|
and demonstrating the link between college-learned
abilities and alumnae performance in the world of work, personal life, service,
and citizenship.
 |
Our initial concerns were for assessment activities that operated
at the level of individual students and were integral to their
learning. (For additional information, go to Student Assessment-as-Learning.)
|
|
Alongside
this use, assessment can also be an instructor's tool for
improving learning or a policy tool for planning and improvement.
We have gradually developed a program of assessments that
operates at the levels of individual student, program, curriculum,
and institution.
|
|
In
this context, educational research and evaluation are part of
a dynamic learning system based on the educational principles
and values underlying Alverno's mission and supported by structures
that ensure coherence and continuing improvement. One such structure
is the Research and Evaluation Council, made up of senior faculty,
staff, and administrators. However, responsibility for review
of program, curriculum, and institution-wide effectiveness lies
with departments faculty and staff across this institution. |
Thelearning centered, outcome-oriented focus of the institution means
that information from curriculum, program, and institution-wide
assessment and inquiry has a central purpose: to enhance student
learning, development, and performance of abilities. At the program
or institutional level, information indirectly benefits individual
students. The expectation is that findings are interpreted and used
for student benefits. The broader picture of student achievement
that emerges is multifaceted and collectively understood, a backdrop
against which faculty and staff can interpret individual and group
patterns in student growth.
We conceptualize inquiry to mean standing in, standing beside, and
standing aside, and to sometimes do all three simultaneously. We
use the term "stand" here to give an active tone to a
reflective activity that seeks continuous and expanded benefits
for students: from the immediacy of the course-based experience
of teaching and learning, to the collaborative and formative dimensions
of activities for course and program development, to stepping away
from the delivery of program or curriculum in order to take a summative,
evaluative approach.
Implementing learning outcomes studies in this context has involved a variety
of approaches, strategies, and processes. These include: (a) evaluation
of general education and the major field; (b) longitudinal analysis
of changes in student and alumnae abilities, learning, and development
as a result of curriculum, who changes, who benefits and why; studying
student and alumna perspectives on learning and causal attributions
to curriculum; studying graduates' career advancement; (c) studying
the performance of alumnae abilities in work, personal, and civic
roles; and of outstanding professionals who are not Alverno graduates;
(d) validating the ability-based performance assessment process
(student assessment-as-learning).
The pages in this web site are being developed to provide an introduction
to the inquiries at Alverno College that serve in institutional
and program assessment, to the office itself and its coordination
within the college, and to make connections with related work in
higher education assessment. As the pages develop, we anticipate
that they will include links to a range of documents, opportunities
to interact with colleagues around shared interests, and relevant
sites from colleagues, associations, and institutions. We encourage
you to read through the site and return often to check on our progress.
|
