Academic Planning & Assessment Committee Report - Spring 2005
Summary of Program Assessment Efforts
This section is based on discussions between department chairs/program directors and APA committee liaisons, as well as documentation from the assessment section of eCampus (http://neasc.umf.maine.edu/data/portfolio/index.htm - Program Profile; also the “compare” feature can be used to highlight program assessments). The discussions with Chairs/Directors included responses to the question of how faculty went about determining whether and how program goals would change under a four- credit system. We tried to convey that the APA committee’s role is to help make this type of process easier.
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, HEALTH AND REHABILITATION
Department of Early Childhood/Elementary Education
In general, program assessment has been guided by the accrediting agency (NCATE), and is viewed as being effective. However, the Chair has noted the need for the department to do its own research study in terms of quality of instruction and resources available.
In considering a possible shift to a 4-credit curriculum, their goals remain the same—to prepare the best teachers in the State of Maine (professional goal) and personal goals of preparing happy, healthy human beings who are liberally educated people. They used “No Child Left Behind” mandates, certification requirements, graduate school acceptance rates, and responses from graduates (alumni survey) in considering how the program night be restructured. Also, retention data and student survey (NSSES) data was very helpful, especially in determining the kind of studying that students are doing, how much of the time are students meaningfully engaged in learning, and what activities are meaningful to them.
Early Childhood Education
This program has Performance-Based Assessment data, presented on eCampus as a Performance-based Assessment Chart that illustrates the specific types of assessment strategies used in ECE courses. Each assessment is based on information taken from Knowledge Base Forms for each course and from course syllabi. Faculty members believe that it is essential to model a variety of assessment strategies, using them in meaningful ways throughout the program. Sharing these data with other programs reinforces the use of varied assessment strategies by the faculty.
Courses are structured to ensure horizontal integration of content and experience across each semester, in addition to vertical integration over semesters, building upon prior experience. Thus, by the time students begin their internships, they are functioning at a high level, competently displaying curriculum skills learned in earlier coursework and dealing with larger, more abstract issues. The frequent use of response journals, self-evaluation, portfolios, peer critiques, reflection papers, teacher-student conferences, and oral interpretations evidenced in syllabi as assessment strategies are consistent with this emphasis on adult development. Professional self-assessment is threaded throughout the program.
UMF's Early Childhood Education students will graduate
Goal 1: as "qualified early childhood educators who demonstrate professional knowledge, abilities, dispositions, values and attitudes regarding child development and learning;
Assessment: The developmental philosophy at the heart of the program is made explicit to students through all professional courses. A required 18-credit concentration in psychology includes coursework in child development, developmental psychology, and life span development. Early childhood syllabi are all grounded in child development knowledge as a source of curriculum and assessmen
Goal 2: as "qualified early childhood educators who demonstrate professional knowledge, abilities, dispositions, values and attitudes regarding curriculum development and implementation;
Assessment: Important theories of child development are reviewed and stressed, ranging from developmental underpinnings of the Reggio Emilia approach in creative arts to Piagetian foundations of math curriculum for preschoolers to Vygotskian notions of scaffolded learning.
Goal 3: as "qualified early childhood educators who demonstrate professional knowledge, abilities, dispositions, values and attitudes regarding family and community relationships;
Assessment: Fundamental to interpreting child development as a knowledge base is an appreciation of human ecology, specifically, how community, race, class, and gender affect the developing individual. Program courses provide an understanding of diversity as a fundamental tool for observing individual children, planning responsive curriculum, and working with diverse families. All ECE courses, through their focus on child development and learning, must address NAEYC's Standard I: "Use knowledge of how young children differ in their development ... to support the learning of individual children ..." and "apply knowledge of cultural and linguistic diversity and the significance of sociocultural and political contexts for development and learning; recognize that children are best understood in the contexts of family, culture, and society."
Goal 4: as "qualified early childhood educators who demonstrate professional knowledge, abilities, dispositions, values and attitudes regarding assessment and evaluation;
Assessment: At the heart of best early childhood practices lies assessment: the ability to "plan and implement developmentally appropriate3 curriculum and instructional practices, based on knowledge of individual children ..." (NAEYC Guidelines). Although NAEYC Guidelines offer an explicit standard on Assessment and Evaluation (standard 4) that declares that professionals "must use informal and formal assessment strategies to plan and individualize curriculum and teaching practices...," the concept of assessment in Early Childhood education broadly pervades multiple aspects of the program. Students indeed learn to assess children and their needs, beginning with an introductory course in Observation in Early Childhood Settings (ECE 190), where they develop skills in observing and recording data about children, environments, and teaching/learning interactions, through case studies and participation in IEP and IFSP teams in practica, methods courses, and Senior Seminar (ECE 450).
Goal 5: as "qualified early childhood educators who demonstrate professional knowledge, abilities, dispositions, values and attitudes regarding professionalism;
Assessment: Students themselves use a variety of assessment strategies to monitor their own professional development. Field-based assessments completed jointly by students, cooperating field teachers, and faculty supervisors are invaluable, using observational feedback, self-reflections, conferencing, and formal written final evaluations. Faculty recently revised all practica final evaluations to embody NAEYC guidelines at each level: beginning (ECE 192), intermediate (ECE 293), and advanced (ECE 490).
