Developing Learning Objectives and Assessment Plans at a Variety of Institutions: Examples and Case Studies

Developing Learning Objectives and Assessment Plans at a Variety of Institutions: Examples and Case Studies

Marcy H. Towns

Journal of Chemical Education 2010 87 (1), 91-96

DOI: 10.1021/ed8000039

ABSTRACT: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed8000039

This article reports on assessment practices and “trajectories” at 8 institutions: 6 chemistry and biochemistry departments, a chemical engineering department, and the American Chemical Society assessment department.  It was the author’s goal to disseminate implementation processes that others may find useful.

I wish I had run across this article early on in our Program’s process of creating and assessing SLO’s.  This would have helped better organize our department’s efforts.

The author describes a cyclic process of identifying goals and priorities, translating them into objectives, developing assessment method, conducting the assessment, evaluating the assessment results, and using results for decision-making.  The next cycle may involve modifying the goals and priorities and revising the objectives, developing and conducting the assessments, evaluating the results, and using these results to make decisions.

Case study of establishing goals and priorities:

Purdue University took 2.5 years reviewing the curriculum to identify goals and priorities and the desired outcomes.  They used the following to classify their outcomes:

·         Critical outcomes are considered to be vital and of fundamental importance. They are outcomes in which an enduring understanding is needed, such that students will remember them long after the details have faded.

·         Important outcomes are more specific and pertain to ideas or skills that the student must know or be able to do. Student learning is incomplete without mastery of these essentials.

·         Desirable outcomes are recognized as worth knowing, but the aim is exposure, not mastery.

Each outcome was also identified as:

·         Technical competency: Operational skills

·         Technical competency: Knowledge based

·         Critical/Analytical: Thinking skills

The outcomes were then mapped to the courses and determined whether it is already well-addressed, somewhat addressed, or recommended to be addressed.

Precise language in creating outcomes is important and the verb used should be specific and measurable.  The author recommends Bloom’s taxonomy, especially because it provides a hierarchical way to organize outcomes or the Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design. In creating an assessment plan for designing and conducting assessments, some key aspects to consider are ease of use, utility of data, and leverage of current practices.

Some notable examples from the case studies given in the article include:

At UW – Oshkosh:

They use the following rubric to assess lab performance:

An assessment plan includes a description of the evaluation process and instrument, evaluation criteria, standard for success, proposed program modifications if standard is not met, and a timetable for implementation of the assessment sequence.

They have access to administrative staff to track skill-level assessments.

At Hope College:

Initially used a portfolio plan but moved away from it because faculty were inundated with artifacts. They moved to a three-pronged system of using ACS exams, student self-assessments through the SALG (Student Assessment of their Learning Gains), and faculty self-assessments. (At LPC, we also use ACS national exams to assess learning outcomes for 4 of the 7 courses we have, “a way to leverage current practices” as the author noted.)

The author also gave some examples of how results of assessments have led some departments to implement changes in the curriculum and in their program.  No other details were given, e.g., the length of time and sample size of the assessments before the results were deemed valid enough to make changes.

The section on the ACS Examination Institute, provides some details on the role that these nationally-normed exams have played in assessment plans across the nation.  It also provided some future initiatives being planned by the institution.

As noted above, assessment should be cyclic in nature as illustrated by this figure from the article: