Blog

Celebrating Assessment

May 2, 2022 by Darby

Recently our staff was talking about celebrating assessment and ways to recognize the people who do it well. We are thoughtful people, though not always the rah-rah, touchy-feely people, especially when we see assessment as something that you just naturally do in your work. We put on our thinking caps and let the creativity flow. Here are a few ideas that you can incorporate into recognizing those folks who do assessment in your department.

Stress toys: For some, assessment can be anxiety-filled. Help them make it through their next project burning off that stress energy. If you have read and shared the article, “A Simple Model for Learning Improvement: Weigh Pig, Feed Pig, Weigh Pig,” from the great folks at James Madison University, you might purchase stress pigs to remind people that they need to do something more than the assessment to make change happen.

Video: You can record a short video on your phone and send it to them. Recognition doesn’t have to take long, and this would be from the heart, as well as something they could save to view again later.

Divisional recognition: If you have a division newsletter, you might be able to submit some sort of recognition for a particular project or person to thank them for the work they have done. There might be a formal recognition at the division or institutional level that you could apply for (or create your own award!).

Food: Who doesn’t appreciate something good to eat? Hopefully, you might have a list of staff’s favorites foods and know their dietary restrictions. It doesn’t have to be a full meal, but it could be cookies, snow cones, fresh fruit, etc.

Appreciation day: You can always designate a specific day to celebrate the people in your office who have done assessment in the past year. Decorate their office doors, send out an email to your staff, invite people to lunch, etc.

Thank you notes: Taking the time to write a hand-written note means a lot to some staff, especially in times of doing everything electronically.

I hope that gets you started thinking about creative ways to celebrate staff efforts toward assessment. If you need more ideas, feel free to reach out to Student Life Studies staff.

Let Me Be Direct

April 1, 2022 by Darby

Folks new to assessment may not have heard the terms direct measures/assessment and indirect measures/assessment, particularly related to student learning. In student affairs, it can be challenging to use direct measures because of the less structured work we do.

Indirect measures are considered those in which people reflect on their perception of their knowledge or ability. It is self-report data that is collected from participants, quantitatively or qualitatively, usually at the end or an experience. Typical assessment methods include surveys, focus groups, exit interviews, and tracking use of services/program.

On the other hand, direct measures require participants to demonstrate their knowledge or ability. Typically, someone else then can determine whether the participant performs at an acceptable level. This demonstration of knowledge or skill can also be quantitative or qualitative. Typical assessment methods include work samples, demonstration/observation (with a rubric), portfolios, and tests. Depending on the learning you are looking for, methods could include surveys and interviews.

Let’s think about some examples. Suppose you taught a one-time, two-hour workshop on leadership theories to first-year students. Because that is not a lot of time, your assessment will probably not be particularly in depth. You might do a brief survey at the end that asks students about whether they could explain a certain theory or their confidence level in applying a theory. You might even ask them to give an example of how they would apply that in the future. You don’t really have enough time to have students demonstrate their application of a leadership theory. It’s okay to use indirect methods and try to frame it of how students will apply what they have learned. If you wanted to be more direct, you could ask students to describe or define a particular theory and give 2-3 examples of how it would be applied in student organizations. In that sense, your survey turns into more of a test because there are right and wrong answers. Using multiple indirect measures can provide more confidence that learning has happened if you cannot implement more direct measures.

Here’s another example. Students who work at the climbing wall at the Rec Center must be proficient in climber safety. That includes being able to tie knots correctly to ensure that climbers will not fall off the rock wall and injure themselves. Personally, I want those students to be able to tie the knots correctly 100% of the time. Following their training, I want an experienced staff member to observe a student tying the knot multiple times correctly and monitor them periodically to ensure continued correct performance. I do not think it is sufficient to just ask a student whether they feel confident about knot tying or that they understand the knot tying process. Sometimes direct measures can take more time to implement but provide a better evaluation of learning and application.

The bottom line is to start implementing measures to assess student learning. If you can use direct methods, all the better. If not, at least try to implement indirect measures that might give you some sense of learning. Remember, assessment takes practice and is an iterative process. It’s never too late to get started.

Student Success

March 1, 2022 by Darby

These days, higher education folks talk a lot about student success: everyone should have it, not everyone has it right now, and we should be improving and measuring it. Sounds good, right? But, what does student success actually mean? I want to look at it from a couple of perspectives.

