Engaging Voices to Make Hard Choices: Involving Stakeholders in Resource Allocation and Program Prioritization
Barbara Chesler EdD: Vice President for Academic Affairs, Thomson Ling PhD: Associate Dean & Ellina Chernobilsky PhD: Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs - Caldwell University Zoom Room 2
In the current landscape Institutions of Higher Education are often faced with budget crises. As a result, institutions often need to make hard decisions about resource allocation. These decisions may include program prioritization, cutting athletic programs, and space restructuring. Approximately 70 percent of chief academic officers indicate they will have to reallocate funds for academic programs (Jaschik & Lederman, 2018). However, when determining how to allocate funds, institutions are often faced with a variety of different perspectives from many stakeholders. The art of prudent and sustainable resource allocation comes from not just examining data but also respecting the voices of all stakeholders. In academic matters, stakeholders must include faculty, administration, and others from the academic community (AAUP, 1990). Each of these voices provides a unique and valuable insight into the needs of the institution. This workshop will provide guidance on how institutions can strike the balance between data and human wisdom. Participants will use various levels of data as a foundation to elicit diverse voices. Specifically, they will learn to engage stakeholders, ask questions, and make decisions. .
Attendees who attend this workshop will be able to:
1. Examine provided data in preparation for making informed decisions about resource allocation and program prioritization.;
2. Conceptualize the interaction and alignment between course-level, program-level, and institution-level assessments data;
3. Develop communication strategies in order to effectively collect data from multiple stakeholders and gain community support for decisions.
New Normal for Higher Education: Understanding and Embracing An Aging Society
Various Presenters Zoom Room 3
Andrew Flagel PhD: President and CEO, Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area & Visiting Senior Scholar, The George Washington University
James Appleby, BSPharm, MPH, ScD (Hon); CEO, Gerontological Society of America
Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, MSW; Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, Brown School, and Director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center For Aging, Washington University
Debra Whitman PhD; Executive Vice President and Chief Public Policy Officer, AARP
Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, FGSA, FAAN Dean and Distinguished University Professor College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University
Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, RN, FASPEN, FAAN, FGSA; College of Nursing &; Health Professions, Drexel University
Ayana Allen-Handy, PhD: Assistant Professor of Urban Education & Director; The Justice-oriented Youth (JoY) Education Lab - Drexel University School of Education
An aging society brings unique challenges to as well as opportunities for all facets of society including Colleges and Universities. Higher Education institutions will be challenged as they navigate the significant, and permanent, demographic transformation underway as the American population ages. This demographic shift of consumers of education will change campuses from the traditional “youthful” undergraduate and graduate student body to a community of adults across all life stages. This expanded life course requires re-envisioning the role of Colleges and Universities, continuous re-engineering of career trajectories, helping people find purpose and meaning in each life stage, and developing flexible pathways for lifelong engagement in learning. In keeping with the 2020 Assessment conference subtheme on diversity and inclusion, this preconference workshop will provide participants with examples of how to include age diversity in their thinking and thereby transform the “demographic cliff” into a “demographic lift.” This engaging preconference will introduce participants to national trends and best practices in creating an age-diverse and age-inclusive campus that will prepare graduates for success in the 21st century.
Attendees who attend this workshop will be able to:
Describe the impact of an aging society on the university ecosystem;
Identify learning opportunities to prepare individuals for lifelong engagement in learning;
Review national trends and movements to promote an Age-Friendly and Age-Diverse campus environment; and
Discuss practices to reframe aging in academia from the demographic cliff to the demographic lift.
Using Data to Support Teaching and Learning
Ethan Ake-Little PhD: Executive Director, AFT Pennsylvania & Dana Dawson: Associate Director of the General Education Program, Temple University Zoom Room 4
Collecting and analyzing data has become an inescapable aspect of the workplace from healthcare to politics. However, the prospect of data-driven decision making in higher education has elicited a range of reactions from instructors who fear their teaching will be reduced to a numbers game to administrators who believe that data analysis will solve their most vexing academic problems. In this pre-conference session, we will explore not only how quantitative and qualitative data can be used to support program evaluation but also the inherent strengths and limitations of each analysis. Using the Temple University General Education Program as a case study, we will:
Discuss the appropriate use of quantitative and/or qualitative analysis in relation to its need; Provide examples of data analysis employed by the GenEd Program ranging from the charts and graphs to rubrics and focus groups and even complex statistical modeling;
Consider ways in which this data can be used to close the loop between data collection (assessment) and program improvement (teaching and learning), especially in service of faculty professional development, and;
Reflect upon how the GenEd Program used data to inform institutional policy in the wake of its 2020 Middle States Accreditation review.
Attendees who attend this workshop will be able to:
Recognize which data types and methodolgies are an appropriate fit considering the question(s) asked.;
Examine data analyses derived from supplied student artifacts and institutional data;
Understand the benefits and limitations of data analysis in promoting programmatic and institutional change.
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Sep 9, 2020
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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AALHE Assessment Institute Session 1
AALHE Assessment Institute Session 1 of 3
Jane Marie Souza, PhD - University of Rochester & Catherine M. Wehlburg PhD - Marymount University Zoom
Dr. Jane Marie Souza and Dr. Catherine Wehlburg, both past presidents of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), will lead this workshop-style institute. These facilitators will bring a mix of theory and practice along with an engaging and participatory mix of information, practice, feedback, and skill-building. Participants will leave this institute with a solid foundation in the assessment of student learning, multiple resources, and a network of colleagues from across the country. Using their experiences at the course, program, institution, and national levels, the facilitators will foster lively conversations about what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and how higher education can best focus on improving and enhancing the quality of student learning at our institutions. This 6 hour workshop is intended for anyone who would benefit from a comprehensive review of assessment concepts, beginning with the basics. This is a wonderful opportunity to address knowledge gaps in your assessment education. The concepts will be introduced and immediately followed by learning activities and discussion. Topics include, but are not limited to: defining assessment and evaluation, direct and indirect measures, formative and summative assessments, qualitative and quantitative measures, rubric development and use, reliability and validity, goals and objectives, test development, assessing reflection papers, and making good use of assessment data.
