Using results to inform and improve programs and learning is the foundation of assessment work. But what if the data or our interpretation is faulty?
IE Makeover: Simple Strategies to Simplify Processes and Increase Quality
Sometimes it can feel difficult to get excited about Institutional Effectiveness, not only as an individual but for a campus. Recently in a webinar Mount Saint Mary’s University shared their assessment and program review transformation, where Dr. Michele Starkey, Dr. Laurie Wright Garry, and Dr. Elizabeth Sturgeon reviewed some great stories and strategies for fostering […]
Fear Not: Be Prepared for Your Accreditation Site Visit
While writing an accreditation report is challenging, many will confess the on-site visit intimidates them even more. It doesn’t have to! Dr. Josephine Welsh has participated at many levels of accreditation, and shared her insights in her webinar. The Visiting Team The most critical aspect of this part of the accreditation process is actually empathy […]
Telling Your Story to Your Accreditor: 7 Practical Tips
Most assessment, accreditation, and IE directors didn’t set out to be in their roles. Typically the jobs were filled by organized faculty and staff with a true desire to understand and improve their institution. Happily this important field is growing, and is filled with people like YOU. While yes, assessment and accreditation do “check some […]
Fall Refresh: The Perfect Time to Update Assessment Tools
Fall semester is such an energizing time on campus! It is also a perfect time to begin thinking about your assessment plan for the year. Specifically, what instruments you want to use for measures. It is unfortunately common to gather data, only to discover it does not tell us what we set out to discover […]
Curriculum Mapping 101
While curriculum maps have been around for years, unless you have a pedagogy background you may not have ever created one. They are a useful visual representation of how a program’s learning outcomes are sequenced for students, and also a tool for faculty to make meaningful adjustments as well as streamline assessment. Read on for […]
Accreditation and Assessment Resources When the Unexpected Happens
If there’s anything the last two years have taught us, it is to expect changes and be flexible. But how has this played out in more rigid institutions, like higher education assessment? To help give some insight, we reviewed accrediting sites and interviewed Dr. Tisha Paredes, the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment at Old Dominion University.
The 10 Meta-Trends in Higher Education Assessment
With 35 years of data collected, we sought to identify the current trends that both work and need improving by asking the tough questions: Can assessment help us understand how and why, as well as what students learn? How can assessment help us to educate and develop the whole student?
Data Visualization: Telling Your Assessment Story
A picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to assessment data, how do you make that picture? Through data visualization, you can tell the story of your critical data to a broader audience – be it faculty, students, stakeholders, or accrediting bodies.
Crafting Your Assessment Story Though Evidence-Based Storytelling
Reports can be boring, or worse – not useful. Incorporating story-telling into how we share student learning evidence presents not only a more enjoyable read, but a more comprehensive picture of our unique institutions and programs.