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Gen Ed testing March 31 --
Let's boost Assessment Day turnout
Mark your calendars - SCI's Assessment Day is Wednesday, March 31. For the second year in a row, we will give the CAAP (Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency) reading test to sophomores in connection with SCI's revived assessment plan. Last year's CAAP test went very well, and it gives us a hard act to follow. But it's important that we do so.
To recap a little: The CAAP reading module is a standardized reading test designed to be given to college sophomores nationwide. According to ACT Inc., the vendor, it measures "referring skills," defined as the ability to "to derive meaning from text by identifying and interpreting specific information that is explicitly stated." It also measures "reasoning skills," which according to ACT include the abilities to "determine meaning from context, to infer main ideas and relationships, to generalize and apply information beyond the immediate context, to draw appropriate conclusions, and to make appropriate comparisons." We chose the reading module as a measure of our General Education program because we consider the reading and reasoning skills it measures as basic to SCI's mission as a liberal arts college.
| FACULTY, PLEASE NOTE - About half the faculty members who got Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT) questionnaires at the end of fall semester have turned them in so far, according to Dean Jeff Mueller. A 50% response is significantly below last year's rate, and it would not exactly augur well for our efforts to show continuous improvement. So please get the questionnaires in. |
Last year's CAAP test results were encouraging, although they're only preliminary because we haven't given enough tests yet to ensure statistical reliabity. Taken together as a group, SCI students scored slightly higher than the national cumulative percentage for all sophomores in two-year colleges (with correct answers of 61.7 percent for the SCI group as opposed to 60.9 percent nationwide). As we continue to give the test, we will get aggregate scores that allow us to compare our students' learning outcomes at SCI to national norms or averages. So it is important to build on the good start we got last year.
Last year we made the case to our students that we needed their help because: (1) assessment is mandated for SCI's continued accreditation; and (2) we fully intend to use assessment to improve the education we offer them in a cycle of continuous improvement. I think we got their cooperation. It even showed up in the CAAP test results, as 63 of the 66 students who took the test reported they "tried my best" or "gave moderate effort" to do well on the test. This year, we hope to do even better.
What can faculty and staff do to help? Talk it up. Let our students know how assessment fits into our accreditation process, and what we do with the results. Make the connection between the CATs that students encounter in class, the surveys they receive from Student Affairs Dean Kevin Broeckling's office and the planning we do at SCI to make their educational experience better.
One last thing faculty can do. If you haven't returned your Classroom Assessment Techniques questionnaire yet to Dean Mueller, please fill it out and get it back as soon as possible. Let's practice what we preach.
Syllabus language on assessment
When we were designing a new first-year composition sequence over the holidays, we decided to include a statement on assessment in our syllabi. It's not intended to replace current statements on assessment, especially CATs, in our syllabi. But it's an additional way of letting our students know how important assessment is. Here's some language you might consider using as you revise your syllabi in the future. "Assessment. Goals, objectives, and learning outcomes that will be assessed in the class are stated in this syllabus. (You can name the specific sections of the syllabus that list goals, objectives and outcomes, or you can keep the reference general: Whatever works.) Instructor will use pre-tests and post-tests, background knowledge probes, directed paraphrasing, reflective essays or other Classroom Assessment Techniques as deemed necessary in order to provide continuous improvement of instruction." In the syllabi for my English and communications classes this semester, I added, "Students are required to take part in all assessment measures." I put it right after the Americans With Disabilities Act statement in my syllabi. You can consult the faculty questionnaire results in the December Nuts & Bolts ( link here ) to find a list of CATs to mention as you tailor the language to your own individual teaching style.
Nuts & Bolts is an electronic newsletter published by the Assessment Committee of Springfield College in Illinois. Members are: Moses Allen, Bob Blankenberger, Alice Gutierrez, Scott McCullar, Dave Saner, Steve Stowers, Barb Tanzyus and Pete Ellertsen; Kevin Broeckling, dean of students, and Jeff Mueller, dean of the college, serve ex officio.
If you have information, comments or feedback, please contact any committee member or Nuts & Bolts editor Pete Ellertsen, in Becker L-16A on the SCI campus, 525-1420 ext. 519 or by e-mail at ellertsen@sci.edu.