By creating a network, participants will have access to each other, the facilitators, and many other resources long after the end of the program. Recognizing that each institution has a different mission and culture, this Institute will provide a framework for ways to better understand how to use information and data to inform decision making. The facilitators will work to use examples from many different types of institutions and will encourage dialogue among all participants in order to model good practices for determining how, when, and why to use assessment. Participants will leave with handouts of all slides, case studies, and templates. In addition, references, lists and other resources will be shared during the session and in communications following the institute. Institutions are encouraged to send more than one person to of this Institute, but all participants will benefit from making new connections for future communications and shared resources. |
Sep 9, 2020
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM
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CLR Boot Camp
For more information:
Boot Camp: CLR 101—How to Launch Comprehensive Learner Record at Your Institution
Various Presenters AEFIS Academy Room
As a holistic approach to improving student success, Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) has the potential to positively impact the student success ecosystem. CLR is a dynamic, real-time portfolio, which is both a display of curricular, co-curricular, and experiential artifacts of learning and a digital skills “wallet” that is verified by the institution and linked to learning outcomes aligned to today’s employability skills.
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Sep 9, 2020
12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
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Welcome and Opening Plenary
Welcoming Remarks
Joseph Hawk: Co-Chair, Drexel Assessment Conference Zoom Plenary Room
A few words of welcome to begin the conference.
Opening Plenary: Assessing the Future of Higher Education
Andrew Flagel PhD: President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area
Biography
Andrew Flagel is President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The Consortium represents and fosters collaboration among its 17 colleges and universities. Enrolling nearly 300,000 students each year, collectively Consortium institutions are the largest non-government employer in the region. With course-sharing agreements for over ninety years, the Consortium today is one of the world’s foremost educational collaboratives.
Flagel received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Consortium member George Washington University, where he served as a regional director of admissions before being appointed as director of admissions for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. He later received his PhD from Michigan State University’s prestigious program in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education while serving as a director in Flint for the University of Michigan, focusing his research on access and inclusion.
As Dean of Enrollment for over a decade at another Consortium member, George Mason University, Flagel created ground-breaking new programs for members of the military, veterans, international, and transfer students, founded and led the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment and the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, and spearheaded the Pathways partnership with Northern Virginia Community College and Fairfax County Public Schools. He left Mason to become Senior Vice President at Brandeis University, serving as both their chief student affairs and chief enrollment officer. Just prior to joining the Consortium, he served as Vice President for Advancement at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) where he successfully developed a broad range of innovative partnerships with non-profit organizations, foundations, and private companies to support quality and equity throughout higher education.
Flagel is a Visiting Senior Scholar at The George Washington University, a member of the AAC&U Presidents’ Trust, and serves on the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities State Executives, the Board of Directors of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and on the Board of ConnctedDMV.org. His also a member of the Millennium Campus Network Global Education Council, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Board of Advisors, and the Washington Journalism and Media Conference Advisory Board. He previously served as a Senior Scholar for the National Research Center for College and University Admissions, and on the Board of the Tremont School. His wife, Jennifer, is Assistant Vice President and Director of Graduate Admissions at Bentley University, and their son is an incoming first-year student at Denison University. Follow him on twitter @deanflagel.
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Sep 9, 2020
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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AALHE Assessment Institute Session 2
AALHE Assessment Institute Session 2 of 3
Jane Marie Souza, PhD - University of Rochester & Catherine M. Wehlburg PhD - Marymount University Zoom
Dr. Jane Marie Souza and Dr. Catherine Wehlburg, both past presidents of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), will lead this workshop-style institute. These facilitators will bring a mix of theory and practice along with an engaging and participatory mix of information, practice, feedback, and skill-building. Participants will leave this institute with a solid foundation in the assessment of student learning, multiple resources, and a network of colleagues from across the country. Using their experiences at the course, program, institution, and national levels, the facilitators will foster lively conversations about what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and how higher education can best focus on improving and enhancing the quality of student learning at our institutions. This 6 hour workshop is intended for anyone who would benefit from a comprehensive review of assessment concepts, beginning with the basics. This is a wonderful opportunity to address knowledge gaps in your assessment education. The concepts will be introduced and immediately followed by learning activities and discussion. Topics include, but are not limited to: defining assessment and evaluation, direct and indirect measures, formative and summative assessments, qualitative and quantitative measures, rubric development and use, reliability and validity, goals and objectives, test development, assessing reflection papers, and making good use of assessment data.
