Building a Culture of Assessment Across University Colleges

• In Event: Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Assessment of College Access and Success Programs and Initiatives Symposium

Abstract

Michigan State University embarked on a plan to assess learning across a set of entry-level courses taught in arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural science. This assessment strove to connect institutional learning goals with student learning occurring within courses, and particularly to determine the extent to which the institution is achieving its goal of facilitating literate, critical thinking among its graduates. The assessment process began with a small assessment team (Brock et al. 2007; Hill 2005) conducting interviews that considered the perspective of many stakeholders, including faculty, academic advisors, administrators, and students, and allowed these perspectives to influence the structure and implementation of student learning assessments (Bresciani, 2005; Froestad & Bakken 2004; Hill 2005). In addition to this bottom-up approach, assessment questions were crafted to carefully align with institutional learning goals to ensure that assessment results would provide meaning at an institutional level. As a result of this two-tiered approach, student participation averaged about 40% across 17,000 enrolled students, and faculty were and continue to be excited about the role that assessment findings can play in course redesign (Bresciani, 2005). This work sets the stage for new curricular innovations at Michigan State University, allowing meaningful discussion of what works in these entry-level classrooms as well as future directions that can facilitate student learning and success. This paper will describe interview findings, the development and implementation of student assessments, findings from assessment implementation, and suggestions for future work.

Authors

• Carmen Michele McCallum, Buffalo State College - SUNY

• Julie Libarkin, Michigan State University