Poster Session #3 | Location: Beletage Foyer | Time: 9:00-10:00 a.m.
The SEARLE Assessment Framework and Strategy
As an assessment practitioner and an educational developer within the same center for teaching and learning, we are charged with driving university-wide assessment and accreditation strategy. We ground our approach in theories of collaboration and change that respond to our decentralized context and advance equity-centered assessment of student learning. Our poster outlines the SEARLE framework we developed to guide our strategic directions based on our shared core principles: Student-Centered; Equitable; Authentic; Responsive; Life-long; and Empathetic. Our poster also highlights how we have operationalized this framework through our strategic planning process and our flexible, collaborative approach to executing that plan.
Lina Eskew and Lauri Dietz, Northwestern University
Theme: Strategic Directions
Poster Board: 01
Proactively Cultivating Student Learning Outcomes
Continuing to improve assessment practices, this poster session is devoted to expanding the potential of assessment by attending to a frequently underestimated component of the process. By cultivating student learning outcomes through more intentional planning, student learning will be enhanced. Although an integrated curriculum, instruction, and assessment process has always been advocated, this poster session will introduce how an integration can be facilitated through program theory and implementation fidelity, frequently appearing in assessment and instructional journals. Participants will learn how modified approaches to these processes in student support units and academic programs result in synergistically improving student learning.
Teresa Flateby, Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment retiree, T.L Flateby and Associates Consulting
Theme: Strategic Directions
Poster Board: 02
Agency, Advocacy, and Positionality: Bringing an Equity Mindset to Higher Education Assessment
The Grand Challenges Project supports global collaborations informing equitable practices for assessment practitioners in higher education while identifying evidence-informed solutions. Sixteen interviews were conducted in 2023 with assessment professionals across higher education disciplines/units to learn how they use assessment data to further equity. Through qualitative analysis, three central themes emerged: agency, advocacy, and positionality. The evidence highlights the importance for self-efficacy and inclusion in higher education as we seek to improve quality and equity through assessment. Through each theme we aim to equip professionals with the tools and insights to contribute to a more just and equitable educational landscape.
Beth Janetski and Mary Thompson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Theme: Inclusive Environments
Poster Board: 03
Transformative Reflections: The Value of Assessment Tools
Assessment of college student learning can take many forms (Suskie, 2018) and can be utilized not just to measure learning, but to enhance it. In this poster, we present two different use cases of assessment as both measurement and learning interventions. First, we will describe a student self-assessment of metacognitive processing (Ozturk, 2017) in a study abroad course used to increase both students' content knowledge and awareness of their position in the global environment. Second, we will show how traditionally summative assessments (tests and quizzes) can be used as formative, pedagogical tools during a student’s learning process to promote learning and self-regulation (Gehringer, 2017).
Andrew Kostakis, Austin Peay State University; Corinne Renguette and Kevin Rose, Indiana University Indianapolis
Theme: Innovative Instruction
Poster Board: 04
Interns to Teachers: Preparation Meets Partnership
The current landscape in today's P-12 classrooms includes a shortage of high-quality teachers. School administrators sometimes seek warm bodies in classrooms, regardless of their qualifications. For institutions, teacher preparation programs prepare students for their profession through unpaid field experiences that increase in breadth and depth and include in-field assessments. Through preparation and partnership, local schools now hire full time the institution's pre-service teachers in their final semester. This partnership provides the institution with a high employment rate, students with the opportunity for a full-time salary and early retirement benefits, and schools with teacher vacancies filled with quality teachers.
Natalie Kuhlmann, Valdosta State University
Theme: Engaged Learning
Poster Board: 05
Investigating Grade Inflation: Connecting Grades, Graduation, and Student Learning
Institutions of higher education often highlight increases in graduation rates as evidence of collegiate success. Yet young professionals are entering the workforce without the qualifications necessary to succeed, raising concerns of grade inflation. The current study utilized student-level data from a Mid-Atlantic university to explore the relations among GPA and completion status. Importantly, a measure of student learning was accounted for by incorporating pre-post change scores on a large-scale reasoning assessment. Initial results substantiate claims of grade inflation as evidenced by student learning being unrelated to both GPA and graduation. Implications and future directions are further addressed.
