Program: Assessment Office
Date: Mon Sep 24, 2012 - 1:59:47 pm
1) Below are your program's student outcomes (SOs). Please add or update as needed.
Assessment Office Outcomes*
- The Assessment Office has in place an infrastructure to sustain a culture of assessment.
- Faculty members are aware of the scholarship of teaching and learning.
- Academic degree programs complete the assessment cycle, which includes faculty members using assessment results to improve student learning.
- Department leaders and administrators use student learning assessment results to guide planning.
- The campus community (faculty members, administrators, staff, students) perceives program-level assessment as supporting student learning.
*Because the Assessment Office is a faculty-support office, the office has "office outcomes" instead of "student outcomes."
2) Your program's SOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Program's Website. URL: http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/assessment/ao_planning.htm
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure. URL, if available online: UHM Catalog. Page Number: Other: Other: 3) Provide the program's activity map or other graphic that illustrates how program activities/services align with program student outcomes. Please upload it as a PDF.
- File (09/24/2012)
4) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning activities to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys, etc.)
Yes
No (skip to question 14)5) For the period June 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the student outcomes that were targeted, if applicable.
The Assessment Office (AO) regularly offers faculty-development workshops in order to maintain an infrastructure to sustain a culture of assessment (AO outcome #1). To better meet this outcome, the AO carried out a needs assessment to determine workshop topics, best time/day/month, and whether attending a workshop/consultation within the last year had an effect on the attendees’ participation in assessment activities.
Primary assessment question: What workshops would best meet faculty needs?
6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.
Responses to a survey administered online via SurveyShare. An email with a link to the survey was sent to assessment coordinators and others who had attended an assessment workshop.
7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
118 people completed the survey (26% of 459 contacted via email)
8) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? Check all that apply.
Program faculty/staff member(s) Faculty/staff committee Ad hoc faculty/staff group Director or department chairperson Persons or organization outside the university Students (graduate or undergraduate) Dean or Associate Dean Advisory Board Other: 9) How did he/she/they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? Check all that apply.
Compiled survey results Used quantitative methods on student data (e.g., grades, participation rates) or other numeric data Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, or other open-ended response data Scored exams/tests/quizzes Used a rubric or scoring guide Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used) External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., Social Science Research Institute) Other: 10) For the assessment questions/goals stated in Question #5, summarize the actual results.
Assessment topics of most interest:
- Assessment planning: best practices;
- Results and findings: how to use for program improvement;
- Standards/benchmarks: how to develop;
- Analyze assessment data using Excel; and,
- Capstone experiences: using as evidence in program assessment.
Thirty-eight respondents wrote in other topics. The top write-in topics were as follows:
- Methods (21 people);
- Data analysis (8 people); and
- Assessment examples from within or outside UHM (5 people).
Best Time/Day/Month:
- Best time: Early afternoon (1:00-3:00pm) [Late afternoon had the fewest responses];
- Best day: Friday between 11:00am and 3:00pm; and
- Best month during fall semester: October and November.
51% of respondents had attended an Assessment Office workshop or consultation in the last year. Of those, 72% answered the question, “What effect did attending the workshop/consultation have on your involvement with program assessment?” The effect of the workshop varied. Respondents reported the following as a result of a workshop/consultation:
- Gained knowledge about assessment (51%);
- Engaged in an assessment activity (e.g., making a curriculum map) (26%);
- No change (9%);
- Other (9%); and,
- Learned about assessment on campus from others at the workshop (5%).
11) What was learned from the results?
In addition to the results, we noticed the following:
(a) The trend of more requests for advanced-level workshops continues.
(b) Fewer people than expected were interested in specific software to collect or analyze data.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
The AO will develop and offer fall workshops on the following topics:
(a) assessment planning—best practices,
(b) results and findings—how to use for program improvement, and
(c) standards/benchmarks—how to develop.
These workshops will be offered as advanced-level workshops.
The AO will contact assessment coordinators via email to inform them of the AO website resources and that “assessment basics” are available and AO faculty specialists are available for consultations.
13) Reflect on the assessment process. Is there anything related to assessment procedures your program would do differently next time? What went well?
SurveyShare surveys are an excellent way to gather the needed information from faculty members. The survey was successful in obtaining workshop topics of interest, best times to offer workshops, and any effect on involvement with assessment because of a workshop/consultation.
14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.
No additional information.