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MIAMI PLAN (GENERAL EDUCATION)
ASSESSMENT
At Miami University, there are a variety of methods
by which we assess students' achievement of the Miami
Plan (general education) learning outcomes. Highlighted
below are some of the primary methods that are used
to assess each of the four learning outcomes, as well
as select assessment results and descriptions of some
of the modifications that were made as the result of
the assessment work. Although Miami University conducts
assessment on all four learning outcomes, in recent
years there has been stronger emphasis on assessment
of the first two learning outcomes--engaging in
critical thinking and understanding contexts.
However, we are currently exploring additional methods
for assessing the remaining learning outcomes--engaging
with other learners and reflecting and acting.
Provided below are links to a variety of assessment
projects that address each of the four Miami Plan learning
outcomes.
1) Students will engage in CRITICAL THINKING.
2) Students will UNDERSTAND CONTEXTS.
3) Students will ENGAGE WITH OTHER LEARNERS.
4) Students will REFLECT AND ACT.
MIAMI PLAN (GENERAL EDUCATION)
ASSESSMENT
Provided below are links to a variety
of assessment projects that address the four Miami Plan
learning outcomes. The numbers in parentheses refer
to the Miami Plan principles that are assessed by the
project.
Assessing
Critical Thinking (ACT) Project (1, 2)
In the Spring of 2005 and Fall of 2005, the
Assessment Fellows partnered with the Office of Liberal
Education to sponsor the Assessing Critical Thinking
(ACT) Project. The ACT Project was designed to
assess students' critical thinking skills in a variety
of courses. Faculty worked in teams of 3 or 4
with an Assessment Fellow to identify expected student
learning outcomes for critical thinking, to modify and
adapt a critical thinking assessment tool for their
own courses, to revise a major course assignment so
that it emphasized the specified critical thinking outcomes,
to use the tool to assess students’ work on the
assignment, and to use the assessment results to modify
the assignment for future use.
The ACT Project, although originally
designed to assess students' critical thinking skills,
also served to assess students' ability to understand
contexts. The ability to understand contexts is embedded
within many of the critical thinking rubrics that were
created for this project. Specifically, many of the
faculty assessed students' ability to understand how
different contexts (e.g., historical, social, economical)
and perspectives shape our knowledge and decisions.
The Assessing
Critical Thinking webpage provides summaries of
each project as well as the assignment and critical
thinking rubric used by the faculty members. An additional
ACT project is scheduled for the Spring, 2007 semester.
Capstone Courses (1)
Ten Assessment
Fellows consulted with Dr. William Condon of the
Washington State Critical Thinking Project, developed
student learning outcomes for critical thinking, and
learned how to use the Washington
State University Critical Thinking Rubric to assess
these outcomes. The Assessment Fellows used this rubric
to assess students' critical thinking skills in a sample
of papers from multiple Capstone courses. Details on
the assessment methods and results can be found in Assessment
Brief #3.
First
Year Seminars (FYS) (1, 2)
First-Year Seminars are Foundation courses that are
specially designed for first-year students and are taught
by seasoned Miami faculty. FYS courses focus on an intellectual
theme, problem or issue based on the passion and expertise
of the faculty member and are limited to 20 students.
Students who enroll in an FYS course will confront intellectual,
creative and ethical ideas through active approaches
to learning including writing and lively discussions
as ways of learning. Several different methods have
been used to assess students' critical thinking skills
in FYS courses, each of which is briefly described below.
NSSE Survey Data: Students enrolled
in FYS courses during the 2004-2005 academic year
completed a subset of NSSE questions. The questionnaire
was focused on students' experiences with each of
the four Miami Plan learning outcomes. The questionnaire
and results can be found on the First Year Seminar
webpage at: http://www.units.muohio.edu/led/FirstYearSeminars/index.html
Qualitative Assessment: During
the Fall of 2005, two members of the University
Assessment Team interviewed 10 faculty teaching
FYS courses and 19 students enrolled in those courses.
All faculty and students were interviewed individually
by one the two Assessment Team members. One of the
primary themes elicited by the interviews was students’
intellectual engagement in FYS courses, including
their experiences with specific activities that
encourage intellectual engagement (i.e., active
learning, application of knowledge, engagement with
other learners, use of communication, writing, and
research). The full report for this assessment can
be found at: http://www.units.muohio.edu/led/FirstYearSeminars/Fall2005/FYS_Qualitative_Fall2005.pdf
Student Learning Outcomes: As
the result of the above assessments, additional
supports have been provided to FYS faculty and additional
assessment of student learning outcomes has been
planned. Faculty teaching an FYS course during the
2006-2007 academic year were invited to attend a
pre-semester workshop entitled, “Steps for
Better Thinking: A Classroom Model for Teaching,
Learning, and Assessing Higher-Order Thinking Skills.”
This workshop, which was presented by Susan Wolcott
of Wolcott-Lynch Associates, provided faculty with
information about the development of students’
critical thinking skills, including information
on the types of assignments that encourage critical
thinking as well as methods for assessing critical
thinking. FYS faculty who attended this workshop
will conduct an assessment of students’ critical
thinking skills at both the beginning and end of
the semester. Each faculty member will use a common
critical thinking rubric
in order to assess students' critical thinking skills
at the beginning and end of the semester. The critical
thinking rubric also includes students' ability
to understand contexts as one of the criteria. These
faculty will also meet with other FYS faculty several
times during the semester to discuss their assessments
and issues pertaining to the FYS courses in general.
