Bob Carson RAW DATA May 31, 2005
1. What does ‘assessment’ mean to you?
· Determining if a task has been completed and , if so, how well it was completed
· Assessment examines strengths, areas for improvement and insights gained in the process. It focuses on continuing improvement. It is ongoing.
· A process of analyzing performances or products with a goal of improvement via identifying strength (and why), areas for improvement (and how along with other relevant comments.)
· Ongoing process focused on improving performance
· Blow-by-blow analysis
· Feedback to improve performance
· Review of what was accomplished, how, the outcomes and then how the process could be improved
· Measuring the program being made toward goals
· Measurement of some activity
· Assessment means measuring performance
· Intermediate progress analysis with the intent to improve performance
· Interactive relationship for continuous improvement as part of a team effort
· More than evaluating a course – but I don’t know the difference
· A tool to optimize improvement
· An act or process of finding out how well an action or sequence of actions meets its stated (in advance) goals
· I see assessment as a means of giving and receiving feedback that will be helpful in improving performance. I typically consider most assessment qualitative, though that isn’t always the case.
· Assessment implies a formative process, in which both teachers and learners are involved in a feedback-change process
· Evaluating how well I met my goals or understanding
· To determine an overall effectiveness or the overall state of something
· Measuring an outcome(s) to determine if it is met and if not, how to improve.
· A method of measuring achievement
· Determining how well (without critiquing or grading) you’ve met performance criteria and what improvements can be made.
· Obtaining information to determine how well goals are being achieved, results used for improving performance.
· Strategies that suggest ways to improve – based on analysis of data
· Formative – Checking to see if everything is going where it is supposed to go, doing what it is supposed to so you can make adjustments based on the assessment
· Deciding how well a program has worked and what can be done to improve it
· Measuring a student’s performance against some defined learning outcome
· Try to help someone master a skill or ability or to improve some skill or ability
· Determining current status of something
2. What does ‘evaluation’ mean to you?
· Whether the work met a pre-net standard or, perhaps, which setup or a set of standards,, i.e. a,b,c, etc
· Evaluation passes judgment of quality of performance and assigns value against a standard.
· Measuring a performance of product against an external [ ]scale with varying levels
· Process focused on determining the quality of something relative to defined criteria
· Success/failure
· Rank performance against a scale
· Relating actual outcomes to expected outcomes
· Measuring whether we have met those goals
· Measurement of progress/status
· Evaluation means measuring performance
· End-of-sequence analysis with the intent of establishing a transferable metric for performance evaluation
· Comparison of performance to standards/benchmarks
· Assessment
· A tool to measure performance
· A check on how things are going or how they turned out
· Determination of how ‘good’ something is
· A means of determining the value or success of a person or a sequence of acts by someone with a reward or termination in mind
· Evaluation is away to score a product or process. It should be quantitative. It should be a ranking/placement and not necessarily intended to improve future performance.
· Evaluation is a method of assigning “value” or a grade to work.
· Critically reflecting on the outcomes of a project. Getting nervous.
· To determine with scrutiny the state of something
· An end-point determination based on some measure of outcome/expectation but without plans to improve
· More of the straight measurement
· Grading, ranking the “quality” in a quantitative fashion
· Scoring achievement relative to defined goals
· Grading – e.g. from A to F
· Summative – where you decide at the end if something has been good, met the goals, etc
· Deciding how well a participant in a program has done in meeting its goals
· Looking at overall program goals and how students are measuring up
· Judgment
· Measuring performance against standards
3. How is assessment practiced in your college functional area?
· Academically, student’s work in cases are assessed. Performance of staff and faculty are also assessed
· Have begun to formalize the process. Many units have designed Program Assessment systems and are working on semi-annual and annual reports
· Manage for about 15-20 programs and minors has task managers in each subcategory. Measure of performance are determined from various instruments with analysis of what the results suggest
· Not really used
· Real-time assessment in my classrooms
· Written comments on rough drafts
· Percent of objectives successfully completed
· Annual program assessment-assessment in classroom usually equals evaluation
· Not sure
· Through student review and evaluations
· Mid-term quizzes with low value costs to students grades
· It is central to accreditation/growth
· End of semester student evaluations plus choir/director impressions and hearsay
· Exams (many!) some subjective assessment from direct student/faculty interactions
· It’s a “seat of the pants” thing. Formality is rone.
· Assessment has been worked into the culture in our department. It is used in courses and design reviews, and in peer coaching and mentoring.
· Ironically, many courses in Teaching and Learning are still conducted in a lecture/evaluation format, even while exploring advanced ideas in assessment.
· As a lecturer I am not involved in faculty decisions; the only assessment I am aware of is an engineering assessment for accreditation and student-teacher evaluation.
· Student evaluations
· WSU and my college are setting it in place – programs that have accreditation requirements already have means of assessment – others have none
· Through written and verbal reports, periodic progress updates and final presentations
· Almost not at all – surveys in a limited sense
· Practices vary, but generally they are used to grade or judge for assigning rewards.
· Program level – using a systematic plan for evaluation with benchmarks
· Every person does it in the classroom. We don’t do it at the program level
· We do an annual assessment of each of our degree programs – generating data on participation and success rates, funds expended, and projects on where we go from here.
· Per course, per instructor only
· So part of the evaluation process sometimes. There was a measurable mentoring program but it faded away
· Qualitatively post semester
4. Why is ‘assessment’ important?
· Percent provide faculty feedback to students, staff, and faculty on how they can improve performance.
· Because it elevates the level of performance and fosters continuous improvement.
· One needs to be aware of where >~ .3 and where they want to go. Assessment (done effectively) can vastly accelerate progress and improvement.
· To ensure growth and development of students, faculty, programs, etc.