Review of Performance-Based Assessment and the alignment of each course to The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards for Teacher Preparation for graduates completing the Bachelors without certification and for those seeking K-3 certification to the ten standards for Initial Teacher Certification (see Elementary Education) ; survey data from current candidate and graduates. Also student teacher or internship portfolios and evaluation from mentor teachers for practica or field work.
Elementary Education
Program Assessment
In the College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation, assessment and evaluation are recognized as critical activities that provide a means to gather information, review programs and more effectively prepare candidates to serve all students in their classrooms. The faculty is committed to utilizing an effective data collection and review system that ensures all assessments reflect the ultimate mission to prepare candidates as caring teachers, competent educators and confident professionals.
Assessment has always been an important catalyst for change in CEHR. Through examination of current practices, collection of data and discussion with students and colleagues on campus and in the field, faculty members have worked to continually refine and improve programs. Multiple forms of program assessments include: review of Knowledge Base Forms and Course Outlines; review of Performance-Based Assessments and the alignment of each course to our ten Standards for Initial Teacher Certification (Framework for Program Assessment); survey data from current candidates, graduates and mentor teachers; evaluations of faculty; department meetings; as well as meetings with our Student and Teacher Advisory Councils.
For more information about the Assessment System for the College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation, go to http://ncate.umf.maine.edu (password protected site).
Middle/Secondary Education
Brief summary:
Praxis I as early assessment
Praxis II as late assessment
Portfolios as final assessment point
Detailed Summary:
This program has Performance-Based Assessment data, presented on eCampus as a Performance-based Assessment Chart that illustrates the specific types of assessment strategies used in various courses. Each assessment is based on information taken from Knowledge Base Forms for each course and from course syllabi
Based on the belief that teaching is both an art and a science, and that learning takes place most effectively through integration rather than fragmentation, the faculty has attempted in its education courses to integrate content and pedagogical standards through a variety of assessment pieces, culminating in production of a Standards Portfolio that integrates the applicable standards and provides formative assessment of both content knowledge and pedagogical expression. The faculty also recognizes that valid evaluation of content knowledge also takes place independent of the education courses and confirms and strengthens its assessment process.
Students are admitted to the middle/secondary education program as first-year students. All UMF candidates are assessed and have to meet certain criteria before beginning their education program. Candidates must pass two out of three Praxis I tests before they can take introductory level courses. Internal and external transfers must also pass Praxis, as well as have a 2.5 GPA in order to be admitted to the program. Admission is competitive for all candidates.
Goal 1: All candidates will complete a program of study in their major that meets their national professional organization requirements, Maine state requirements, and UMF Arts & Sciences major requirements.
Assessment: The number and selection of courses required are determined by the highest of those standards. The credit requirements range from 31 credits for English majors to 57 credits for Social Science majors. Candidates must receive a C- or higher for a major course to count in their education program
Goal 2: All candidates will demonstrate their knowledge of their major course of study in a variety of ways that include inquiry, critical analysis, and synthesis.
Assessment: Many majors include Capstone courses that require research, synthesis, and evaluation. In addition, all candidates will be required by state standards to pass Praxis II in their content area and to meet the UMF Standards for Beginning Teachers that were developed to meet state, national, and INTASC standards for both content and pedagogy.
Goal 3: All candidates will demonstrate their knowledge of the major concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines they teach.
Assessment: In their working standards portfolio, which candidates begin in EDU 211 and continue through EDU 301, all candidates create lesson plans where they must help their students to examine major concepts of their disciplines using appropriate tools of inquiry while also requiring their students to articulate their learning through critical analysis and synthesis. This articulation of knowledge is required of K-12 students as part of the Maine Learning Results and is tested for in the Maine Educational Assessment Tests. Candidates must also reflect upon how they have accomplished each part of a standard in their Standards Portfolios, demonstrating that candidates can synthesize and evaluate their content knowledge.
Goal 4: All candidates will integrate their content knowledge with the pedagogical knowledge required by UMF, the state, and national teacher organizations in their classes and in their portfolios.
Assessment: While UMF has chosen to integrate the pedagogical standards in the Standards Portfolio, there are individual courses and assignments that assess in-depth knowledge of multiple strategies for teaching and learning. Although not required for state certification, UMF requires all candidates to take an instructional media course, EDU 201, that ensures the ability of candidates to integrate the use of a variety of instructional media into all disciplines in ways that are most appropriate to individual disciplines. Finally, we emphasize technology as a tool for improving learning and require that it be used in lessons selected for the Standards Portfolio in later classes.
Goal 5: All candidates will be able to integrate theory and experience while demonstrating the ability to not only observe and reflect upon the diversity of the classroom environments they encounter but also to develop diverse strategies and explanations of content to effectively teach in these classrooms.
Assessment: Education classes emphasize different strategies based on student needs. A foundation of three courses is offered to provide candidates with their first experiences in education. EDU 203 is an initial field experience to provide observational skills and an opportunity to try out some newly learned teaching strategies from EDU 211, an introduction to curriculum and instructional planning.