Joseph Kush, James Madison University
Theme: Strategic Directions
Poster Board: 06
Dismantling Equity: An Inductive Content Analysis of Anti-DEI Legislation Across the United States
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) frameworks have fostered the representation of at-risk populations within higher education. These frameworks are being dismantled across the United States leaving many wondering what the impacts will be for underrepresented groups in higher education. To better understand this shift, I have reviewed anti-DEI bills that have been ratified across five states. Legislation from Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas have been analyzed using inductive content analysis to illuminate themes and commonalities among the anti-DEI bills sweeping the nation to prepare institutions for shifts in diversity expectations and roadblocks to building inclusive environments.
Marlana Lastres, Tennessee Tech University
Theme: Inclusive Environments
Poster Board: 07
Tandem Changes: Unveiling Keys for Student Success Within a Coaching Curriculum
In medical education (ME), students are viewed as pivotal servants in life-long learning and presume active agency to achieve professional success. More ME institutions adopt an academic coaching curriculum to enhance residency match outcomes through sharpening autonomous goals and strategies that can promote ongoing student achievement. This research aims to unveil mixed methods data (pre/post) and inform programmatic development over two cohorts from a smaller mid-western institution post-COVID. The results of the data will be shared and inform the collaborative nature of student-coach curricular developments over time.
Rebecca Lustfield, University of South Dakota
Theme: Student Success
Poster Board: 08
Workshops That Connect Scholarship and Assessment: A Strategy for Engaging Faculty in Effective Assessment
Is programmatic assessment a valuable use of faculty time and energy? Here we share a professional development initiative that introduces faculty to the mutual benefits of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and assessment. We first delivered this workshop series to faculty at the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB). In a two-part workshop, we introduced IUGB faculty to SoTL research design, followed by how SoTL can be leveraged to create and improve programmatic assessment plans. We will share lessons learned from our international, interdisciplinary discussions about SoTL and program assessment, including recommendations for adapting these workshops to other institutions.
Troy Nash and Kathryn Kloepper, Mercer University
Theme: Strategic Directions
Poster Board: 09
Reimagining Student Success: The Development of a Thriving Student Model
The needs of today’s college students are constantly evolving, but the pandemic brought about a more dramatic shift that challenged institutions to rethink their conceptualization of student success, especially as it relates to wellness. This presentation showcases the collaborative development, implementation, and assessment strategy for a new campus-wide framework of student success called the Thriving Student Model, which comprises six domains (academic success, belonging, experiential learning, holistic wellness, inclusive community, and joy). The model is anchored in inclusive excellence and seeks to ensure that work to support students’ flourishing benefits students across the spectrums of identities and experiences.
Tim Novara, University of San Diego
Theme: Student Success
Poster Board: 10
Assessing a Substantial Syllabus Redesign: Student Perceptions of Tone
This proposal examines the outcomes of a comprehensive assessment on student perceptions following a substantial redesign of a course syllabus. Results indicate students appreciated the positive tone and perceived the instructor's staunch support for their progress and capacity for success. Moreover, the syllabus was not deemed condescending, although many found it unexciting. The findings suggest an encouraging acceptance of the learner-centered approach in syllabus design. Future steps involve an analysis of pre- and post-revision syllabus comprehension scores, aimed at discerning any notable differences. This research underscores the significance of a positively toned syllabus in fostering an inclusive learning environment.
Mark Urtel, Indiana University Indianapolis
Theme: Inclusive Environments
Poster Board: 11
Assessing Student Success- Academic Performance and Predictive Indicators (ASSAPP- [leading and lagging] Indicators)
In an effort to create a data-informed culture, members of the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness partnering with the Provost, Executive Vice President created Jackson State University (JSU) Data Days where Academic Deans, Provost Council, and OIRE report on data pertaining to Retention, High Challenge Courses, Course Completion rates, and Quality of instruction-performance excellence, looking at data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, and reporting Mission Critical Metrics to understand the impact it is having on student retention and completion. Results and measure of the JSU continuous improvement process will be presented.
Marie Valentin and Celestino Valentin, Jackson State University
Theme: Strategic Directions
Poster Board: 12