By creating a network, participants will have access to each other, the facilitators, and many other resources long after the end of the program. Recognizing that each institution has a different mission and culture, this Institute will provide a framework for ways to better understand how to use information and data to inform decision making. The facilitators will work to use examples from many different types of institutions and will encourage dialogue among all participants in order to model good practices for determining how, when, and why to use assessment. Participants will leave with handouts of all slides, case studies, and templates. In addition, references, lists and other resources will be shared during the session and in communications following the institute. Institutions are encouraged to send more than one person to of this Institute, but all participants will benefit from making new connections for future communications and shared resources. |
Sep 9, 2020
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
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Concurrent Session 1
Addressing three assessment challenges: A discussion of outcomes assessment at Thomas Edison State University
Mark Snyder, PhD, & Elizabeth Gehrig, PhD - Thomas Edison State University Zoom Room 1
This session will use multiple outcomes assessment projects completed at Thomas Edison State University (TESU) to highlight three challenges faced within different phases of outcomes assessment (Planning, Measurement, Results). Interactive activities associated with each challenge will give session participants opportunities to engage in TESU’s process and discuss assessment best practices. Outcomes assessment is a necessary but complex practice. By sharing and critiquing potential solutions to assessment challenges, professionals create space to reflect on their work, exchange ideas, and cultivate best practices that will support and enhance the value of the education their institutions provide. Attendees will return to their institutions with new ideas for implementing or improving their own assessment tools and processes. They will review outcome statements more analytically, readily identify ways to improve the reliability and validity of their assessment tools, and more effectively use data to inform refinements to their academic programs.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to evaluate validity of institutional outcomes assessment.
Participants will be able to reflect on potential solutions to assessment process challenges.
Too Soon? Reviewing Curricular Response to COVID-19
Greg Null - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Zoom Room 2
As COVID-19 cases oscillate around us, this session will make the case that a review of the initial response is needed to plan for future crises. Five parts of PittMed’s curriculum response will be reviewed: the team/audience, the timeline, the accreditor expectations split-screen, the guiding questions, and survey tool. This content matters for two reasons: 1) what was learned must be implemented during the next shutdown, which is possibly weeks away, and 2) a record is needed of the response at the school level for historical and practical purposes. This content offers the attendee a strategy to focus and organize the myriad of campus information on the school’s response to COVID-19.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to begin assessing the school’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Participants will gain information on the After Action Review framework.
"Inputs/Outcomes Model": An innovative method for identifying Peer/Competitor/Aspirant institutions
Dawn Hayward & Jing Gao, Gwynedd Mercy University Zoom Room 3
This session provides a clever and innovative model for identifying peer, competitor and aspirant institutions for your university or college. Identifying peer/competitor/aspirant universities and colleges helps inform overall assessments of institutional effectiveness. Yet the usual methods for this process--such as those involving IPEDS or cluster analyses--provide data that can't be dis-aggregated to meet the needs of the internal constituents. The "Inputs/Outcomes Model" presented here provides a method for identifying relevant criteria that leads to actionable results.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to understand and use the "Inputs/Outcomes Model" for identifying Peer, Aspirant and Competitor institutions.
Develop a plan for implementing the model at the attendee's own institution.
Using Technological Platforms to Enhance a “CAPEable” Co-Curricular Experience
Chelsea Donovan, Northeast Ohio Medical Zoom Room 4
This session will share how the College of Pharmacy partners with Student Affairs to facilitate the creation of a co-curricular catalog tagged with applicable affective domains using a campus engagement platform, and how students can later reflect on their experiences through an online assessment portfolio. Co-curricular activities are becoming increasingly popular among educational programs. By utilizing a combination of technological platforms, the College of Pharmacy at Northeast Ohio Medical University is supporting student development in affective domains through co-curricular programming. The affective domains address personal and professional skills required for the delivery of patient-centered care. The session will allow attendees to understand how to incorporate different technological platforms to measure assessments. The technological platforms Presence and CORE CompMS are utilized together for monitoring attendance and capturing student reflections. Both systems are accessible to students, staff, and faculty and are efficient for use.
Learning Outcomes:
Identify new ways to incorporate technological platforms into students’ co-curricular management at their institution.
Describe how students can utilize an assessment portfolio to reflect on co-curricular experiences connected with affective domains.
Leveling-up your Survey Data: A hands-on approach to visualizing survey data with Tableau
Mark Green - Holy Family Unviersity Zoom Room 5
These days, data is all around us – and each day more data is created than we can effectively use. Student surveys is one of those important data points that highlight your students’ voices. In this hands-on session, participants will work through a sample dataset to build effective survey visualizations. We will connect practitioners with a tool that allows them to streamline their data processing so they can spend more time analyzing and presenting data In the session, there will be a review of example visualizations and dashboards so participants may learn how to build them in Tableau. Participants are encouraged to follow along at home, as they will walk away from the presentation with a visualization and dashboard that they can connect to their own institution’s survey data.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will understand the process of building a visualization in Tableau
Participants will be able to apply the foundations of effective dashboards to their own institution’s survey dataset
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Sep 9, 2020
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
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Yoga 1
https://www.aefisacademy.org/drexel2020
Virtual Yoga 1
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
15-Minute Easy Stretching & Meditation While Sitting at Your Desk. This activity is intended for everyone and no experience necessary. All you need to do is show up |
Sep 9, 2020
3:45 PM - 5:00 PM
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AEFIS User's Meeting Anywhere
For more information:
AEFIS Users Meeting Anywhere (A-UMA, pronounced “Ohmmm”)
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Zoom Room
Lightning Talks are short, targeted presentations that provide insight into best practices, challenges, and successes in assessment. Listen in as some of the greatest minds and thought leaders share authentic assessment processes, continuous improvement stories and innovative approaches toward lifelong learning and student success.