Assessments in all classes require knowledge of theory and research, observational skills, planning skills, evaluation skills, collection of data, analysis and reflection on teaching and learning.
Candidates are also required to take PSY 225, Adolescent Psychology, and must become knowledgeable about several areas of child development: cognitive, physical, emotional, social, moral, and cultural. Candidates enrolled in upper level education courses will be held responsible for creating lessons that speak directly to student needs at different age and ability levels, and for reflecting on how that knowledge inspires the use of particular strategies that will facilitate learning for all their students.
Goal 6: All candidates will understand the ethical and legal responsibilities of their profession.
Assessment: Candidates learn a variety of instructional strategies to use with diverse populations in SED 361, which examines ethical and legal responsibilities as well as modifications for students with special needs. EDU 301 provides additional strategies for reading and writing across the curriculum, especially for students with poor literacy skills, ESL, and reluctant learners.
Assessments for both courses emphasize knowledge of subject matter, text analysis, individualized instruction, use of technology, and multiple expressions of content to meet individual student needs. Lesson plans created in these courses require modifications and adjustments in content and assessment to meet diverse student needs.
Goal 7: All candidates will understand the professional standards and state standards for their content area, including a firm grasp of the Maine Learning Results.
Assessment: In content methods courses, candidates examine in-depth the professional standards and state standards for their content area and are required to include specific reference to the Maine Learning Results. In these courses candidates concentrate on developing larger unit and course plans, and examine ways to create activities, projects, and exhibitions that provide content learning experiences that engage students, parents, and their communities. Candidates concentrate on research and theory directly related to their content, analyzing professional journals and reviewing major texts in their field.
Goal 8: All candidates will be able to plan, implement, and evaluate student learning.
Assessment: All candidates must qualify for a 16-credit student teaching experience that places candidates in a variety of school settings, 7-12, where candidates take over full teaching responsibilities under the guidance of a university supervisor and mentor teacher. Candidates are required to plan, implement, and evaluate student learning. In addition, they must collect data on student learning, analyze strengths and weaknesses, make modifications where necessary in instructional strategies and/or personal dispositions, and reflect on their experiences.
Goal 9: All candidates will be able to employ a variety of strategies to meet student needs, to meet school and state curriculum requirements, and to work with school personnel, parents, and community members to improve student learning.
Assessment: All candidates must document and demonstrate that they have met all of the UMF and state standards for initial certification through their Standards Portfolios that include their students' performances and evaluations. In a final Portfolio exhibition, all candidates are asked to demonstrate their achievement and to reflect on their experiences to a panel of their peers, their professors, their supervisors, and their families.
Department of Community Health and Human Performance
Assessment of this program is tied closely to the state and national requirements for the profession. Consideration of a shift to a 4-credit model therefore must be based on these state and national standards. Competencies are built into courses in the program; practicum and internship experiences represent two of the key opportunities for assessment. Retention records and alumni surveys are also used as part of the program assessment process. A national exam (CHES?) is taken by many of the majors - in future years, it might be possible to use exam results as an additional component of program assessment.
Community Health Educationmmunity Health Education Assessment
Goal 1:Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate theory and practice
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Goal 2:Students will demonstrate the ability to make informed choices leading to enhance quality of life.
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Goal 3:Students will demonstrate the ability to mentor others in lifestyle choices
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Goal 4:Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for healthy communities
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Goal 5:Students will demonstrate the ability to assure that intellectual property rights are respected.
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Goal 6:Students will demonstrate the ability to maintain an ethical/legal practice as a professional when dealing with students/clients/players.
Assessment: Oral and written assessments; participation in service learning project; exams; market research projects; case studies; lesson plans; self-evaluations
Community Health Education: Teaching Concentration
This program has Performance-Based Assessment data, presented on eCampus as a Performance-based Assessment Chart that illustrates the specific types of assessment strategies used in various courses. Each assessment is based on information taken from Knowledge Base Forms for each course and from course syllabi.
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the ability to assess individual and community needs for health education
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 2: Students will demonstrate the ability to plan effective health education programs
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to implement health education programs
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of health education programs
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to coordinate provision of health education services
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to act as resources in health education
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Goal 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate health and health education needs, concerns, and resources
Assessment: Written and group work; oral assignments; compiled results of surveys; evaluation of assessments; tests; skill proficiency; program evaluations
Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services
Rehabilitation Services
Their students create a portfolio (that is now going to be electronic), gathering artifacts throughout their courses and then doing the portfolio during their senior seminar, which is a capstone course. They do not have a national certification or test, but there is a state certification, which many of their students get.
