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Schedule of Events and Registration
Monday, October 17th
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Keynote talk by Trudy Banta, “Closing the Loop-and Beyond-in Outcomes Assessment,” Union East Ballroom (lunch)
Faculty and staff in colleges and universities across the country are assessing student learning for purposes of improving curriculum, instruction, and student support services such as advising. But too few are reporting that they have actually USED assessment evidence to make changes. Why is it so difficult to close the loop? What principles of good practice could increase the use of assessment information? Examples from assessment of seniors’ culminating experiences, as well as of graduate programs, will be emphasized. This session will be available for live viewing on WyoCast and afterward on Wyocast-On-Demand. Presentation will start at approximately 11:50 am. Click here to go to Wyocast presentation.
3:00 – 4:15 p.m. Panel on Capstone Experiences, Coe 506 (refreshments)
Panelists: Penne Ainsworth (Accounting), Treva Sprout (Family and Consumer Sciences), Jean Garrison (International Studies), and Scott Morton (Mechanical Engineering)
Penne Ainsworth (Accounting) will moderate this panel of faculty who will provide examples of different UW capstone experiences for students. Panelists will discuss how these opportunities enhance student learning and how programs are using these capstone experiences for programmatic assessment. Faculty will discuss what they have learned from conducting assessment as well as changes that have been made based on assessment results.
Tuesday, October 18
12:00 – 1:15 p.m. Panel on Service Learning, Coe 506 (lunch)
Panelists: Erin Olsen (SLCE Coordinator), Tricia Johnson (Elementary & Early Childhood Education), Michael Urynowicz (Civil Engineering), Penelope Caldwell (Nursing)
Maggie Moran (SLCE Service Learning Graduate Coordinator) will moderate this panel of faculty and staff who will discuss how participation in service learning projects affects student learning and the challenges of assessing learning in this context. Also hear from current UW students who participated in different service learning projects and how these experiences have shaped them.
1:30 – 2:45 p.m. Panel on Internships and Externships, Coe 506 (refreshments)
Panelists: Allen Trent (Teacher Preparation), Dona Playton (Law School), Tracy Skopek (MPA program), Scott Seville (INBRE)
Jo Chytka (Advising and Career Services) will moderate this panel of faculty who will discuss how participation in internships and externships affects student learning. The panelists will discuss how they assess student learning and what issues are involved in getting people other than UW faculty to critically evaluate students in ways that are meaningful both the student and the program.
Wednesday, October 19
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter, Book Discussion and Implications for Practice, Coe 506 (lunch) - SESSION CLOSED
April Heaney (LeaRN) will facilitate this session. Focusing on both curricular and co-curricular best practices, the authors of Student Success in College describe how faculty and administrators can infuse students’ learning with a greater sense of purpose and relevance. From “engaging pedagogies” to “civic engagement,” this comprehensive book offers concrete strategies from twenty universities and colleges. In addition to discussing the book, this session addresses a wide variety of strategies for raising the bar in academic challenge while increasing student motivation. Registration is limited to 30 participants. All registrants will receive a free copy of Student Success in College.
3:00 – 4:15 p.m. Presentation on Critical Thinking Assessment Test Pilot Project at UW, Coe 506 (refreshments)
Presenters: Janelle Krueger (Pharmacy), Carolyn Haney (Social Work), and Myrna Miller (Veterinary Sciences)
Erika Prager (Academic Affairs) will lead this discussion about the 2011-2012 pilot study using a national instrument to measure critical and creative thinking (the CAT). Three departments and programs participating in the project will share their expectations and experiences to date. Departments with a critical thinking learning outcome are encouraged to attend to hear more about the assessment instrument and how faculty can use the instrument in their programs. This is a new, exciting university-wide initiative sponsored by Academic Affairs, the University Assessment Coordinators, and the ECTL.
Thursday, October 20
12:00 – 3:00 p.m. Workshop for Departments on “Assessing Graduate Programs,” Coe 506 (lunch)
Erika Prager (Academic Affairs) and the University Assessment Coordinators will facilitate this workshop about how to effectively develop a process for assessing student learning in graduate programs. This session will include an introductory discussion about different approaches to developing a plan, how to get faculty involved, and how to use existing requirements/experiences such as the thesis/dissertation, thesis defense, Plan B paper, preliminaries, seminars, professional meeting presentations and posters, comprehensive exams, performances, and portfolios for assessment purposes. The remainder of the session will focus on hands-on, small group work where participants will begin developing one or more tools or instruments to examine student work for the purposes of evaluating program effectiveness.
