Partnerships in Assessment: Succeeding Together
This conference has ended. The site is left up for reference purposes only. Please join us for the 9th Annual Texas A&M Conference to be held February 22-24, 2009 at the College Station Hilton.
CONFERENCE
TRACkS
The program will be organized around the following tracks:
TRACK
ONE
Assessing Academic Programs and Projects
Academic programs use outcomes to establish the quality or extent of student learning. This track will include sessions which present program assessment methods and partnerships from various fields, disciplines, and institutions. These might include collaboration between faculty, administration, and various departments/programs. Proposals could also address diversity, retention, or shared resources used for assessment. In addition, project assessment such as those associated with grant proposals will be considered.
TRACK
TWO
Assessing Student Learning at the Course Level (including technology and distance education)
Many colleges and universities encourage faculty to assess student learning at various times and in various ways in their own classrooms, and an especially interesting component of this is how technology and assessment work together on this level. Partnerships between higher education institutions can improve the assessment of student learning by using information and communication technologies. This track will focus on developing classroom assessment techniques to assess discipline-specific learning outcomes. Innovative and successful classroom assessment both in traditional and non-traditional classroom settings (distance education) will be a part of this track, and proposals may highlight partnerships between faculty, technology, technology support or instruction units, programs, and administration.
TRACK THREE
Assessing Student Affairs and Student Development
A holistic view of student learning indicates that students engage in a variety of educational activities beyond the formal classroom setting. Those activities should have intentional and measurable/identifiable outcomes that support the academic mission of the institution, and the programs that support these efforts often compliment other programs or outcomes assessment. This track will showcase innovative methods to assess growth and development in a variety of areas including learning communities, leadership development, service learning, and other student and academic support functions. Sessions featuring assessment partnerships between colleges, academic units, and student organizations will be welcomed.
TRACK
FOUR
Strategic Planning and Assessment in Accreditation: Planning and Using Resources (including ABET, regional accrediting agencies like SACS, QEP, etc.)
Professional and institutional accreditation is a priority for many colleges and/or departments, and accomplishing the tasks involved requires partnerships on many levels (assessment team/office, administration, faculty, student affairs, programs, accrediting agencies, etc.). Assessment in this area also informs strategic planning and budgeting. This track will feature successful professional accreditation and institutional assessment processes and partnerships. Proposals addressing the partnerships between different institutional units and how those collaborations contribute to accreditation or planning will be welcomed.
TRACK
FIVE
Assessing the Core Curriculum and General Education
Core Curriculum/General Education includes expected core knowledge for college students, which usually includes various intellectual competencies, such as reading, writing, speaking, listening, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and computer literacy. Institutions must develop and assess a core curriculum to determine the extent of student learning, and this undertaking requires partnerships between departments, colleges, faculty, and administrative units. Within core curriculum assessment, institutional and departmental approaches to assessing the quality of those competencies will be considered. This track will also include frameworks and methods to develop a plan which assesses the core curriculum, as well descriptions of the important partnerships that exist to accomplish these tasks.