Goal 1: Assess the psychological, social, and physical implications of a disability
Method: Through simulation and individual study
Goal 2:Assess the nature and extent of health, social, rehabilitation, and educational services in a community prepare written guidelines for functioning effectively in multicultural settings of service delivery
Method: Community study
Goal 3: Prepare written guidelines for functioning effectively in multicultural settings of service delivery
Method: Multicultural study
Goal 4: Conduct a self-evaluation of core counseling and interviewing skills
Method: Video and written critique of video
Goal 5:Complete an intake assessment and plan of service
Method: Interview with a simulated client
Goal 6:Make an oral presentation to a public audience
Method: Speech, workshop, lecture or professional testimony
Goal 7:Complete a statement of "helping philosophy" as a professional that will guide one's work for the near future Assess in written format one's growth and development as a professional service provider
Method: Written document
Goal 8:Assess one's growth and development as a professional service provider
Method: Written document that notes strengths and qualities and skills to be developed
Goal 9:Submit a project or grant proposal of professional quality
Method: Written document
Goal 10:Take an informed position on an issue of rehabilitation or human services policy
Method: Written public policy statement, backed by research
Goal 11:Produce a video or audiocassette program for community education
Method: Multimedia presentation based upon literature and field research
Goal 12:Utilize electronic mail and the Internet for professional communication and resource access
Method: Use in class
Goal 13: Prepare a vita of professional quality
Method: Written document
Special Education
Students have to pass two of the Praxis I subtests to take any 200 level SED courses and have to pass all three subtests to take any 300 level SED courses. They have to get Professional Standing in Education to take practicum and any 400 level professional courses. That (PSE) requires a minimum 2.5 GPA in addition to passing the Praxis I. During student teaching, students create a portfolio that demonstrates how they have met the UMF Standards for Initial Teacher Certification, which are the same as the ME State standards.
Starting this summer, students will have to pass the PRAXIS II in order to be certified. The college had decided that, starting next spring semester, students will have to pass it before they student teach. Whether that decision will be changed, as we know more about the test remains to be seen.
Goal 1: All program graduates will understand the history of special education, the broad categories of disability, the characteristics of students with mild to moderate disabilities, and the legal rights and requirements related to students with disabilities
Assessment: This area is initially addressed in our very first course that all first year students take (SED 101) and culminates with a senior year capstone course (SED 450) where students focus on the Maine Rules and Regulations concerning the education of students with disabilities.
Goal 2: All program graduates will demonstrate skill in the areas of direct observation, criterion-referenced and normative assessment, and administration and analysis of specialized instruments that help identify students with learning disabilities and their unique learning needs
Assessment: All students take two courses that have an assessment focus: SED 201 (Curriculum and Instructional Programming for Exceptional Children) that builds skill in the area of direct observation and SED 306 (Assessment of Special Education) that develops skill and understanding in the area of criterion-referenced and normative assessment. In SED 306, students learn the essentials of how to administer, interpret, and report basic assessment results. Students focusing on Learning Disabilities refine their assessment skills and learn how to administer, score, and analyze more specialized instruments that help to identify students with learning disabilities and their unique learning needs.
Goal 3: All program graduates will demonstrate knowledge and skill in the area of instructional content and practice
Assessment: Developing knowledge and skill in the area of instructional content and practice occurs throughout all four years of our program. Students are introduced to the basic concepts of developing goals and objectives from curriculum-based assessment in SED 201. In SED 300 (Academic Remediation for Students with Disabilities and At-Risk Conditions) students apply direct instruction strategies to the teaching of decoding and comprehension. All majors also take a developmental reading course (EDU 300). In all three semesters of SED 319, students read the literature on effective teaching practices in reading, language, social skills, and classroom management.
Goal 4: All program graduates will demonstrate the ability to plan and manage the teaching and learning environment
Assessment: Critical skills and knowledge in this domain are developed throughout the program but are specifically addressed in four courses: SED 201, SED 308, SED 300, and SED 450. In SED 201, students learn the basics of developing a clear, step-by-step lesson plan to teach basic skills; in SED 308, students examine the research on effective classroom management and organization; in SED 300, students learn how to organize specific, skill-focused lessons in phonological awareness and reading; and in SED 450, students explore specific topics of interest.
Goal 5: All program graduates will demonstrate the ability to manage student behavior and to foster social interaction skills
Assessment: Students learn a variety of classroom and behavior management skills including how to prevent or minimize misbehavior and respond to crisis behavior as well as how to develop specific behavior improvement plans and how to promote social skill development and anger management.
Goal 6: All program graduates will develop effective interpersonal skills, develop an understanding of the helping (therapeutic) relationship, and develop effective communication skills with parents and multidisciplinary team members
Assessment: Skills and knowledge in this domain are largely developed through SED 404 -- helping Relationships: At-Risk Students, Their families, and Community Resources. Students focus on the development of effective interpersonal skills, the therapeutic relationship, and strategies to effectively communicate with parents and other professionals. In SED 450, students learn about the importance of maintaining confidentiality, the need to relate sensitively to students and parents of different cultural and social backgrounds, and how to organize and conduct parent and team conferences.
Goal 7: All program graduates will demonstrate an understanding of ethical standards, such as respect for cultural differences and meaningful compliance with applicable laws
Assessment: This area of consideration permeates our program and is not developed in a single course. Students keep a record of their growth in terms of the skills outlined in "What Every Special Educator Must Know."
Early Childhood Special Education
Goal 1: Students will demonstrate the ability to connect theory, professional experience, and personal reflection
Assessment: Students are asked to read and discuss professional articles and relate the information to their observations of early intervention programs that they visit during the semester. Students will also write their philosophy of education. Students will also complete assignments that include information about how a particular assignment relates to the UMF Conceptual Model for becoming an exemplary teacher.