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Sep 9, 2020
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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Networking Event
Building and Maintaining your Network
Beverly Magda, PhD: - Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Zoom
About 80% of all jobs are found through networking (The New York Times, CareerBuilder.com, and Contacts Count Research) Yet, 60% of Americans say they feel shy and unsure about what to say in a variety of business and social settings. (The Shyness Institute, Stanford University)
Networking is an important skill that can be practiced and perfected to help you build your career. This interactive session will blend theory with practice, as you engage with other participants, develop your skills, identify strategies to build and maintain your network, and learn the importance of and how to create your own personal board of directors. |
Sep 10, 2020
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
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Coffee Talks
Coffee Rooms - Accreditation, Can we Talk?
Conference committee and attendees Zoom Room
Come and network with other attendees and discuss regional or programmatic accreditation with an accreditation liaison officer or even a Middle States Commissioner! Come and get some questions answered or just vent (you know you want to).
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Sep 10, 2020
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
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Yoga 1
For more information:
Virtual Yoga 1
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
15-Minute Easy Stretching & Meditation While Sitting at Your Desk. This activity is intended for everyone and no experience necessary. All you need to do is show up
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Sep 10, 2020
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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AAHLE Assessment Institute Session 3
AALHE Assessment Institute Session 3 of 3
Jane Marie Souza, PhD - University of Rochester & Catherine M. Wehlburg PhD - Marymount University Zoom
Dr. Jane Marie Souza and Dr. Catherine Wehlburg, both past presidents of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), will lead this workshop-style institute. These facilitators will bring a mix of theory and practice along with an engaging and participatory mix of information, practice, feedback, and skill-building. Participants will leave this institute with a solid foundation in the assessment of student learning, multiple resources, and a network of colleagues from across the country. Using their experiences at the course, program, institution, and national levels, the facilitators will foster lively conversations about what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and how higher education can best focus on improving and enhancing the quality of student learning at our institutions. This 6 hour workshop is intended for anyone who would benefit from a comprehensive review of assessment concepts, beginning with the basics. This is a wonderful opportunity to address knowledge gaps in your assessment education. The concepts will be introduced and immediately followed by learning activities and discussion. Topics include, but are not limited to: defining assessment and evaluation, direct and indirect measures, formative and summative assessments, qualitative and quantitative measures, rubric development and use, reliability and validity, goals and objectives, test development, assessing reflection papers, and making good use of assessment data.
By creating a network, participants will have access to each other, the facilitators, and many other resources long after the end of the program. Recognizing that each institution has a different mission and culture, this Institute will provide a framework for ways to better understand how to use information and data to inform decision making. The facilitators will work to use examples from many different types of institutions and will encourage dialogue among all participants in order to model good practices for determining how, when, and why to use assessment. Participants will leave with handouts of all slides, case studies, and templates. In addition, references, lists and other resources will be shared during the session and in communications following the institute. Institutions are encouraged to send more than one person to of this Institute, but all participants will benefit from making new connections for future communications and shared resources. |
Sep 10, 2020
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
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Drexel Faculty Assessment Fellows
Creation and Pilot of A Faculty Instructional Assessment Professional Development Program
Toni Sondergeld PhD - Drexel University Zoom Room 1
This session will provide an overview of an online Instructional Assessment Leaders PD Badge Series development and piloting procedures. The PD series consists of 3 Units with 4 Modules in each. Interactive modules were developed using Storyline and other participant engaging software. Module delivery is performed in a manner that honors learner prior knowledge and assesses growth in learning. After modules were fully developed, they were piloted with 10 STEM doctoral students who were all teaching assistants or instructor of record. Participants from the pilot provided extensive feedback on lessons which was used for lesson revision. Pilot data show that participants’ learning significantly increased from pre-post assessment in all modules. Currently, badges are being created for this PD series and mechanisms for delivering content within Drexel University and outside are being finalized.
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Sep 10, 2020
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Concurrent Session 2
Academic Assessment to University Functional Assessment –Same Book, Different Chapter
Janet Thiel & Timothy Briles, EdD - Georgian Court University Zoom Room 1
Many colleges and universities have developed and refined assessment of student learning over the past decade. These same colleges and universities are also required to provide assessment practices related to institutional effectiveness. While the methods may be similar for data collection and analysis, developing appropriate outcomes and assessment models for the functions of the university and aligning them with the institution’s primary mission of education may be challenging. This presentation will examine the resources and models for best practice in institutional assessment of its functional effectiveness. Through several frameworks aligned with institutional effectiveness assessment, the participants will apply these to their own institutions, working through preliminary plans for implementation. The participants will then be able to continue to develop the framework that best meets their needs. Some of the areas of exploration will include the Strategic Compass Planning Model, Logic Model, annual assessment and periodic review.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will review several frameworks aligned with institutional effectiveness assessment, the participants will apply these to their own institutions.
Participants will have explored several models applicable to university functional assessment.
Assessment’s Impact on Changes made at the United States Military Academy during the Pandemic
Robert Mcloughlin, Kellie Delmonico, Gerald Kobylski & Vincent Lan - United States Military Academy Zoom Room 2
Discussion will focus on the challenges faced communicating with students, staff, and faculty offsite while simultaneously capturing and utilizing their feedback during the rapid transitions occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presenters will also demonstrate how constituent participation, coupled with the incorporation of assessment results, informed institutional changes Real-time assessment can help mitigate negative impacts resulting from institutional changes and contribute to effective communication in these areas with the institution’s community. Utilizing this feedback enabled leaders to plan and conduct future operations and changed how we do business. The presenters will showcase examples of some of the tools, assessments, and products used with a focus on how they informed future planning. The audience will leave the session with suggestions, lessons learned, and methods for use in their emergency management planning.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will gain an appreciation for short, engaging surveys that communicate at different levels and improve the quality of a leader’s decisions during emergency situations.
