Assessment Basics

At Drexel University we believe that a well-formulated set of Program Level Outcomes [PLO] that support and are consistent with the institutional mission and goals are the building blocks of an effective assessment program. This workshop will focus on how to write clear course level learning outcomes as well as briefly explore methods on how to assess them.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Develop effective outcomes for their courses
• Connect the course level outcomes to the program level outcomes and Drexel Student Learning Priorities

Rubrics can be used as an assessment tool to provide students with feedback about specific areas of strengths and weaknesses in their performance, and what is expected prior to the assignment completion. This workshop focuses on the creation and use of rubrics in an academic setting.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Apply rubrics effectively in courses and departments
• Create rubrics that are applicable to a single course and both its course and program level outcomes
• Create general rubric levels, performance indicators, performance level indicators and performance level expectations

A reflective analysis is an essay that requires a student to think about past events, what they learned from them and how they feel about them. This session is intended to introduce participants to the reflective analysis as a useful teaching and learning tool at the course and program level.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Use the research on reflective analysis as a teaching/learning tool
• Integrate the reflective analysis into any course by seeing different examples
• Use reflective analysis to supplement the Program Alignment and Review (PAR) process

AEFIS is software system that has been contracted by Drexel University to assist end of term evaluations and also direct assessment of program level outcomes. This workshop will focus on the how to use AEFIS to gather, store and report data.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Create surveys in AEFIS
• Create reports to review data

In this workshop, we will explore the use of student ePortfolios as alternative grading practice, allowing both faculty and students to reduce anxiety and focus primarily on learning rather than grades. Portfolios are submitted at mid-quarter and at the end of the term as demonstrations of student participation and what they have learned. The portfolios also become an opportunity for students to analyze and reflect on their work and for faculty to reflect through students’ self-analyses on their own teaching practices.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe how student ePortfolios can be used as an alternative grading practice
• Describe the advantages of using ePortfolios as an alternative grading practice

This workshop is designed to introduce participants to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) VALUE rubrics which are available for use in assessment programs. Rubrics are available to measure Intellectual and Practical Skills (inquiry and analysis, critical thinking, creative thinking, written communication, oral communication, reading, quantitative literacy, information literacy, teamwork & problem solving); Personal and Social Responsibility (Civic engagement, intercultural knowledge and competence, ethical reasoning, foundations for skill for lifelong learning, global learning) and Integrative and Applied Learning (integrative learning).

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe the VALUE rubrics
• Access the VALUE rubrics for use in their assessment programs
• Draft an assessment for a Program Level Outcome (PLO) or Course Level Outcome (CLO) using one of the VALUE rubrics