ASSESSMENT FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE!

October 15 , 2004

University Inn & Conference Center
2402 North Forest Road
P.O. Box 823
Amherst, NY 14226
716-636-7500

9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
8:30 - Registration & Breakfast

Questions? E-mail: suny_training@tc.suny.edu
or call (315) 464-4078

Assessment for Academic Excellence! is a one-day conference sponsored by the SUNY Training Center's Academic Programs and the University at Buffalo's Center for Teaching and Learning.

AGENDA

8:30 am - 9:00 am
Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 am - 9:10 am
Welcome and Introduction
Dr. Satish Tripathit, Provost, University at Buffalo

9:10 am - 10:45 am
Juggling, Dogs, and Quality Education: The importance of feedback, critical thinking, and punctuation

Douglas J. Eder, Ph. D., Director, Undergraduate Assessment & Program Review, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The traditional way to answer the question, "Are students learning what I'm teaching?" is through graded assignments and exams. Many other, less formal ways exist that have the additional benefit of increasing student learning through approved feedback. The name for this process is assessment, and it assists a faculty to improve learning and to cultivate a Scholarship of Teaching.

This interactive presentation uses good thinking, humor, and feedback to examine the use of assessment for assurance of student learning and for support of program review and institutional accountability.

10:45 am - 11:00 am - Break

11:00 am - Noon
Panel Discussion: Assessment & Program Review

Overview: When SUNY's program assessment initiative was initiated in 2001, the College of Arts and Sciences of the University at Buffalo saw the opportunity to put in place a departmental review process that would both meet compliance as well as benefit the departments and programs. This panel explores the process the College of Arts and Sciences went through as they developed the program review process, from the development of the parameters to the actual process. The discussion will cover the pros and cons of the process as seen through the eyes of both faculty and administrators.

The Panel: Uday Sukhatme, Dean College of Arts and Sciences; Chuck Mitchell, Chair Geology Department; Tamara Thorton, Chair Department of History; Stefanos Papazaharias, Staff Associate College of Arts and Sciences.

Facilitator: Douglas J. Eder, Ph.D.

 Noon - 1:00 pm - Lunch (provided)

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Assessing Learning

Dr. Ronald Gentile, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

This session will provide an overview of learning and memory processes and what it takes to achieve mastery of content or skills, plus consideration of the following fundamentals of assessment:

  • Whether the purpose is norm-referenced or criterion-referenced
  • The importance of feedback and how it differs from grades and praise, and
  • Expanding our measures to assess higher-level thinking.

From these basics, Professor Gentile draws implications for teaching, assessing, and grading which include the following for higher education:

  1. identifying and publishing fundamentals as required course objectives (which must be achieved by each student to pass the course);
  2. reviewing and testing for prerequisite knowledge and skills prior to or early in each course;
  3. teaching with a wide variety of activities and methods, including having students learn by teaching; and
  4. making higher grades contingent upon successful completion of higher-level applications or analyses of course concepts or skills (i.e., the kinds of thinking done by professionals in the discipline).

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Break

2:45 pm - 4:15 pm
Avoiding the Crushing Impact of Assessment in Higher Education
Douglas J. Eder, Ph. D.

Assessment works best when it is embedded in teaching and learning and when it provides feedback that is timely, relevant, and used. This interactive seminar/workshop aims to use good thinking and humor to harness the effective power of honest assessment for the classroom and for the institution. Turned to advantage, assessment helps faculty members teach smarter, not harder. And by doing assessment in a way that eases administrative burdens, a faculty may revive, survive, and thrive.

4:15 pm - 4:30 pm - Wrap Up and Evaluations
Jeannette Molina, University at Buffalo