Participants will learn and discuss ideas on how to leverage during a crisis the expertise from across the institution for planning, resourcing, and assessment.
Moving the needle: Using data to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion towards student success
Thomson Ling, Karla Batres & Stephanie Sitnick - Caldwell University Zoom Room 3
Services provided by higher education institutions often do not serve students of color (2), leaving higher education leaders with little clarity on creating welcoming climates that celebrate diversity. To move from minority-enrolling to minority-serving, institutions need to address gaps that may exist in serving a diverse student population. Data will be examined using descriptive and correlational methodologies that do not require an in-depth knowledge of statistics. Participants will learn best practices for analyzing institutional data in order to improve equity and increase student retention and completion. Specifically, participants will connect assessment data to institutional curricular and co-curricular initiatives.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will utilize descriptive and correlational methodologies to identify and assess inequity in student retention and completion among student groups.
Participants will collaborate in examining data and making informed decisions about curricular and co-curricular initiatives to achieve equity goals.
Valuing Student Voice: An Analysis of Value and Perception of Student Evaluations at a Community College
Sherese Mitchell & Jacqueline DiSanto - Hostos Community College/CUNY Zoom Room 4
Higher education institutions typically use student evaluations of faculty as a barometer of teaching quality; however, student participation may be too low for the results to have a positive impact on future academic experience. The presenters will discuss their findings on the perceptions of students and faculty toward these evaluations. Student voices have an important role in improving instruction; effort must be made to increase their participation in faculty evaluations. Identifying the attitudes, practices, values, and perceptions of students and faculty toward these evaluations will lead to purposeful initiatives intended to increase student participation and deliver useful information to faculty. Attendees can replicate this study on their campus to create a plan to improve participation of students in their evaluation of faculty. Increased response rate will deliver broader data that can lead to need-based professional development, especially for junior faculty. It also supports campus-wide assessment initiatives.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to replicate this study on their own campuses.
Participants will be able to identify potential attitudes, values, and behaviors impacting the response rate for their own student evaluation of faculty tool.
Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills in Clinical Students and Practitioners: A Framework
Cheryl D. Gunter - West Chester University Zoom Room 5
This session describes the assessment of critical thinking of clinicians. A systematic framework consists of a rubric, which includes five dimensions and four levels of critical thinking. The assessment results can inform professional development plans for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as clinical practitioners across experience levels. The focus in some academic classes has been the retention and reproduction of factual information. In addition, while the assessment of application of information to clinical practice has addressed some critical thinking skills, the evaluation has focused more on observable clinical performance rather than the processes involved in clinical decision-making. Attendees will receive a chart for systematic assessment of critical thinking across contexts. This framework includes five dimensions of critical thinking – Information, Innovation, Interpretation, Integration, Intentionality – each of which is described with one of four levels of sophistication – Inexperienced, Imitative, Inquisitive, Ingenious. The assessment results profile informs professional development plans.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will describe at least five characteristics of a "critical thinker.".
Participants will describe a process for the evaluation of five dimensions of critical thinking.
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Sep 10, 2020
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
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Makerspace
For more information:
AEFIS Makerspace: Design Your Success Journey with AEFIS
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
Let’s create your Success Plan with AEFIS! Our Client Development Team will be available to help you design your assessment success journey and determine how AEFIS can help.
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Sep 10, 2020
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
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Luncheon Plenary
Luncheon Plenary
Terri Shapiro PhD: Associate Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Hofstra University Zoom Plenary Room
Biography
Terri Shapiro earned her Ph.D. in Applied Research and Evaluation in Psychology from Hofstra University where she is currently an Associate Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. From 2013 2015 she served as Associate Provost for Accreditation and Outcomes Assessment and from 2015 to 2020 she served as Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Hofstra. As the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs she worked closely with the Provost to plan and develop academic programs, initiatives, and budgets, to support the University’s short and long-term strategic goals, and institutional mission. She provided leadership, and leadership development, across the university including shared governance, relations with the AAUP, participated in administrative decision making, and built relationships with faculty, chairs, deans, vice provosts, and other Academic and Administrative units across the University.
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Sep 10, 2020
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
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Assessment: The Musical
For more information:
“Assessment: The Musical!” – Episode 2: It’s My Party & I’ll Cry If I Want To…
Various AEFIS Academy Room
Assessment, in general, can make a great musical… Come for some comic relief, share your assessment of drama, comedy and heroic efforts. Let’s discuss how to turn all the drama into a success story!
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Sep 10, 2020
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Concurrent Session 3
Lessons Learned: Curriculum Map as an Assessment Tool
Paul Antonellis, Jr. - Endicott College Zoom Room 1
During this session, participants will learn about the steps taken to use curriculum mapping as an assessment tool, what worked well, challenges encountered, and recommendations going forward at the graduate and undergraduate level. The program will demonstrate how the program curriculum map can be linked to the general educational outcomes and aligned with intuitional outcomes (Banta, 2014; Hundley & Kahn, 2019). The curriculum mapping process creates a matrix/table of the required assignments and the program learning outcomes. The matrix/table will provide a visual as to gaps, redundancies, and inconsistencies between the program course and the program learning outcomes. Curriculum mapping will reveal program strengths and weaknesses before beginning the assessment process, avoiding costly mistakes in the assessment process. The mapping process will assist in determining which outcomes are assessed, when the outcome is assessed, and in which course the outcome will be assessed creating a comprehensive assessment cycle for assessment.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will discuss lessons learned on the steps taken to use curriculum mapping as an assessment tool.
