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Assessment Series Part 3: Curriculum Mappingfor Program Assessment
J. DickinsonProvost’s Faculty Fellow for Assessment
Goalsfortoday’ssession:
• Introducecurriculummappingaspartoftheoverallassessmentplanningprocessanddiscussitsvalue
• Breakdownthestagesofdevelopingacurriculummapinto”doable”chunks
• Lookatandtryoutsomeworksheetsandothertoolstobegincurriculummapping
• Leavewithclearlyarticulated“Nextsteps”foryourprogram
Goalsofassessment
• Clearidentification/descriptionofprogramcharacteristicsandexpectationsforstudentachievement
• Systematiccollectionofdifferentkindsof(helpful)datatoevaluatestudentprogresstowards/achievementofthoseexpectations
• Useofanalyzeddatatoinformcurricularrevision
• Repeat
ProgramAssessmentisaDepartmentalEffort
• Atdifferentstagesoftheprocess,differentgroupsmayparticipate,ora’core’offacultymayfocusoncurriculumandprogramassessment
• Multipleperspectivesarenecessaryindevelopingoutcomesandassessingstudentprogresstowardsthoseoutcomes
Fewprogramsstartatzero
Eveniftheydonothaveclearlystated/updatedoutcomes,mostprogramshavebeengatheringand,tosomedegree,reviewingsomedataonstudentsuccessintheirprogramallalong:
• Facultyimpressions/frustrations• Studentsatisfaction/dissatisfaction/painpoints• Gradesorothercourse-levelassessmentsthatindicatestudentskilllevels• Anecdotalevidenceaboutstudentsuccessaftergraduation
StepsinProgramAssessment– Whereareyou?• Developprogram-leveloutcomeswithinput/draftsbyfaculty• Mapcurriculumtoidentifyplaceswherestudentslearn,practiceanddemonstratetheirmasteryoftheoutcomes• Gatheradditionalinformationaboutstudentprogresswithinthiscurriculum:
• Surveysofmajorsand/oralums• Facultysummariesofstudents’performanceonexpectedskills• Otherindicators(retentionofskillsfromprerequisitecourses;identifyingpredictorsofstudentssuccess,etc.)
• Usethisinitialinformationtodevelopaplanforassessmentofstudentprogresstowards/achievementoflearningoutcomes
Whatisacurriculummap?
Acurriculummapormatrixisatooltolinkelementsofaprogram(usuallyrequiredcoursesandexperiences)tolearningoutcomes.
Thegoalofcurriculummappingistoidentifyhowgraduation-levelmasteryoftheoutcomesisscaffoldedacrosstheprogramcurriculum,aswellaswherestudents’progressisassessedandfeedbackgiven
Whymapyourcurriculum?
• Createasharedunderstandingoftheprogram• Checkfor“drift”incoursegoals- theroleofcoursesinthecurriculummayhavechangedovertime• Doagapanalysistoseewhereoverlapsinemphasis,orgapsincoverage,mayslowstudentprogress• Ensurethatstudentsarereceivingsufficientfeedbackonkeyskillsandknowledgeastheydevelopthelevelofmasteryexpected• Identifypointsinthecurriculumwhereexistingassessmentscanprovideinsightsintostudentprogress
Mapformats
Thebasicform
Whilecurriculummapscantakemanyforms,mostarepresentedasachartthatlistslearningoutcomesononeaxisandkeycourses,experiencesorassessmentsalongtheother
CoursesandExperiences
ProgramLearningOutcomes
Applythescientificmethod DeveloplaboratorytechniquesDiagramandexplainmajor
cellularprocesses
Awarenessofcareersandjobopportunitiesinbiological
sciences
BIOL101
BIOL202
BIOL303
BIOL404
Other:Exitinterview
SampletemplatefromRIT
Fillinginthemap
Thechartisfilledinusingakey(usuallyletters)thatrecordinformationaboutwhatisbeingtaughtandthelevelofskillorknowledgestudentsaredemonstratinginthecourse.
CoursesandExperiences
ProgramLearningOutcomes
Applythescientificmethod DeveloplaboratorytechniquesDiagramandexplainmajor
cellularprocesses
Awarenessofcareersandjobopportunitiesinbiological
sciences
BIOL101 I I I
BIOL202 R R I
BIOL303 R M,A R
BIOL404 M,A M,A R
Other:Exitinterview A
SampletemplatefromRIT
Samplemapworksheet:UVMPhilosophy
LearningOutcomes
Coursesinwhichoutcomesareassessed
LO1:Readphilosophicalwritingclosely,discerningthestructureofphilosophicalargumentation
LO2:Accuratelyandcriticallyanalyzeargumentsandpositions
LO3:Writeclearandcoherentphilosophicalprose
Adifferentformat(andacomplexmap):
StepbystepHow-to’s
1. Identifytheaxes2. Populatetheaxes3. Chooseorcreateakey
a) Whichkeydoyourecommend?
