(Adopted by Committee on The Assessment of Student Academic Achievement, July, 2000)
- Why? The Purpose of Self-Assessment
The primary purpose of departmental self-assessment
(DSA) is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your department. Knowledge
of your strengths can be applied when seeking grant funding or accreditation
as well as when recruiting students and new faculty. Awareness of areas
that could be improved is essential for securing resources, maintaining
excellence, and changing with the times.
Assessment is a dynamic process.
Students change; their preparation and culture are never the same. Faculty
change; new and different skills are infused into the community. Furthermore,
the knowledge and skills associated with a particular discipline evolve.
Thus, assessment is needed to keep even the most successful departments
functioning at their best.
Faculty members may avoid DSA
because they are already too busy. Sometimes, however, faculty do so because
they find the find the process threatening (we've worked hard for the privilege
of academic freedom and are wary of anything that may interfere with it).
In reality, most of the data a departmental assessment turns up is less
"personal" than routine student course evaluations. Think of this process
as a "departmental evaluation." A departmental self-assessment should focus
on the big picture--does the department as a whole meet the educational
needs of its students? Particular faculty are rarely "targeted" by a departmental
assessment. When and if particular courses are on the receiving end of negative
feedback, keep in mind that certain materials or skills may be inherently
more difficult or less amenable to interesting teaching methods than are
others. In order to preserve the integrity of this process, it is vital
to maintain a supportive and encouraging environment for all department
members.
- What? Departmental Self-Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
at Wittenberg has three primary components:
- To determine if students are meeting departmental and university learning
goals.
- To determine if departmental and university curricula are effectively
addressing these goals.
- To apply the information gathered in components #1 & 2 above towards
revising departmental learning goals, curricula, and/or other aspects
of a department that would continue to enhance student achievement.
- When? Ongoing, with a DSA Report and Plan submitted by August 1st
of every 4th academic year (see section "G" below for a schedule).
- Who? All faculty members (including adjuncts and visiting professors)
in the department should take an active role in DSA.
- The Process of Departmental Self-Assessment at Wittenberg:
- The very first step toward DSA is the identification of departmental
learning goals. What skills, abilities, content areas, etc. does the departmental
faculty as a whole consider most essential for their majors and for their
minors? You must know what your goals are before you can determine if
you are achieving them. Although you should be collecting assessment data
continually, every fourth year your department must make a concerted effort
to compile that data and determine if your majors and minors are achieving
the goals you set for them. This is the time to re-evaluate the appropriateness
of those goals and the effectiveness of the curriculum and pedagogy designed
to attain them.
- In addition to assessing how your majors and minors are achieving your
department's learning goals, you will need over time to develop a system
for assessing non-majors as well. Specifically, as a minimum, try to assess
the General Education Learning Goals in your general education courses.
Although effective assessment mechanisms are already in place for three
of the General Education Learning Goals (foreign language, writing, and
math), there are four other foundational goals (i.e., computing, diversity,
research, and speaking) that should be assessed by each department. While
some departmental learning goals may overlap the general education goals,
it is vital to determine whether the general education courses offered
by your department address the general education learning goals. For
complete descriptions of the General Education Learning Goals, see the
appropriate section of the Faculty Manual and/or contact the General Education
Committee.
- By August 1st (of your Reporting Year), you should report in writing
to the Assessment Committee the following:
- Your learning goals for: majors, minors, and non majors;
- Your assessment methods (see section "F" below);
- A summary and interpretation of your findings;
- Changes (in learning goals, curriculum, teaching methods; pedagogy,
etc.) you will implement because of your findings;
- Resource needs you have become aware of because of your findings;
- Your Plan for continued assessment for the next three (non-reporting)
academic years (e.g., the methods will you devise or use, the data
will you collect, etc.).
- During the three non-reporting years, department members should carry
out the assessment plan as indicated in your DSA Report & Plan.
If you modify your Plan, please submit appendices for your original Plan
to the Committee on the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement.
- Assessment Methods:
The most efficient assessment methods are often
those that can be integrated into departmental systems that are already
in place. For example:
- Have a system for collecting, organizing, summarizing, and communicating
the assessment data you are already collecting. For example, after you
evaluate the final exam, paper, or project in one of your classes, take
time to note how well students attained the various learning goals of
your course. Make note of areas that need improvement, not only for yourself,
but for your departmental colleagues. Consider questions such as: In which
areas are majors/minors particularly strong or weak? Are curricular changes
in order? If these questions are discussed in a department meeting, store
the minutes of the meeting in your DSA file.
- At departmental meetings, place "assessment" on the agenda. Keep a log
of ideas that occur to faculty members throughout the year. One professor
may have spoken to an alum who had a particular suggestion regarding the
curriculum; another faculty member may have realized that students in
her 300-level course seem less prepared than students in previous years;
another professor may want to summarize the article he just read that
discussed the importance of certain laboratory skills for graduate- school-bound
students. Take time to share such things with one another. Discuss them
or even just report them, and make sure to record them.
