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CURRENT PROJECTS
In its philosophical statement, the Assessment
Task Force recommended that a University assessment
plan should be “…designed to gather
useful information about students’ learning
and development and to use this information to
continuously revise and modify the curriculum….” Thus,
the main focus of Miami’s assessment activities
is to further enhance its already excellent reputation
in fostering student learning.
The projects outlined below were undertaken
with this basic philosophy in mind. Each project uses
assessment as a tool for gathering information about
student learning and development in order to continuously
improve student learning. Brief descriptions of each
project are provided below. For additional details,
please click on the title of the project.
Assessing
Critical Thinking (ACT) Project
In Spring, 2005, the Assessment Fellows partnered with
the Liberal Education Office to sponsor the Assessing
Critical Thinking Project. Faculty worked in teams of
3 or 4 with an Assessment Fellow to modify and adapt
a critical thinking rubric for their own course, revise
a major course assignment to emphasize expected student
learning outcomes for critical thinking, use the rubric
to assess students’ work on the assignment, and
use the assessment results to modify the assignment
for future use. The Assessing
Critical Thinking webpage provides summaries of
each project as well as the assignment and critical
thinking rubric used by the faculty member.
First
Year Seminar (FYS) Assessment
First Year Seminars are specially designed for first
year students and focus on an intellectual theme, problem
or issue based on the passion and expertise of the faculty
member. Students' learning and experiences in FYS courses
have been assessed using both surveys and qualitative
interviews. The First
Year Seminar (FYS) Assessment webpage provides additional
information about the design of FYS courses and the
type and results of FYS assessments.
Outcomes in the Majors
The main goal of the Outcomes in the Majors Project
is to further improve student learning in the major.
For this project, departments examine what its majors
are expected to learn, gather information about this
learning, and use the results to modify the curriculum
and/or courses to further improve student learning.
The following departments are currently involved in
Outcomes in the Majors Projects: Anthropology, Botany,
Chemistry, Communication, Engineering and Applied Science,
Geology, Geography, Microbiology, Physics, Political
Science, Psychology, Sociology/Gerontology, Speech Pathology
and Audiology, and Zoology.
Small Assessment Grants
Small Assessment grants support individual
or groups of faculty/staff in developing and implementing
ways to measure student learning or development outcomes.
These outcomes might be for a single course/program
or for a group of related courses/programs. The outcomes
need not encompass the whole course, but may focus only
on a single aspect of a course, such as critical thinking
or a particular laboratory skill. Funded assessment
projects should produce data that can be used to make
modifications that help future students better meet
your outcomes.
Student Success Plan
The design of a Student Success Plan is one way in
which the Assessment Office has responded to increased
demands for accountability in higher education. In
accordance with a request by the Ohio
Board of Regents, the Assessment Office created
a Student Success Plan that defines learning
outcomes for both general education
and undergraduate majors, ensures assessment of
these outcomes, and ensures the engagement of
faculty and the entire instructional community in
the continuous improvement of student outcomes and
achievements.
Surveys
Surveys, when designed and used appropriately, can provide
valuable information about student learning and development.
Miami University's Office
of Institutional Research (IR) conducts multiple
surveys of faculty, staff, and students each year, including
national surveys that allow comparisons with benchmark
institutions. The Surveys
link provides information on how to using survey data
for assessment purposes and the types of survey data
that are already available to Miami faculty and staff.
The
Top 25 Project: Engaging Students
in Their Learning
The Top 25 Project
focuses on redesigning Miami University's highest
enrollment courses by developing and utilizing learning
models that are inquiry driven, that call for active
learning, and that place the student at the very center
of the learning experience. Assessment is an integral
part of this project; project teams identify
appropriate assessment methods as part of their initial
proposal and work with Assessment staff to ensure appropriate
collection and use of assessment data throughout the
project.
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