Participants will be able discuss the strengths and weaknesses to building a shared governance assessment process with curriculum mapping.
Assessment of graduate students’ professional identity formation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Michelle Schmude & Michael Blazaskie - Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Zoom Room 2
This session will focus on the assessment of a service-learning model within a graduate professionalism course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Community service activities, reflections on the experiences that enabled students to advance their professional identity, and student resiliency during a global crisis will be discussed. The COVID-19 pandemic changed higher education during the spring 2020 semester. Assessing student participation in service learning activities during the timeframe allows the researchers to analyze how students continued to advance their professional identity formation and meet course expectations in a virtual environment during a pandemic. This session can improve attendees understanding of how course and programmatic objectives can be achieved by students in an asynchronous, distanced setting while advancing their professional identity. Professional development and growth can continue to occur even during a global pandemic but you have to be willing to consider alternatives.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to construct and implement an inclusive service learning program for continued professional identity formation in an online setting to meet course and programmatic objectives.
Participants will be able to develop an assessment plan for the service learning program for continued professional identity formation in an online setting to meet course and programmatic objectives.
From Collection to Action: Data-Driven Curriculum Driven
Kristen Gallo - Temple University & Liza Herzog - Drexel University Zoom Room 3
This workshop will invite participants to advance their understanding of student self-reported local and/or institutional-level data (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups, course evaluations, syllabi, informal reflections, online course shells/content) that do or should inform program or curriculum design. Facilitators will offer the following modules around: data organization and management, data analysis, data interpretation, and continuous data use. Participants will have the opportunity to present on and work toward deeper understanding of how to activate data. Data is everywhere and programs need to be market smart. Students are our target audience. We need to be student-responsive as institutions of higher education in order to remain relevant. Participants will gain experience with a one or more methods and approaches to data organization and management, collection, analysis, interpretation, and systems/practice. Participants will practice data-informed practice and curriculum design to bring back to their home institution.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants learning about optimization of data collection efforts, including metric prioritization by user/audience.
Participants will gain fluency with analysis methods and using data in meaningful ways.
High Impact Practices (HIPs) as Skills-Based Assessment to Promote Self-Efficacy and Lifelong Learning
Colin Suchland - Lincoln Land Community College & Suzanne Carbonaro, AEFIS Zoom Room 4
Student experiences in higher education go well beyond the classroom, but how do we measure knowledge, skills and abilities that represent attributes of lifelong learning and positive self-efficacy? Using high impact practices within an honors sociology course, we demonstrate the added value of skills-based learning and importance of its assessment. This work makes a difference in the lives of students as it unpacks their skills which they can leverage for careers, for instructors it provides tangible benefits of high impact practices and for administrators it generates assessment data that is often hidden in traditional processes. Attendees will see the value of skills-based assessment across their diverse universities and programs. They will also be able to adapt our research model for their own assessment processes. Finally, it will reinforce the added value of collaboration between technology and education and high impact practices.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to create a Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) model to display HIPs outcomes, artifacts and feedback.
Participants will be able to provide student feedback on the utility of CLR in their job and career aspiration.
Supporting Student Success through Metacognition, Assessment & Multi-Modality Feedback
Kristen Betts - Drexel University & Mariette Fourie, PhD - North-West University (South Africa) Zoom Room 5
Assessment and feedback are critical aspects to consider as part of pedagogy as they allow students to metacognitively reflect on their own learning and further engagement in transformative learning. This session will creatively explore and innovatively demonstrate how timely and multi-modality feedback (text, voice, video, LMS), and the concept of feedforward support metacognition, motivation and transfer of learning. The session will further provide how connections between high touch feedback, differentiated instruction, and Universal Design for Learning enhance student success. Quantitative and qualitative feedback from several courses will be shared. The session will conclude with strategies that build upon transformative learning so students are guided to embrace assessment and feedback with an understanding of the connection between metacognition, assessment, feedback, and transfer of learning. |
Sep 10, 2020
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
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Yoga 2
For more information:
Virtual Yoga Level 2
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
30-Minute Easy Stretching & Mediation While Standing. This activity is intended for everyone and no experience necessary. All you need to do is show up!
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Sep 10, 2020
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
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Snapshot Session
Snapshot #1: Riding the Wave of Assessment Success
Karol Batey, Texas A&M International University Zoom Room 1
Assessment is defined, collected and utilized differently at every institution, and yet, one key characteristic remains constant: an assessment management process which stakeholders recognize, contribute to and own. Learn from Texas A&M International University’s first-year launch of assessment process for continuous improvement. Using methodology from “stakeholder participation” adapted from critical theory of communication in organizations and the work of University of Colorado professor Stanley Deetz, this session unpacks the collaborative design of an assessment management system that supports stakeholder engagement in continuous improvement efforts. According to Grant Wiggins, “Helpful feedback is goal-referenced; tangible and transparent; actionable; user-friendly (specific and personalized); timely; ongoing; and consistent.” Facilitating feedback in an environment that appears judgmental is challenging. We aim to teach engagement and collaboration of stakeholders in the assessment process, which is both motivating and supportive.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to unpack the design of a stakeholder-centric assessment management platform.
Participants will be able to Identify ways for institutions to advance their continuous improvement efforts through collaboration.