- Have a volunteer calculate means for each of the subject sections on
your senior comprehensive exam. Compare them to standardized or national
means. Is there an area in which your majors excel? What might account
for this excellence? Think about it and improve other areas based on it.
- If your seniors take oral or performance "comprehensive" exams (or senior
seminars, theses, portfolios, etc.), have a volunteer collect a copy of
all the evaluation/feedback sheets. Having one person evaluate your majors
as a whole is exceptionally valuable. Is there an area where your majors
excel? What might account for this excellence? Think about it and improve
other areas based on it.
- If you conduct a survey of your graduating seniors, make sure to ask
"assessment-type" questions such as:
What aspects of the ____________ department/major
were most instrumental in ensuring your success at Wittenberg? Explain.
If you could change one thing about the requirements (or courses,
logistics, etc.) of the __________ major, what would it be? Why?
- If you conduct a survey of your alums, make sure to ask "assessment-type"
questions such as: Do you think that your Wittenberg education prepared
you for the particular job or graduate program you were most interested
in pursuing? If so, what skills and content areas were most essential
to your success? If not, what prevented your success?
- If your department has been through an accreditation process or some
other type of "self-study" (e.g., as is often the case with grant applications),
submit your written materials to the Committee on the Assessment of Student
Academic Achievement.
Some departments may find it helpful
to implement new procedures to help them with assessment. Suggestions are:
- Create a "Learning Goals Matrix." Make a table with all departmental
learning goals along the side (vertically). List all departmental courses
along the top of the table (horizontally). Circulate this matrix to every
faculty member. Ask each person to check off which learning goals are
substantially addressed in each of the courses they regularly teach. (More
ambitious departments may create a rating system instead -- Place a "4"
in the box if your course is "very strongly" geared toward meeting that
learning goal, "3" for "strongly", "2" for "somewhat", "1" for "minimally",
and "0" for "not at all"). Study the Matrix to identify "holes" in your
curriculum. Discuss the completed Matrix at a departmental meeting. Revise
course objectives, curriculum, or learning goals as necessary. Examples
of matrices are available in the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
binder in Thomas Library.
- Hold "focus groups" for small numbers of homogenous students [i.e.,
4-6 minors, 4-6 seniors in the major, or 4-6 students from an under represented
group (e.g., women, ethnic minority students, 1st generation college students)].
Invite as random a selection of said homogenous group as possible; have
a structured conversation with them. Let the students know that you have
invited them in order to hear their perspective as individuals as well
as members of said group. Ask them about their thoughts and feelings about
the major/minor as a whole. What do they see as the strengths and weaknesses
of the department? Ask them if there are particular needs of their group
that are not being addressed or are being addressed particularly well.
- Hold an annual Departmental Faculty Retreat and focus on "Assessment
of Student Academic Achievement." Have conversations about your curriculum,
your students, your alums, pedagogy, etc. Have a volunteer take notes;
at the very least, make sure to review the notes during your Reporting
year.
- Develop a Student Self-Assessment Procedure. Hold a mandatory group
orientation for new majors and minors every year or semester. Review the
departmental learning goals. Have students complete a form that gives
them the opportunity to assess their current competencies/experience in
relevant areas. The form should also give these new majors and minors
an opportunity to prioritize learning goals based on their career interests,
past experiences, competencies, knowledge, etc. During advising week of
every subsequent year or semester, have students update the form and bring
it to their advisor. This technique helps students to see how individual
courses are tied to larger goals in their field. Advisors (especially
those armed with the Learning Goals Matrix described in #1 above) can
also help students to choose courses (and extracurricular experiences)
that focus on learning goals which they have not yet attained.
- Create a form on which your departmental faculty can record summaries
of student academic achievement for each of their courses (e.g., what
percentage of students attained various departmental learning goals, etc.).
Have a volunteer collect, summarize, and report on the data collected
each semester. Place a written summary in the DSA file.
There are dozens of additional
Assessment Methods you may choose to use. A bibliography and examples of
assessment tools are available in the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
binder in Thomas Library. Books on Assessment are also readily available
in Thomas Library and through OhioLink. In addition, the chair and members
of the Committee on the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement would
be happy to assist you.
- "Departmental Self-Assessment Report & Plan" Schedule:
Every department should be collecting assessment
data every year. Those data only need to be summarized, interpreted,
and reported (by August 1st) every fourth year.
Group A: Report due on
August 1st , 2005, 2009, 2013, etc.
- Art
- Geography
- Health, Fitness, & Sport
- History
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Religion
Group B: Report due on
August 1st , 2006, 2010, 2014, etc.
- Africana Studies
- American Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Global Studies
- Russian Studies
- School of Community Education
- Urban Studies
- Women's Studies
- Communication
Group C: Report due on
August 1st 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, etc.
- Biology
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Marine Science ( to coincide
with Biology, which is already a member of this group.
- Chemistry
- English
- Languages
- Management
- Mathematics & Computer Science
- Statistics and Computational Science (Math and Computer
Science, which is already a member of this group.
- Political Science
Group D: Report due on
August 1st 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, etc.
- Education
- Geology
- Music
- Sociology
- Theatre& Dance
- Economics
- Physics
- Psychology