4. Gatherdatafromfaculty5. Compile6. Alignment7. Usingwhatyouhavelearned
Firststep:Identifytheaxes
• Mostcurriculummapshaveoutcomesacrossthetop,andcourseslisteddowntheleft-handside;theseaxescanbereversed
• However,youcanalsousethismatrixapproachtoorganizemanykindsofdata,e.g.wheredifferentkindsofcourse-levelassessmentsoccur,orhowtypesoflearningexperiencesaredistributedacrossrequiredvs.electivecoursework
• Take5minutestolookatthesamplemapandthinkaboutwhatwouldbemostusefultomapforyourprogram
Step2:Populatetheaxes
• Decidehowmuchdetailyouwantintheoutcomesaxis.Forexample,ifyouhaveafewlearningoutcomeswithanumberofsub-components,youmaychoosetostaywiththelargeroutcomesorspliteachoutcomeintoitscomponents.
• Choosewhethertoincludeonlyrequiredcourses/experiences,orwhethertoalsomapoutelectivecourseworkorcourseworkforoptionaltracks.
• Let’sdiscusshowyouwouldpopulatetheaxes
Step3:Chooseorcreateakey• Therearealmostasmanysetsofdescriptorsutilizedincurriculummappingastherearebooksonassessment• Oneofthemostcommononesis:I/R/M/A• I=introduced;R=reinforced;M=mastery(graduationlevel);A=assessed
• Stassenetal.useI/E/U/A• Introduced/Emphasized/Utilized/ComprehensiveAssessment
• Otherkeysfocusmoreonstudentbehavior,e.g.I/P/D• Introduced/Practiced/Demonstrated
• And/orlevelexpectationsforprogressonanoutcomee.g.B/I/A• Beginning/Intermediate/Advanced
Alternative approach:
RSENR Core – level of instruction/learning
Step3a:Isthereakeyyourecommend?
Irecommendakeythatfitsthewayyourprogramisorganizedandyourimmediategoalsforthecurriculummappingprocess.Forexample:• Akeyfocusedonfacultybehaviors(e.g.IRMA)willhelpidentifywherefacultyareteachingaspectsoftheoutcomes• Akeyfocusedonstudentperformance(e.g.IPD)willhelpfocusonwherestudentsareaskedtodemonstrateprogressontheoutcomes• Akeyfocusedonlevel(e.g.B/I/A)willhelpidentifywhetherelementsoftheoutcomesaresufficientlyscaffoldedacrossthecurriculum
Whatifwewanttoknowallofthis?
• Curriculummappingcanbeanintensiveprocessthatmovesthroughseverallevels,oryoumayfindthatasingle‘pass’throughthecoursesisenough.
• Youcanhavefacultyfilloutseveralmatricesusingdifferentkeys
• Irecommendkeepingthematricesseparateatfirst,soyoucanseepatternsemergingthatarerelevanttoeachkey,beforecombiningthedata.
Step4:Gatherdatafrominstructors
• Somedatamaybeavailablefromsyllabi,howeverinstructorswillbeabletoquicklyidentifytheoutcomes/outcomecomponentscoveredintheircoursesaswellasassessmentsofstudentprogressonthoseoutcomes
• Forafirstpass,simplyaskinstructorstofillouttherowsofthematrixfortheclassestheyteach,usingONLYthekeythatyouhavechosen– nonotes,asterisksorcaveats
• Dependingonyourdepartment/curriculum,thiscanbedonetogetherorindividually
Giveitatry
• Listthecoursesyouteach,orcoursesinyourprogramthatyouarefamiliarwith
• Usingthekeyyouthinkismosthelpful,tryfillinginthematrixforthosecourses
• Nowthatyouhavetriedit,whatdifficultiesdoyouanticipatewhenyouaskyourfacultytocompleteamatrix?
Step5:Compile
Ifindividualinstructorshavefilledoutthematrix,combinetheirresultsintoasinglematrix,notinganyareasofvariationacrossinstructorsforasinglecourse
Beforediscussingalignment,itmaybeproductivetohaveadiscussionaboutthemappingprocess
Step6:Alignment• Iscoursecontent/workalignedwiththeoutcomes?
• Arethereanygaps?Overlaps?Ifso,aretheseproblematic?
• Isstudentprogressappropriatelyscaffoldedacrossthecurriculum?
• Wherearestudentsassessedontheirprogress?
• Aretheredirectorindirectcourse-levelorprogram-levelassessmentsinplacethatcanbeusedtocheckalignment?
Step7:Usewhatyoulearned
• Thecurriculummappingprocessmayhighlightsomeareasforimmediatechange(e.g.agapinyourcoverageofoutcomes)
• Themapcanalsoserveasthebasisfordevelopinganassessmentplan.• Arestudentsactuallyworkingattheexpectedlevelintheseclasses?• Whichcourse-levelassessmentscanprovideinformationonstudentprogress?• Atwhatpointintheprogramwillstudentsachievegraduation-levelachievementoftheoutcomes?
Questions?
J. Dickinson: [email protected]