· I do not believe that learning can be maximized when I don’t know how my students are processing the info
· Not as threatening as evaluation, so can is more useful for improvement
· For motivation and self-improvement and organizational improvement
· Represents growth
· Important to know where things are/how things are working
· Mandated by the university
· Assessment allows mid course correction so students can learn everything they need
· It provides a framework for improvement among peers and
· Gives feedback and direction
· In order to motivate ongoing improvement
· Necessary to identify problems and areas for improvement of quality and/or efficiency or perceptions of same
· It serves as a means of finding how well we are meeting our goals and identifying shortcomings.
· For those with an assessment mindset, assessment is a powerful way to gain an outside perspective on things that are good, and those that could be improved. Insights are beneficial to all involved in the process.
· Assessment is important because it provides both teacher and learner information regarding student progress and a mechanism for charting/changing curriculum.
· To understand if individuals are learning what the instructor intended. To improve.
· The ability to accurately assess the learning of the students is important as the student’s progress as they should bed building their professional knowledge upon the basis materials we teach
· To determine if students are attaining goals and if not, to make changes toward improving and meeting their needs to ensure goal/outcome attainment
· To enable vs (the teachers) to see if students are understanding concepts and for us to change our methods if they aren’t
· Feedback to improve BEFORE the “grade” or need to perform well exists
· To provide a sound basis for improving performance
· Because it leads to improved practice
· It makes real at the end of the program what was speculation at the start of the program
· Makes sure faculty are teaching/students are learning what has been identified as important
· Any teacher can improve their performance. Any program can work to improve.
· It lets you know what needs to be worked on
5. Rank-order the five most important areas you assess, from most important to least important.
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6. How frequently do you assess?
· Faculty once per year, staff once per year, student’s at end of assignment, self-several times per year.
· Semi-annually and annually
· Daily and yearly
· It begins on day one and occurs throughout the course/workshop, etc.
· Moment by moment, student by student
· Once a week formally, once a class
· Weekly
· As often as needed, several times throughout the semester
· Weekly/twice a semester
· Two times per academic year
· Two per week
· Continuously
· Two times per year usually, but more in a novel course I teach
· Every day
· Students-three times per semester, course-one to two times per semester
· Whenever necessary
· Others-one to three times per week, self-one to three times per day
· Not applicable
· Exams and projects-three to four times per semester, daily assess individual participation
· After each exam
· Throughout the semester
· Biweekly
· Biweekly at most, three to four times per semester
· Weekly feedback to students
· Ongoing-daily
· Daily
· Annually
· Periodically throughout each semester
· When I can every class period
· Once per year after spring semester
7. What methods/approach do you use to assess?
· Meeting
· Paper and pencil quiz
· Oral presentations and group projects
· We have a standardized institutional level form, common to all programs on campus
· Observation, student written responses, SII
· Standardized tests, surveys, interviews
· Written and oral feedback
· Student assessment surveys, homework and exams
· Progress reviews; Socratic questioning reports, verbal and written
· Rubrics for: group and individual discussions, writing, info retrieval and synthesis, evaluation of source material, semester end projects
· Look at the questions, ideas students struggled with on exams
· Exams, written reports, presentations, personal communication
· Sit down and discuss with mentees, formal peer coaching, mental and written when doing self assessment
· Look at performance, identify good/bad degree of performance
· Standard exams, paper surveys, online surveys
· Self reflection, conversation with students, discussion with peers
· Critical thinking rubric, survey, evaluations at end of semester, student ombudsperson, individual conversation
· Balanced scorecard approach
· Conversation, written quizzes, timed exercises
· Use accredidation standards
· Quizzes/exams
· Self reflection, feedback on papers
· Project reviews, reports and presentations
· Feedback at the end of each class
· Full blown discussion, question/answers, free response, clicker technology
· Video taping, paper-pencil essays, journals, tracking projects
· SII, external produced forms
· SII
· What were the desired outcomes and how well were they met
8. When assessing processes versus outcomes, when and how do you assess the process, and when and how do you assess the outcome?
1 / No part in assessment activities
2 / Never assess the process / With a paper and pencil test
3 / Don’t do either currently
4 / Observing student participation / Measured with end of semester testing
5 / When I grade a paper / SII on group work, peer comments, class discussion, observation
6 / Senior year, post graduation
7 / Having students define their process / Examining record of progress over a term
8 / Not very well L
9 / Continually / More at evaluation
10 / Drafts of written work or progress reports / By final product and by course evaluations
11 / Continually assess process versus outcomes, but I have no specific methods for such
12 / Ongoing / After completion of a milestone/project
13 / Middle, but done at milestones / Along the way, and will help identify if you are headed in the right direction
14 / Then look as assessment of the process / Assess the outcome first
15 / Early exam, paper surveys during course (online) and after end of course / Last exam,
16 / 3x/semester w CT rubric / Often informally w TA and Lab Instructor ~1-2 times per week
17 / Both, periodically / Mostly when customer requires information
18 / Assess the process concurrently / Assess the product concurrently
19 / Process are not clearly assessed, only outcomes
20 / 3 times per semester – use a Likert based survey with “thought” questions / Based on the outcome – several times per outcome – it depends
21 / Continuous and at completion / Weekly and at completion for how – ref #7
22 / Processes take procedures vs outcomes. Error reduction techniques built into processes
23 / As students perform a procedure/technique / At the end or when the outcome is produced
24 / All semester long. Done before final product is done or during a performance / More measuring against a scale. I do this more as evaluation
25 / Annually- through report. Periodically – formative and summative – at end of period
26 / Then did this [to] validate the process, or does the process need changed? / Assessed first if outcomes are met
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9. How do others within your college functional area currently value assessment?