Snapshot #2: Remembrances of Assessments Past: Lessons learned from shifting assessments on-line in the French Classroom
Brenda Dyer & Kathyn Dettmer - Drexel University Zoom Room 1
This session examines how the need to adapt to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for lasting changes to assessment practices in the French program at Drexel University. Assessments designed to embrace learning differences provide students alternate modes of expression that support rigorous, meaningful learning. The rapid switch to on-line, remote teaching required rethinking our practices and a willingness to try new ideas. This session provides a space to discuss assessment choices, adaptations and their results. Together we will share frameworks to use when planning future assessments, as we adapt to our new normal. Participants will gain insight into planning creative, performative assessments that include peer input and self-reflection, which fosters a positive learning community. They will learn how to use technology to administer assessments that are more accessible and equitable for all students, and suitable for both on-line and face-to-face classes.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to create performative assessments that include peer input and self-reflection, which foster a positive learning community and promote student learning.
Participants will be able to use technology to administer assessments that provide multiple means of expression, making them more accessible and equitable for all students.
Snapshot #3: Assessment Methods Drive Leadership Development
Sarah Harstad - Indiana Wesleyan University Zoom Room 1
This session explores ways that assessment methods reinforce undergraduate behaviors as emerging adults. Specifically, the session explores assessment aimed to support leadership outcomes. Assessing leadership development may provide a cohort of employees with skills for career success. The methods that we use to teach, develop, and evaluate students produces the leaders of our future. Universities serve a critical juncture where young adults form identity. Discussing methods of leadership development mapped to assessment methods arms the educator with tools to improve our organizations. Exploring methods of assessment for leadership development in undergraduate students provides an opportunity to provide depth to preparation of these students. The educator engages in dialogue around the important topic of assessing leadership development in undergraduate students.
Learning Outcomes:
Audience members will explore knowledge related to developing leadership in undergraduates as emerging adults and connecting assessment methods to this development.
Participants will learn collaboratively and through guided discussion to leave with strategies of assessment aimed at guiding personal leadership development. Analysis of First-Generation Medical Students and their Academic Performance
Michael Yi, Joseph Bannon PhD & Michelle Schmude Phd- Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Zoom Room 1
This session investigates the performance of First-Generation (FG) vs Continuing-Generation (CG) students who have matriculated from an urban, East-coast medical school with a focus on assessing performance of students, identifying biases within each cohort, and recognizing support systems for FG students that may promote academic success. This content provides educational institutions with insight into the possible need for an inclusive environment to promote academic success for FG students and for future studies that implement intersectionality within the broad FG cohort, while holding implications for a systemic gender bias in education. This session can assist attendees in understanding how assessing the performance of FG vs CG students can positively impact academic success. In addition, this session can provide insight into gender biases that exist in education, promoting awareness among the attendees.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to construct and implement programs similar to those found at GCSOM that welcome FG students and promote their academic success.
Participants will be able to construct assessments of and implement continuous quality improvement plans for programs focused on FG students to promote their academic success.
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Sep 10, 2020
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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Networking Event
Professional Association Meet & Greet
Various Presenters Zoom
Representatives
Ashley Finley, PhD: Senior Advisor to the President and Vice President of Strategic Planning and Partnerships - Association of American College & Universities (AAC&U)
Stephen Hundley; Senior Advisor to the Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement, Professor of Organizational Leadership (IUPUI), and Executive Editor of Assessment Update - IUPUI Assessment Institute
Andre Foisy - AALHE President, Executive Director of Institutional Outcomes Assessment - Excelsior College - Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE)
Gianina Baker, Ph.D: Assistant Director - National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
Suzanne Carbonaro: Director of Academic Partnerships - AEFIS Academy
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Sep 11, 2020
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
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Coffee Rooms
Coffee Rooms - Bring in your Best Zoom Background
Conference attendees and committee Various
Come and network with other attendees and share your best virtual background and why you chose it. Under the sea, on the Moon, at Hogwarts, you name it and we want to see it.
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Sep 11, 2020
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
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Yoga 3
For more information:
Virtual Yoga Level 1
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
15-Minute Easy Stretching & Meditation While Sitting at Your Desk. This activity is intended for everyone and no experience necessary. All you need to do is show up
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Sep 11, 2020
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
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Round Table Discussion
Sponsored by Xitracs
A Round Table Discussion about the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Higher Education
Various Presenters Zoom
Abstract:
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic has had serious effects on higher education. Please join us as we invite some of our presenters to have a discussion about the experience on their campuses and what initiatives have sprung from this new challenge. The panelists will share their stories as well as answer some general question. The session will also include time at the end for questions from the audience.
Panelists:
Greg Null, MA: Assistant Director of Assessment and Accreditation - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Gerald Kobylski, PhD: Director of Institutional Effectiveness (G5) & Professor of Mathematical Sciences – United States Military Academy
Michelle Schmude, EdD: Associate Dean for Admissions, Enrollment Management & Financial Aid Associate Professor - Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Rebecca Graham, PhD: Director of Institutional Assessment and Outcomes – University of the District of Columbia
Malva Daniel Reid, PhD: Associate Dean - University of the District of Columbia
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Sep 11, 2020
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
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Makerspace
For more information:
AEFIS Makerspace: Design Your Success Journey with AEFIS
AEFIS Team AEFIS Academy Room
Let’s create your Success Plan with AEFIS! Our Client Development Team will be available to help you design your assessment success journey and determine how AEFIS can help.
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Sep 11, 2020
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Concurrent Session 4
Results Indicate Change is Needed. Now what? Strategies for Collaborative Curriculum Revision.
