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2nd of 2-part series --
With the toe bone connected
to the foot bone,
and the foot bone connected
to the ankle bone,
and the ankle bone connected
to the leg bone.
Oh mercy how they scare! ("Dry Bones")
There's a lot of detail to get used to as we adapt to the new form for syllabi mandated for our continued accreditation. But the mandate is basically very simple -- we're required to show how SCI's mission statement is reflected in the courses we teach. And the part that looks the most confusing is nothing more than a set of coded acronyms that show how we do it. To keep all the details straight, in fact, I've been using a simple little children's song.
Remember singing "Dry Bones" as a child? It's an old African American spiritual, recorded as early as the 1920s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers and covered by artists as diverse as the Delta Rhythm Boys, Fats Waller, Tommy Dorsey, Rosemary Clooney, the Red Clay Ramblers and literally dozens of gospel quartets over the years. It's also a favorite children's song, and the version quoted above is used by the National Institutes of Health for educational purposes.
| LINK HERE to see a prototype syllabus, and examples of how SCI's mission statement language about (a) service, (b) diversity, and (c) lifelong learning and leadership is connected to CSLOs, CBSLOs and assignments. In the examples, I've color-coded selected phrases from the mission statement to suggest how they connect through the stated objectives to assignments. |
Here, in terms of what we're now required to show on our syllabi, is how the "Dry Bones" of our mission statement connect to learning objectives and ultimately to assignments.
1. The [mission statement] bone connected to the [Common Student Learning Objectives] bone. We've made this connection already, at an assessment workshop in December 2004. All we have to do now is to show how it carries through to assignments in the courses we teach.
Remember when we gathered in Becker Library and made lists of what we do at SCI to promote lifelong learning, leadership, service and diversity, corresponding to the language in the mission statement about preparing students for "a life of learning, leadership and service in a diverse world?" We wrote our lists down on sticky notes and posted them on the reading room pillars under each heading, and out of that workshop came the common objectives -- CSLOs, for short.
If you look at the prototype syllabus we've posted to last month's Nuts & Bolts on the assessment website at http://www.sci.edu/assessment/cslo.html, you'll see the same language from the mission statement reflected in the CSLO headings. So all you have to do is: (1) choose three or four CSLOs that apply to your course; and (2) copy and paste the mission statement and the CSLO headings into your syllabus. And presto, you've got the mission linked to objectives. It's all right there.
2. The [CSLO] bone connected to the [Course-Based Student Learning Objective] bone. This one requires a little more thought, because the course-based objectives will necessarily vary from course to course and you're the best judge of what students need to learn in your field. To do the CBSLOs, start with the objectives or outcomes -- the things you want your students to learn -- in your current syllabus. Label them, number them and paste them into the new syllabus as CBSLO-1, CBSLO-2 and so on. Then decide which of the CSLOs they relate to, and cite those CSLOs in parentheses.
For example, in my mass communications courses, I emphasize professional ethics, so when I draw up the objectives for my sophomore capstone course, Communications 296, I'll stress the ability to apply ethical principles. I've decided ethical standards relate to these CSLOs: Content Knowledge (Lifelong Learning)-1; Social Responsibility (Service and Leadership)-2; and Global Perspective (Diversity)-1. So in the section on course-based objectives, I'll number my language on ethics as CBSLO No. 1, copy and paste it into my new syllabus and cite it in parentheses afterward as (CK-1, SR-2). Here's what it'll look like: "CBSLO-1. Apply the ethical principles and guidelines of professional communicators, including truth, accuracy, confidentiality, balance and diversity (CK-1, SR-3, GP-1)." Alphabet soup? Well, yeah, maybe, but it shows how the CBSLO is linked to the CSLOs -- and to the mission statement.
3. The [CBSLO] bone connected to the [assignment] bone. Once you've got the mission statement connected to the CSLO and the CSLO connected to the CBSLO, you're almost done. All you have to do now is to go to the list of assignments under "Course Requirements" in Section VI of the syllabus. Decide which of the CBSLOs the assignment relates to, and cite them by number in parentheses.
In COM 296, for example, I ask my students to write a reflective essay on what they have learned throughout their coursework in mass communications. The essay relates most strongly to my CBSLO-1, but also to CBSLO-3 which calls on students to "write correctly and clearly in a style appropriate for mass audiences" and, perhaps to a lesser degree, CBSLOs 4 and 5, which deal with the "the role of professional communicators in setting the tone of public discourse" and market trends for media professionals. So in Section VI, I say: "Students will write a 10- to 12-page reflective essay in which they will reflect and comment on what they have learned over the semester in COM 296 and throughout their career as a student in pre-Communication Arts (CBSLO 1, 3, 4, 5)." It all ties together now, and the learning objectives can be traced back from the essay to learning objectives for the course and college, and thus to the mission statement.
Test scores in. Thanks, Jeff ...
Acadaemic affairs dean Jeff Mueller is stepping down this month as SCI's chief academic officer so he can return to what he loves best, making American history come alive in the classroom. As chair of the Assessment Committee, I've worked with Jeff closely, and have come to deeply appreciate his common sense and candor. That we have an assessment program at all is due in no small part to Jeff's leadership.
According to the North Central Association's assessment czar, Cecilia Lopez (1996), when it comes to assessment, "committees alone cannot provide effective leadership" and the chief academic officer must assume "responsibility for administering the program to assess student academic achievement as evidence of institutional commitment to on-going improvement in student learning." SCI's experience has borne that out. When Jeff became dean in 2001, our assessment program had been all but abandoned by a previous administration (we couldn't even find a copy of the assessment plan for several frantic days there). We faced a steep learning curve, but piece by piece we got an assessment program up and running again. In spite of difficult financial circumstances, Jeff was able to find the money we needed to resume standardized testing and do the other things we needed to do.
Now we are beginning to get ACT Inc. reading test scores back suggesting we're doing something right at SCI. This year's sophomores averaged 61.2 on the reading test, compared to 60.4 nationwide. That's up a little from last year, when our score was 59.9 compared to 60.3 nationwide. Of equal interest to me is the consistency -- this year's scores were within a point or two of those in 2004 and 2003, which tells me we're getting reliable data back. And 90 students took the test, up by about one-third from last year. So it's all quite encouraging.
Jeff takes a great deal of pride in our students when their scores exceed the national averages, and he deserves a great deal of credit for helping create a standardized testing program that allows us to make the comparisons.
-- Pete Ellertsen, chair, Assessment Committee
References:
Nuts & Bolts is an electronic newsletter published by SCI's Assessment Committee. Members are: Bob Blankenberger, history and philosophy; Brian Ferguson, chemistry; Amy Lakin, English; Matt Mogle, fine arts; Rick Rossetto, biology; Steve Stowers, math; Barb Tanzyus, math; and Pete Ellertsen (chair), English and mass communications. Kevin Broeckling, dean of students; and Jeff Mueller, dean of the college, serve ex officio. The newsletter is available on line at http://www.sci.edu/assessment/newsarchive.html
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 <pellertsen@sci.edu>.
