In spring 2017, a series of sessions were hosted by the director of Student Affairs Assessment and Research on various topics in assessment in Student Affairs to help staff in the Division better understand the role of assessment and how they can incorporate it into their work.
Overview of the Series
Assessment is “any effort to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence that describes institutional, divisional, or agency effectiveness” (Upcraft & Schuh, 1996, p. 18). We rely on assessment every day to determine how we should move forward on a project, what we should do in a given situation, or how make the most-informed decision possible.
All too often, assessment is seen as a harbinger of doom, or as a process that supposedly automatically results in the elimination of programs and positions. This is NOT the case! Assessment helps us know what we’re doing and how well we’re doing it. It provides quantifiable information that allows us to improve the work we’re doing.
This series of presentations will help you to better understand the basics of assessment. The syllabus for this series, along with each presentation, is below. All links open as PDFs. Additionally, the syllabus and all presentations are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
2017 Assessment in Student Affairs Series Syllabus
Session 1 – Assessment 101: The Basics
After attending this session, participants will:
- Define common assessment terms
- Describe the parts of the assessment cycle
- Compare/contrast different forms of assessment
- Compare/contrast different methods of assessment
- Articulate the context of assessment within the Division of Student Affairs at ISU
Session 2 – Assessment in Student Affairs: Why it Matters
After attending this session, participants will:
- Define the basic components of assessment
- Describe the parts of the assessment cycle
- Articulate why assessment is important
- Identify opportunities to enhance or conduct assessment in their respective functional areas
Session 3 – Assessing Student Learning in Student Affairs
After attending this session, participants will:
- Differentiate between program/process outcomes and student learning objectives
- Define student learning objectives
- Define program/process outcomes
- Write measureable learning objectives
Session 4 – So You Want to Send a Survey…
After attending this session, participants will:
- Define the purpose of a survey
- Determine if a survey is the best way to collect information for a given project
- Identify and edit poorly-written survey questions
Session 5 – Beyond the Survey: Other Means of Assessment
After attending this session, participants will:
- Describe methods of assessment other than surveys
- Articulate appropriate venues for different assessment methods
- Identify programs or services in their respective units where non-survey methods might be appropriate
Session 6 – Words in a Box does not a Rubric Make
After attending this session, participants will:
- Articulate the purpose of a rubric
- Compare and contrast well- and poorly-written rubrics
- Develop a simple rubric
Session 7 – So we have data. Now what?
After attending this session, participants will:
- Apply the ASK (Assessment, Skills, and Knowledge; ACPA) standards
- Document assessment processes for historical and replication purposes
- Identify ways to secure data
- Articulate different tools available for assessment
- Communicate outcomes to stakeholders and other interested parties