Goal 2: Students will demonstrate knowledge and skills of children who are developing typically
Assessment: Students study typical child development in ECE 125 Introduction to Early Childhood Education and in PSY 225 Developmental Psychology. Teachers of young children with special needs must also demonstrate specialized knowledge and skills. The block of courses taken concurrently, SED 374 (Strategies for Supporting Young Children in Least Restrictive Environments) and SED 375 (Practicum in Early Childhood Special Education) introduce students to methods and instructional strategies appropriate for young children with special needs.
Goal 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to study language development and the role of families in facilitating language
Assessment: Students study the Family System Model (Turnbull and Turnbull) in SED 476 Assessment of Young Children at-risk for Disabilities and examine the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 to learn about the role of family concerns, priorities, and resources in developing the IFSP. Students may also undertake a project to support families, such as developing and completing a needs assessment, completing a program evaluation that includes family input, or writing a series of newsletters for families.
Goal 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to understand and implement developmental and individually appropriate practices
Assessment: SED 203, Introduction to Early Childhood Special education, presents developmentally appropriate practices and concerns regarding DAP for children with special needs; the role of developmentally and individually appropriate practices continues in SED 374, 375, 470, & 479. In the senior year, students take ECE 430, Theories of Learning and Curriculum Development, a course that requires them to observe philosophies of programs as expressed through materials, room arrangement, and daily schedule.
Goal 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to observe and participate in inclusive early childhood settings
Assessment: The UMF Early Childhood Model Programs on Campus provide excellent opportunities for students to observe and participate in inclusive early childhood settings. Other inclusive settings in the community include early childhood programs in public schools, center-based Head Start Programs, home-based Head Start Settings, Early Head Start Programs, private nursery schools, family child care programs, and center-based child care programs.
Goal 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to recognize and use culturally competent professional behavior
Assessment: Students learn that each family unit is unique; and the uniqueness of families includes such diverse aspects as culture, disability, economic status, ethnicity, gender, geographic region of origin, language, and race. Besides having opportunities to read and discuss issues of diversity, students are exposed to rural families, Latino families, urban families, Native American families, or families living in other countries through their field experiences. A course in families, ECE 440 Families and Child Care Settings, highlights the diversity of families with which students will interact, explicitly addressing varying family structures and how childcare programs can respond to them.
Goal 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to collaborate with their peers and professionals in the field
Assessment: Students compare and contrast various models of service delivery in their various field placements. Students are also encouraged to take an active role in professional activities outside of the classroom such as participating in the UMF Student Council for Exceptional Children, The ME chapter of DEC, attending workshops or statewide conferences. Students also have opportunities to work in the UMF Assistive Technology Resource Center and assist professionals helping young children with disabilities determine appropriate assistive technology options.
Goal 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to use and apply technology appropriately
Assessment: Students are required to use e-mail as a method of completing selected assignments; students are introduced to large data bases such as ERIC and taught various search strategies; students are introduced to various types of assistive technology including alternative and augmentative communication; and students learn how to use effective search strategies on the WWW to assist in their work with children and families.
Goal 9: Students will demonstrate the ability to assess children's development
Assessment: Students begin exploring different assessment approaches in ECE 190 Observation in Early Childhood Settings, are exposed to portfolio assessment in SED 203, study various approaches to assessment in SED 476 (including performance-based, criterion-referenced, and standardized instruments) and complete their assessment work in SED 479 where they complete a professional portfolio.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Department of Humanities
Brief summary:
Creative Writing majors assessments:
1) Portfolios of creative works
2) Public presentations of creative works
3) Exit interviews
English: As students enter the program when they are enrolled in ENG 181: Literary Analysis and Interpretation, their first literature course, and then again as they near the completion of their course of study when they are enrolled in ENG 402: Senior Seminar in Literature, the capstone course, they produce the following artifacts:
1) An essay that students write in fulfillment of the instructor’s course requirements. In English 181, this is the first essay of the course; in English 402, it is the seminar paper.
2) An in-class essay. In this timed (50-minute), in-class essay, students analyze a short text. The text is selected and instructions are prepared by the department, so all students respond to the same task.
3) A questionnaire prepared by the department and completed by students in a 50-minute portion of class. The questionnaire gives students the opportunity to summarize what they know about given topics, specifically British literature; American literature; literature by women, people of color, and/or members of American ethnic groups; major literary genres; and literary theory.
Detailed Summary:
Creative Writing
Assessment Program for the B.F.A. in Creative Writing
Since its inception, the B.F.A. in Creative Writing has incorporated several features that allow faculty to assess both program effectiveness and student achievement within the program. They are the portfolio developed during the Seminar in Writing, the senior reading, and the exit interview.