Susan Donat - Messiah University Zoom Room 1
Your data indicates the current curriculum isn’t working. Now what? Designing or revising curriculum is a daunting task that can paralyze our efforts or result in false starts. This session provides an overview of curriculum design along with several strategies on working with departments to revise existing curriculum. As we review learning data, many faculty realize they need to rethink course and program design. As content experts, faculty may need support in starting the curriculum revision process and sustaining their vision through the departmental and institutional curriculum approval process. Without action, improvement efforts stall and data is shelved. This session integrates Fink’s Significant Learning (2003, 2013) with Brown’s Design Thinking (2008). Participants leave with practical strategies to accomplish curriculum revision in support of improving student learning.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to identify steps and information necessary to the curriculum (re)design process.
Participants will be able to articulate strategies for accomplishing curriculum redesign based on student learning data.
Spinning on a Dime: Integrating Proactive Assessment with Reactive Assessment in Uncertain Times
Rebecca Graham & Dr. Malva Daniel Reid - University of the District of Columbia Zoom Room 2
This session will underscore the power of an institution-wide assessment approach that is both proactive (planned; focused on long-term improvement) and reactive (responsive to significant events; focused on immediate improvement). Three dimensions to this approach are crucial: consistency, reflexivity, and (most importantly) collaboration. This session will demonstrate how one academic unit rapidly integrated student feedback captured at the outset of COVID-19 (reactive assessment) into its university-wide assessment processes (proactive assessment). This integrative approach highlights just one way that institutions can adapt to a “new normal” of assessment--for effective change in uncertain times. Through a long-term partnership between an Associate Dean and a Director of Institutional Assessment, presenters will engage with participants on the importance of collaboration and deep-seated relationships--when integrating proactive, structured assessment processes (based on schedules, cycles, reporting, and follow-up evaluations) with reactive processes (in response to rapidly evolving events).
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will identify proactive and reactive assessment approaches that could occur – or are already occurring – on their campuses.
Participants will identify offices/colleagues who engage in proactive or reactive assessment on their campuses, and discuss the importance of this collaborative, integrative approach for shared assessment when needing to quickly pivot in uncertain times.
Fly or fail: Utilizing big data to transcend the higher education enrollment cliff
Heather DeVries - Hudson County Community College & Thomson Ling - Caldwell University Zoom Room 3
With the forthcoming higher education enrollment cliff (1), institutions will need to understand and leverage the factors that lead to their success which include the surrounding socio-economic landscape. This presentation provides guidance on how to identify, measure, interpret, and utilize publicly accessible big data to improve institutional outcomes. Many institutions have increased capacity in accessibility, equity, and student success (2); however, the surrounding community can also have far reaching effects that indirectly influence an institution’s viability (3). Given the symbiotic relationship between the two, effectively leveraging variables in the community can have a strong ROI for strategic operations. Using big data examples from community colleges, this session demonstrates how institutions can partner with their communities in a way that will inform strategic priorities. Participants will learn best practices for engaging stakeholders at various levels to identify, understand, measure and analyze variables to inform practices that ensure institutional vibrancy.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will utilize research informed techniques to identify, understand, and measure community variables related to positive institutional outcomes.
Working in groups, participants will collaborate in examining big data and making informed decisions about strategic planning and community partnerships.
Overcoming Assessment Challenges in Professional Program Accreditation
Beverly Schneller - Kentucky State University Zoom Room 4
Accreditation and affirmation of academic programs is challenging at all times given the number of variables that are needed to align for success. When there are staffing changes, data collection, and faculty preparedness issues added into the mix, the assessment leadership and the faculty are challenged to present reporting that is accurate, representative, and of integrity. The most common thing faculty and assessment leaders expect is to write the accreditation report. What is less understood or discussed is how we pivot when we discover there are gaps in the data and holes in the history of compliance with external SPA standards. In this talk, the speaker will look at three specific scenarios with three different outcomes and focus on how she led collaborative conversations on the reaffirmation process for NASPAA, CAEP and CSWE. The lessons learned from these efforts, when combined with virtual on-site visits, has impacted the overall approach to assessment and institutional effectiveness planning in ways that require flexibility in thinking about how to demonstrate compliance and how to use the accreditation process to foster continuous improvement conversations.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will practice scenario planning for success in affirmation/reaffirmation efforts for professional programs.
Participants will be able to create action plans for effective conversations leading to continuous improvement in assessment and accreditation.
Assessing How Well We Prepare Students to Become Self-Directed Lifelong Learners
Phyllis Blumberg - Blumberg Educational Consulting Zoom Room 5
Lifelong learning is required to succeed. Higher education faculty and staff are critical in developing self-directed learning skills (1,2). Yet we rarely assess how well we prepare students to be lifelong learners. Closing the assessment loop on lifelong learning will determine if we need to improve what we do. Faculty often focus on content. However, teaching lifelong learning skills transcends disciplinary learning and may be even more important today. Taking the initiative for learning is an essential characteristic of self-directed learning that teachers and student affairs can foster. We will discuss what and how it should be taught.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will discuss the literature on how higher education faculty prepare students to be lifelong learners.
Participants will self-assess their own level of preparing students to be lifelong learners and develop a plan for improving their ability to prepare students for lifelong learning.
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Sep 11, 2020
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
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Closing Remarks
Final Remarks & Close of Conference
Joseph M. Hawk, Co-Chair Drexel Assessment Conference of the Assessment of Teaching & Learning Zoom Plenary Room
Let's close out another successful year with some reflection and fun. A raffle will be held to give away free registration for next year's conference.
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