------> Producing Learning

"History and Development of Outcomes-Based Assessment" - Bresciani, Gardner, and Hickmott

The saying "History repeats itself" can often times be as repetitive as the actions that have occurred in the past. Regardless of how many times you've heard the saying, it still holds validity. It's important to see where we've been before we can move forward; it's also an effective use of time to look at the past for reference and use that knowledge as a resource for future work. 

Looking as assessment through this lens, it's beneficial to look at the past because assessment is rooted in change and development. Assessment also uses time as a main factor in their researching; purposefully planning the span of time the study and evaluation should encompass, or deciding the length of time after a specific event to ask for feedback from participants. 

The idea that i found great interest in was Barr and Tagg's proposal of moving from providing instruction to producing learning. Reflecting back to my education, I know that I was not as nearly engaged in the courses that were heavily instruction-focused due to that fact that my active participation was not much of an expectation. From the instructor's end, it can seem that they are sticking strictly to a schedule set by their supervisor or department chair. 

Moving towards a model of producing learning, it makes the students stakeholders in their learning and makes the experiences more collaborative. Reading this chapter, I am reminded of a program that my undergraduate institution, Quinnipiac University, implemented in the last few years. The university created 14 essential learning outcomes (ELOs) that all students should have knowledge in or master in their collegiate career. The same ELOs are used in academic settings as well as co-curricular experiences and organizations. Some reasoning behind this is so that students can create an all-inclusive e-portfolio, tracking their progress and successes, with a finalized product upon graduation as well as highlighting the ability for transferable skills in and out of the classroom. 

Due to the fact that learning is more subjective and qualitative, it can sometimes be harder to track if progress is being made. With administration and the "higher ups" needing to know numbers to promote "success" externally, I wonder what would be some effective and clear ways to assess learning and putting it in terms that parallel more numbers-based data. 

Evolving Student Learning

"Assessment in Higher Education: Vision and Approach" - Keeling 

"The purpose of higher education is not simply to process students through a series of stages, checking off their satisfaction of a sequence of requirements; these measures do not alone speak of the achievement of the institution's mission and goals" (Keeling, 3). 

Flashback: I was in the first semester of my senior year of high school. I was scheduled to meet with my guidance counselor. I sat down and he asked, "So, where do you want to go?" "I really have no idea." "Well have you looked at the US News Book or any websites with ranked schools?" 

No. I hadn't. And maybe that was because I had the mindset that I was going to move to Manhattan, wait tables, and "struggle until I found my passions and make it". Maybe too, it was because I was not a fan of statistics and so reading a book full of them for potential colleges didn't seem appealing. But that was the advice I got: check the books. They'll give you what you need. 

The aspects of college life that really drew me in and made me exciting for this next chapter were those opportunities outside of the classroom. The outside-of-class things that students get involved with have been known to be separate from their academic work. "education happens in class, and development happens everywhere else" (7). While this was my initial understanding of the two, the magic that internally revealed itself was that both education and development can have equal opportunities. 

The beauty is those who work with education and development are constantly assessing their work to make it better. 

"Assessment is a means; not an end" (5). Reading more about the process and procedures of assessment, it has a lot of effective strategies and reasoning that could be applied to a person's thoughts on learning. Assessment is known to bring clarity and balance to an activity or set of activities. Once that is achieved, the full breadth of what it means to learn can be understood. 

The question I raise is more of a potential study: What if university administration took students who excelled in the classroom and also were involved in leadership positions or were actively involved in co-curricular activities. What transferable knowledge might come about? Does the idea of continuous learning reveal itself when students are involved in multiple types of activities? 

 

The Fight For Feminism: Has it Been "Won?"

"A Re-Invitation to Feminist Research" - Sharlene Hesse-Biber

What is is about the term "feminist" that seems to frightening to people, even women? Is it that the term brings along with it baggage? Resentment towards men, a full time 9-5 job, and of course the infamous bra burning in public. All of these have been associated with the feminist ideal before; however, the encompassing term of feminist is based on the ideal of equality and equity. 

In the quest for achieving equality, women may feel the effects of oppressive actions. Hesse-Biber states, "Because they are structurally oppressed in relation to the dominant group (men), women have access to a more enhanced and more nuanced understanding of social reality than men" (6).  Unfortunately, we are still in a society where the oppressors and oppressed can be identified. No, not all cases are equally public or universally known; however, each type has validity and a need for solution. 

So when doing assessment on college campuses, wouldn't we want those with  "more nuanced understandings of social reality" voicing their opinions in the drafting process? Wouldn't we want them to recognize potential bias we may overlook? While the scholars and administration have the tools necessary to effectively execute an assessment project, having an on-the-ground perspective might bring more accurate and authentic responses. 

The author also states that "one can be an outsider in one social context, while being an insider in another" (7). Why is this? My initial thought is that some sort of choice is made in this process. Does the choice reflect the individual's feelings or does society tell he or she what is important to focus on? On what can be a second thought? Each person is comprised of multiple identities; all of which the person accepts at some point in his or her life, hopefully. 

I'm going to move to the idea of reflexivity. Researchers use it to recognize the context of their personal experiences and how that might influence the work they do. I think we should take a page from these researchers' peer-viewed books and treat our interactions with one in a similar way.  Gone should be the days of "all men do 'x'" or "other women are so catty with one another". Regardless of the amount of rain, we shouldn't try to fit everyone under the same umbrella. The differences we have from another are important to notice if equality really is the goal. 

Advice for Advising

"Changing Advising Through Assessment" - Richard Light

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Providing students with advisors is one of the many benefits of learning at a higher education institution. Due to the changes in generations and learning styles, advisors need to evaluate how effective their advising techniques are. Richard Light enlisted a group of Harvard university advisors, faculty, and administration to discuss and implement new initiatives to improve the role of the advisor. 

The committee agreed to allow the faculty and current advisors to decide the projects to pursue and define the assessment projects. I think this is such a smart idea for two reasons: it highlights the strengths of some of the committee members and maximizes the potential for growth and creates stakeholders who are interested in the project and have the desire to see it through.

Engagement. The ideal goal all educators have for their students. But with only 15-20 hours a week in the classroom, it’s hard to ensure that students remain on top of their studies. “How students choose to study and complete their homework assignments outside of class is a far stronger predictor of engagement and learning than were particular details of their instructors’ teaching styles” (Light, 9).

One example of using the time outside of the classroom as opportunity for advancement is creating a living learning community within students’ residential facilities. “By capitalizing on the students’ common experience, leadership can add a more substantive, academic tone to at least one aspect of dorm life” (Light, 12). I see this community of learning put to use each day in my job as a Residence Director for a fraternity; the men have a bond through their brotherhood, which allows for a solid starting point to further their growth as both leaders and learners.

I responded strongly to the idea of having peer-to-peer interviews to conduct the research. Putting things “in layman’s terms” has shown to be very effective in several of my educational experiences. This also allows the assessment results to be more authentic and provide better data for the researchers. 

Assessment provides individuals with feedback on what it is they are doing, what they are hoping to do, and the measures to achieve these aspirations. In Light's assessment as well as the projects our class will be constructed, the focus is on the betterment of the holistic development of students. 

"Look how hard they studied because they had an opportunity"