Assessment in Action

Understanding Student Learning

Assessment January 2015 Update

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The Office of Assessment is currently working on many different projects. In recent weeks we have done the following…

News

  • The Office of Assessment will be hosting Dr. Jillian Kinzie of Indiana University and NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement) administration on campus February 26. Kinzie will be able to discuss what Missouri State can learn from their NSSE results and how that information can impact retention and student success.

Student Success Committee and Retention Dashboard

  • We are working with the Student Success Committee and Computer Services to pull together a variety of data points based on9713522738_7c3c1fcc04_oUT-Austin’s attempts to use data to understand retention. Survey data (BCSSE, NSSE), Parent Income, GPA, and other variables will be part of what we hope will be a searchable database and predictive tool in the future.

 Assessment Grants

  • The second public affairs assessment grant meeting took place in December. The next meeting is January 23. Several faculty are developing public affairs assignments and several departments—Athletic Training and Occupational Therapy and developing ways to integrate public affairs at the department level and in the interview/application process. Grant proposals will be on the Assessment blog and assignments developed through the grants will be included on the Public Affairs Toolkit website—a place where ideas for teaching public affairs are collected and a result of the QIP workshops in summer 2013 and 2014. If you have any assignments or ideas that we can include on this page, pelase share!

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) & Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE)

  • Marketing efforts to raise student awareness of the survey are underway.
  • The first NSSE invitation will reach students February 10, 2015.
  • We will also be administering the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement beginning in April and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement for Graduate Student Instructors. The value of this survey is to make comparisons between student perceptions and faculty perceptions.

Graduate Exit Survey

  • We have worked with the Graduate College on their graduate student exit survey. “Last Chance” reminders will be sent out today. The response rate from December graduates is 29%.  We are currently working with a GA in the Graduate College (Ben France) to make sure staff in both offices have access to the data and know how the survey functions.

Assessment Council

Assessment Council provided discussion and feedback on the Public Affairs open-ended response item that will be part of the University Exit Exam beginning this semester. Assessment Council will meet again January 13.  Members have been asked to look over Criterion 3 and 4 and provide feedback for the upcoming HLC visit.

Upcoming Meetings:

  • Tuesday, January 13 from 2:00-3:00
  • Tuesday, February 10 from 2:00-3:00

University Exit Exam

  • The University Exit Exam has been redesigned and will be administered under the new streamlined process utilizing Blackboard starting January 2015.
  • To close the loop and also analyze what we collect from students, open-ended Public Affairs responses on the University Exit Exam will be reviewed by faculty and staff reviewers during the May Public Affairs Assessment Workshop.

Public Affairs Curriculum Mapping Meeting

  • A group of faculty and staff met in December to discuss where public affairs experiences are offered to students throughout a four-year program in curricular and co-curricular. Attendees included Rachelle Darabi, Denise Baumann, Angela Young, Kurt Heinlein, Mike Wood, Joe Morris, Kelly Wood, and Keri Franklin.
    • After brainstorming curriculum and co-curricular public affairs opportunities the group discussed the following point:
    • Having a more deliberate and strategic approach to reach students on campus with public affairs across the four year
    • Creating a master calendar of Public Affairs-related events happening on campus and in the community that faculty can access for integration into class curriculum. Be able to tag events as public affair events in the master calendar.
    • Track attendance and perhaps require students to attend a certain number of public affairs event per year while a student at Missouri State. Use a scanner to track attendance.