1. The Portfolio
Every B.F.A. major is required to take English 401, the Seminar in Writing, during the senior year. The portfolio generates all student activity in this course. The main assessment tool of the B.F.A. program, the portfolio is a compilation of the student's best work, revised and collected into a notebook together with an artist's statement, a writer's assessment, and a bibliography of all creative works written by the student during his or her time at U.M.F. Portfolios are kept in the Humanities department's Administrative Assistant's office, where they may be checked out by students or faculty. Through its compilation of creative work, the portfolio helps to determine whether students have acquired the writing skills outlined in Goal 1 (see Goals on eCampus assessment site - Program Profile). In addition, the writing assessment, which requires students to relate their work to literary traditions and contemporary writing, ascertains whether goal 2 has been met. Because the mechanics of effective writing are mandatory for all sections of the portfolio, it provides a good general assessment for goal 5. And because the portfolio is to be used as a tool for graduate admission and even employment, the writing it contains helps us to appraise the connection students have made between writing in the classroom and writing in the world -- the connection cited in goal.
2. The Senior Reading
Every senior creative writing major gives a short reading of his or her work in a setting open to the public. These readings take place on an evening toward the end of the semester and are well attended, not only by faculty and staff, but by parents and grandparents. The readings give evidence of the student's achievement in writing (see goals 1 and 5) as well as the ability to present work to an audience -- increasingly a requirement of writers in America.
3. The Exit Interview
Near the end of his or her final semester, each graduating senior meets with at least two of the full-time faculty in creative writing. The typical discussion touches on the students' progress in workshop (goal 1); writers he or she has read or should read in the future (see goal 2); and the student's knowledge of mechanics and style (see goal 4). Invariably, faculty discuss the student's future plans as a writer in the world (see goal 5). Another standard question helps us assess needs to program development: How can the B.F.A. program be adapted to better serve the requirements of the students? In recent years, significant changes have been based on responses to this question.
English
To assess and document the progress of students toward program goals over the course of four years at UMF, we collect artifacts from every student at two points in their course of study: 1). when they are enrolled in English 181 ("Literary Analysis and Interpretation"), the first literature course that English majors take, and 2) when they are enrolled in English 402 ("Senior Seminar"), the capstone course, which students take near the completion of their course of study. With these artifacts, we can assess not merely the level of proficiency that students attain, but also the level of proficiency that they already possess when they enter UMF and, thus, the degree to which the program transforms them.
PROCEDURE
Artifacts:
Instructors of English 181 and English 402 will collect the following:
1. An essay that students write in fulfillment of the instructor's course requirements. In English 181, this is the first essay of the course; in English 402, it is the seminar paper.
2. An in-class essay. In this timed (50-minute), in-class essay, students analyze a short text. The text and instructions are prepared by the department, so all students respond to the same task.
3. A questionnaire prepared by the department and completed by students in a 50-minute portion of class.
While each artifact is pertinent to all of the program's goals, artifacts 1 and 2 are especially useful in assessing students' engagement with and interpretation of texts (goal 1) and their writing effectiveness (goal 3) while artifact 3 is designed to assess students' knowledge of English and American literary history (goal 2) and awareness of contemporary critical theory (a component of goal 1).
Assessment:
The artifacts are stored in the department office where a system of identification protects students' anonymity while enabling entrance and exit artifacts to be matched. Faculty members in literature meet each year to study and discuss the completed files of that year's English 402 students and write a detailed summary of their findings. The files and summary remain in the department office, where they can be reviewed by outside readers.
Additional Matters:
A typical section of English 181 contains students majoring in Creative Writing and Education in addition to students in the literature program. Artifacts from only the literature students should be sent to the department office. However, for the cohesion of the course, instructors probably will want to administer the in-class essay and questionnaire to all enrolled students. The department believes that both are valuable activities, and instructors are encouraged to capitalize on any pedagogical value they see in relation to the specific objectives of their course.
Students who do not take English 181 because they receive AP or transfer credit enter the assessment system by submitting their first essay produced in their first UMF literature course and, under the supervision of a professor, producing the in-class essay and completing the questionnaire.
TIMETABLE
This system of assessment will be initiated in Spring 2002 with the collection of artifacts from all sections of English 181. As soon as matched sets of artifacts are available (that is, when students who took English 181 in Spring 2002 have taken English 402), the assessment of files will begin. While the system is phased in, artifacts will be collected from English 402 students, and the faculty will meet yearly to study and discuss these in relation to the artifacts of English 181 students, thereby gaining preliminary information about the program as well as refining the process of analysis.
Philosophy / Religion
Each student majoring in philosophy/religion will compile a chronologically-organized portfolio (maintained by the student in Philosophy or Religion and updated each semester; used as the basis for an exit interview) containing copies of all formal essays produced by the student in her or his philosophy and religion classes, suitably re-edited in light of faculty comments.
Chair Jonathan Cohen says the process of doing the four-credit curriculum has started the faculty on a path of questioning and self-review, in terms of coverage—should the course contents, for example, be shifted to reflect newer philosophical movements as we move into the 21st century.
Philosophy/Religion pays particular attention to how its graduates do when they apply to graduate programs. When students are accepted, this indicates some success in the program’s goal of equipping students for graduate school.
Mathematics and Computer Science
The NCTM standards and MAA (group oriented towards college-teaching) provide the major framework for program goals.
The department's primary form of assessing student performance is through quizzes, tests, and final exams.