Foundation Courses (1, 2)
In the Fall of 2005, twelve Assessment
Fellows conducted an assessment of critical thinking
in Miami University Foundation courses. The Assessment
Fellows assessed a random sample of Foundation student
papers using a revised version of the Washington
State University Critical Thinking Rubric. In addition,
three Assessment Office staff also assessed the corresponding
assignment descriptions that were given to students.
Assignments were assessed for the extent to which they
explicitly asked students to demonstrate each of seven
critical thinking outcomes. A description of the assessment
methods and results can be found in Assessment
Brief #21.
Although the Foundation Course assessment was originally
designed to assess students' critical thinking skills,
the rubric used to assess the student papers also identified
students' ability to understand contexts as one of the
criteria for critical thinking.
Miami
Plan Assessment/Program Review (1, 2, 3, 4)
As part of the Program Review process, each department
conducts an assessment of their Miami Plan courses to
determine how well students are achieving each of the
four Miami Plan learning outcomes. The Miami Plan Enabling
Document rightly placed responsibility for assessment
in the hands of the faculty and departments within the
university. Importantly, the document stressed that
assessments must focus on “student learning outcomes”
and it recognized that, to be credible, assessment must
result in “improved student learning” (p.12).
Although alternative models are acceptable, programs
typically use a multi-tiered
model of assessment when conducting their Miami
Plan Assessment. Specifically, programs assess the extent
to which students achieve each of the four Miami Plan
principles by examining the course and/or program design
(Tier 1), student perceptions of learning (Tier 2),
and student learning outcomes (Tier 3). Visit the Miami
Plan Assessment webpage (http://www.units.muohio.edu/
led/assessment/Miami_Plan_Assessment/
MP_Assessment.htm) for additional information on
the methods used for Miami Plan assessment and for sample
assessment reports from select departments.
National
Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (1, 3)
Miami University participates in multiple surveys
conducted by the Center
for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University
including the National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE) and related surveys, such as the Faculty
Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) and the
Beginning College Student Survey (BCSS).
Each of these surveys provides a different perspective
on a variety of educationally effective practices, including
activities that encourage critical thinking and engaging
with other learners. The BCSS assesses students' expectations
about their upcoming college experience prior to college
entry, the NSSE examines students' educational experiences
at the end of their first year and their senior year
in college, and the FSSE assesses the extent to which
faculty incorporate educationally effective activities
into their courses.
Additional information on each of the surveys can be
found at:
http://www.units.muohio.edu/led/assessment/Current_Projects/Survey_Descriptions.htm
Descriptions of some of the NSSE, BCSS, and FSSE results
relating to students' critical thinking skills can be
found in Assessment
Brief #2, Assessment
Brief #4, and Assessment
Brief #5. NSSE results relating to the extent to
which Miami University students engage with other learners
outside of the classroom are highlighted in Assessment
Brief #15.
Outcomes
in the Majors Project (1, 2)
As the result of recommendations made
by the Assessment Task Force in 2004, Miami University
created a project called the "Outcomes in the Majors"
(OIM) project. The main goal of the 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. Many of the departments
involved in the OIM project elected to assess their
majors' critical thinking skills. Included within many
of the critical thinking rubrics is the criterion that
students are able to understand contexts. Details on
the assessment can be found at: http://www.units.muohio.edu/led/assessment/Student_Success_Plan/Majors_Assessment.htm
Project DEEP (1, 3, 4)
In 2005, Miami University was highlighted in the book,
“Student Success in College: Creating Conditions
That Matter,” which discusses educational practices
that promote student success. Researchers for this project
(“Project DEEP”) identified policies, programs,
and practices at Miami University that potentially account
for Miami’s higher-than-predicted graduation rates
and NSSE scores on five benchmarks of effective educational
practice. The following benchmarks were used as an organizing
framework for the project: (1) Level of Academic Challenge;
(2) Active and Collaborative Learning; (3) Student-Faculty
Interaction; (4) Supportive Campus Environment; and
(5) Enriching Educational Experiences. Miami University's
support of activities that allow students to reflect
and act on their learning experiences were also discussed
as part of this project.
Project staff made two multiple-day visits to Miami’s
campus, during which they conducted nearly 200 individual
and group interviews with students, faculty, administrators,
staff, and graduates. Project staff also visited classrooms
and reviewed numerous print and web documents. The results
of the project are highlighted in Assessment
Brief #11. Project DEEP's final report for Miami
University can be found on the provost's webpage at:
http://www.miami.muohio.edu/provost/reports/DEEP_Final_Report.pdf
The book, "Student Success in College: Creating
Conditions That Matter" can be found at Jossey-Bass'
website at:
http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787979147.html
The Top 25 Project (1, 3)
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 timely collection and use of assessment
data throughout the project. The three primary areas
of assessment for the Top 25 Project include: 1) content
mastery, 2) critical thinking, and 3) student satisfaction.
However, all seven characteristics of the redesigned
courses, including engagement with other learners,
are assessed through a variety of methods. (See the
Top 25 Call
for Proposals for
a list of the seven characteristics.)
Return to Top of
Page
Related Links
*Student Success
Plan Main Page*
Miami Plan (General Education):
Learning Outcomes
Miami Plan (General Education);
Outcomes Assessment
Undegraduate Majors:
Learning Outcomes
Undergraduate Majors:
Outcomes Assessment
Student
Engagement: Outcomes and Assessment
Additional
Learning Opportunities: Outcomes and Assessment
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