Colleges and universities, as well as higher education associations, have championed student success in recent years. There are committees, positions, offices, etc. with student success in the name. There are books and articles, podcasts and webinars, and white papers and conferences to look at the issue. I am going to oversimplify (apologies to those who are deep in this work) what I see from this perspective. From the macro view, it can be boiled down to new undergraduate students (probably first year) returning for their second year and then graduating in four years. None of that is a bad thing, in theory, at the macro level. Institutions want to retain students and get them to the graduation stage because not only is it (usually) the right thing to do, it also makes sense for economic and accountability reasons. For example, the Texas A&M 2020-2025 Strategic Plan has a goal to increase first-year retention to 95% with a stretch goal of 97%, and increase the four-year graduation rate to 65% with a stretch goal of 70%.

[Read more…] about Student Success

Are You a Data Person?

February 1, 2022 by Darby

Do you see yourself as a data person? Do you think only the Student Life Studies staff and a few others are the data people in the Division of Student Affairs? Are you not quite sure of your data identity? If you checked the weather before getting dressed and going outside today, you are a data person (you know we can have four seasons in one day here!). If you step back and think about it, you consume pieces of data and information all day long, you probably have questions about students and your programs, and you think about what your program could look like in the future given your current environment.

Easy Learning Assessment Methods

November 29, 2021 by Darby

Do you think the assessment of student learning is a daunting task that requires lots of time, resources, and background in data analytics? Fortunately for many student affairs professionals, assessment can actually be “easy.” Granted, you still need to identify your purpose, audience, timeframe, and use of results, but you don’t need a Ph.D. in statistics.

Let’s say you are facilitating a one-hour presentation, attending a meeting with a student organization you advise, or training new student employees. There is a time frame, as well as some outcome that you want your participants to walk away with (knowledge, understanding, action, etc.). There are a couple of quick assessment techniques you can use to know whether participants have picked up what you wanted them to know or do.

National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment Resources

November 3, 2021 by Darby

Do you ever have the feeling that there is so much information out there that you don’t know where to start? That can be the case with assessing student learning outcomes. There are books, articles, videos, podcasts, websites, conference presentations, and more! It can be overwhelming.

I’m going to share a good place to start for information, examples, frameworks and more: NILOA, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. They advocate for systematic assessment of student learning and provide resources and research to support that endeavor.

Assessment is Scary?!?!

October 1, 2021 by Darby

It’s October (already!), which brings to mind scary movies, suspense, ghosts, and goblins for Halloween. Let’s be honest, I think about the candy, but that’s a different story. I’m not a fan of scary movies or suspense, but I bet that some of you would rather watch a horror movie than work on assessment. Do you think something is going to jump out at you (the deadline is when?) or trip you up (like that log in the woods) or chase you down (is that a chainsaw I hear in the background)? Assessment doesn’t have to be scary or suspenseful. It can be as sweet as candy with the right planning. You might even think of assessment as fun if you have a creative approach.

Outcomes, Measure, and Targets…Oh My!

September 1, 2021 by Darby

It’s that time of the year again…setting your plans for the year about what you want to accomplish and how you are going to know if you accomplished it. Some of you may even have assessment plans that you have to submit to the university. My hope is that you don’t think those plans are just busywork where you report things that are not important to you. With reflection and connection, assessment plans can be a useful tool for what you already do. Assessment plans typically have outcomes, measures, and targets that guide the plan for implementation, reflection, and decision-making. Let me explain the jargon and how you can frame your planning.

What Do You Really Need to Know?

August 4, 2021 by Darby

As a new school year is on the horizon, and we are asking staff to plan for their upcoming assessment, I think back to the foundation of assessment that is meaningful and manageable. To me, the core of assessment is “What do you really need to know in order to do the best you can?” Sounds simple, right? Obviously, it can get complicated, but let’s not overthink it.

If satisfaction is important, you can ask your customers/clients/users about their experiences, overall or for specific areas. If you are imparting knowledge to students, you can ask about learning (or have them demonstrate it, which would be even better). If you want to know your audience’s needs, you should get their feedback. When you get the results, you can make changes to improve what you do.

Formative vs. Summative Assessment

July 5, 2021 by Darby

Last week, I attended NASPA’s virtual Student Success in Higher Education (SSHE) conference. (It’s a great conference; you should think about attending). One of the sessions, Assessment Choices: Moving beyond the Either/Ors of Assessment Work, was presented by Sherry Woosley from Macmillan Learning and Jen Hodges from New Mexico State University. It really spoke to me about the false dichotomy that is sometimes set up in research and assessment—qualitative vs. quantitative, surveys vs. focus group, etc. I really think about this in terms of student learning and how and when we assess to know that learning has occurred. Assessment of student learning is not something that you only do once, and learning is also a developmental process over time.