For those students in secondary education with a major in mathematics or computer science, there is a capstone course called Mathematical Problem Solving.
Several faculty in mathematics and computer science broaden their traditional assessment to include journals, writing projects, and art projects.
The department also conducts follow-up with selected recent graduates to determine how they feel about their preparation at UMF and what might be done to improve the program.
Natural Sciences
The department, as a whole, evaluates its programs when these come up for general university review. However, faculty in each program area are engaged in ongoing assessment activities to evaluate the effectiveness of their program(s). The sequence and content of course work in each program have been developed to facilitate the appropriate, gradual development of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Course-embedded assessment is the primary means being used to monitor program success.
A database of graduates is being maintained in the department to provide general data on what students do after leaving UMF, and could be used for future surveys. The Biology Program has conducted a survey of graduates, although this has not been continued on a regular basis.
The capstone experiences in Natural Sciences program (e.g., Ecology and Senior Seminar for the Biology Program) provide a forum in which majors can demonstrate the synthesis of prior knowledge, critical thinking, problem solving, and scientific communication skills.
Below is a representative assessment activity for each discipline.
Biology – Assessment for Science and Science Education Majors: General Zoology to Ecology. Science and science education majors at the University of Maine at Farmington take General Zoology in their first year and Ecology in their senior year. Both courses are required, both are taught by the same faculty member, and both provide students with experiences in conducting real research that include data collection, statistical analysis, literature synthesis, critical thinking, technical writing, and manuscript editing and final submission. Ecology is often described as a capstone course for our majors, and the research projects and methods in that course are far more complex than those experienced by General Zoology students. However the process is fundamentally the same, and as a result, the instructor is able to track the progress (or lack thereof) that individual students have made in relatively simple tasks such as data analysis and graphics to higher order processes such as problem solving, writing, and the ‘art’ of doing science. This is generally accomplished through ‘live’ assessment based on their day-to-day performance, one-on-one discussions with students about science and research problems they are dealing with, and question-and-answer sessions (both theirs and mine). However, this type of assessment can be validated through comparisons of archived projects produced at the beginning of their academic career and in their final year in the program during Ecology.
Chemistry – For majors, the American Chemical Society and The Society of Biochemical Studies have outlined skills and knowledge that all undergraduates should have in order to enter the workforce or graduate school prepared. A questionnaire was circulated among all department members to poll skills taught in each course. New laboratory exercises are designed to fill gaps. A student going through the program with passing grades has all the skills except for two (computational chemistry and radioactivity studies). For non-majors, the same content with the same testing has been administered in three different styles: traditional lecture, combination of traditional lecture and in-class activities, and inquiry based learning with no lecture. Results have been analyzed to see which style is better for non-majors and different age groups.
Geology – New courses are peppered with questionnaires design to measure specifically student progress and understanding of course material. Sometimes questions about skills or teaching tools are included.
Physics – General Physics follows students’ understanding of mechanics by administering a conceptual evaluation before the course and after the course. The curriculum material used has been developed and studied extensively by other physicists. UMF’s physicists have found that our students gain more understanding than the average for the country, using the same curriculum and materials.
Psychology
The evaluation of the UMF Psychology program will take place at four levels.
1) Courses: Material relevant to various program goals is integrated into the major's required and elective courses. How the department will assess the extent to which the courses meet these goals is currently being discussed.
2) Senior Seminar/Senior Thesis: As the final skills assessment, all majors are required to take a Capstone course: either Senior Seminar or Senior Thesis. Both courses require the student to use skills developed in the major core and elective courses. In Senior Seminar, these skills are applied toward evaluating and discussing original and important works within the field. This course requires reading eight to fourteen books representing various perspectives and addressing relevant issues in psychology. It is conducted in a seminar format with groups of approximately twelve students. In Senior Thesis, the students’ skills are applied toward conducting original, independent scholarly work in the field of psychology. This course requires formally defending a final written thesis before a departmental thesis committee.
3) Senior Survey: Seniors will be surveyed on an annual basis through either the Senior Seminar course or the Senior Thesis course. Past versions of the survey have asked students about their future plans, the extent to which their UMF education has prepared them for their professional goals, the strengths and weaknesses of the psychology program, their impressions regarding the most valuable and least valuable psychology courses, and suggested changes to the psychology major. How to revise this survey in order to more directly address the educational goals of the department is currently being discussed.
4) Alumni Follow-Up: The UMF Psychology Department has periodically assessed its alumni through a survey designed to describe the students' satisfaction with the education received within the Psychology major as well as the applicability and appropriateness of their experience in the Psychology Department to their employment and/or graduate studies. Graduates of the department have been surveyed approximately every four years in order to assess their present employment/graduate school status and the extent to which participation in the Psychology Program enabled them to achieve their goals. For example, students were asked, a) if UMF prepared them for their current profession or school experience, b) which courses provided the best preparation, c) how UMF could have better prepared them, and d) their overall satisfaction with the educational climate at UMF. How to revise this survey in order to more directly address the educational goals of the department is currently being discussed.
Department of Social Sciences and Business
Business Economics
Business Economics Assessment
The Business Economics program follows the assessment guidelines of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) by using the program's Capstone course, BUS 491, Strategic Management, as its primary assessment instrument.
Assessment Plan for the Business Economics Major
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: THE CAPSTONE COURSE
I. Student Performance Outcomes
A. Students will be able to apply critical thinking and research skills.
B. Students will be able to communicate effectively.
C. Students will be able to apply quantitative skills for decision-making. They will also be able to define, analyze, evaluate, and solve problems thorough applications of economic theory, business concepts, and computer technologies.
D. Students will be sensitive to diverse environments.
E. Students will have backgrounds in domestic and global business-economics that will prepare them for professional graduate studies or the workplace.
F. Students will be given the opportunity to clarify their values with respect to moral and ethical consequences of their actions in the marketplace.
II. Analysis and Dissemination
A. Students will be able to utilize critical thinking and research skills to analyze financial statements, to understand the status of individual firms, to analyze cases and to develop solutions. Students will be required to write a paper, write essays on exams, collaborate with small groups, make class presentations, develop computer-based cases analyses as they research various companies' strategies.
B. After evaluating and synthesizing data or cases, students will make both oral and written presentations of their conclusions or recommendations for a company's strategy.
C. Dissemination Procedures: Faculty will develop a checklist to evaluate the oral skills of the students in the seminar. At the end of the semester, the faculty will review the set of checklists to determine whether students are deficient in any particular areas and where they are strong. The same procedures will be used for written presentations.
D. The faculty will assign a number of cases for which students should have knowledge of mathematics and statistics to analyze them. By the end of the term, faculty will be able to measure students' quantitative ability.
E. In order to ensure that students have the necessary curricular and practical experience to qualify them for graduate school or job opportunities, the faculty will use American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) guidelines with emphasis placed on business ethics, internationalism, and computer applications.
F. Students will critically examine the moral content of managerial decision-making: economic (impersonal market forces), legal (impersonal social forces), and personal moral value clarification.
Environmental Planning and Policy
Goal 1: Students will be able to identify environmental planning/policy questions.
Method: The student is required to identify topics and establish parameters of a study in many upper level policy and planning courses.
Assessment: Assessment of the student's ability to identify and articulate policy and planning research topics will take place in courses in which a student is assigned a research paper or participates in a project. Courses such as Environmental Issues, Town and Regional Planning and Land Use, and the capstone course, GEO 400, provide ample opportunity for such assessment. Examples of the student's work will be placed in her/his portfolio, which is required for all environmental planning and policy majors.
Goal 2: Students will achieve a proficiency in the skills of written and verbal communication, computer application in the discipline, remote sensing imagery and mapping techniques, and analytical and basic statistical analyses to acquire process and report planning and policy information.
Method: The student will be required to write papers, essays on exams, make class and public presentations, use the computer for research, mapping, cartographic and statistical analysis in most upper level courses. Three courses required of all majors (GEO 204 -- Geographic Techniques; GEO 304 -- Advanced Geographic Techniques; and GEO 400 -- Research in Geography) specifically address all of the proficiencies listed above.
Assessment: Assessment of these proficiencies will take place in each course that requires the application of these skills and particularly in the capstone course, GEO 400. The student portfolio will contain examples of the student's work demonstrating growth and proficiency in the stated skills.
Goal 3: Students will become independent thinkers and problem-solvers and, at the same time, be able to work with others in analyzing issues and problems from a spatial perspective.
Method: The student, through the upper level courses, will be required to identify and analyze issues, problems and topics independently. Also, in many geography/environmental planning and policy courses, the student will be required to work in groups to carry out assignments.
Assessment: The capstone course, GEO 400, will measure the student's ability as an independent thinker and problem-solver, as well as being able to work with others. The product resulting from the research in GEO 400 will be required in the student's portfolio.
Goal 4: Students will have a background in planning and policy and geography that will prepare them for graduate school and for the work place. Students will be able to analyze population, places and environments from a planning perspective, to evaluate spatial interactions between people and their different environments, and to understand how the physical environments influence human activity, how human activity modifies the physical environment, and how to develop sound environmental policy.
Method: The student will be provided with the necessary curriculum and practical experience to qualify him/her for graduate school entrance or job opportunities.
Assessment: Survey of graduates during the second year after graduation to find out if they are competitive in a graduate program or employment field and if there are consistent gaps in the undergraduate program. Also, it will be determined how well our students are recruited by both graduate schools and employers.
Goal 5: Students will gain experiences in the real world through service learning in private and public agencies that value the planning perspective.
Method: The student will be provided the opportunity to work as an intern or in other projects with private and public agencies through environmental planning and policy class activities, field experiences, or by individual initiative.
Assessment: Summary reports by the student, student advisor, and mentor(s) will be used to show the extent of the student's involvement in service learning and other experiential learning activities and will be included in the student portfolio.
Goal 6: Students will acquire greater self-confidence as emerging professionals.
Method: Opportunities will be provided for attending professional meetings at the regional and national level when feasible. Involvement in the campus geography/environmental planning and policy club will be encouraged. Activities such as inviting and hosting guest scholars and participating in field trips develop poise and confidence. Mentoring of environmental policy and planning majors will be on a continuous basis.