Academic Achievement Assessment Committee
Final Report for 1999 - 2000
September 2000

Purpose: This report describes the activities and progress of the University of Wisconsin - Parkside's Academic Achievement Assessment Committee (AAAC) for 1999-2000.

The AAAC's charge is to develop procedures for the assessment of a variety of learning outcomes or skills based on the requirements of a number of different stakeholders. Included are quantitative and verbal skills assessment as required by the UW System. Also included are general education learning outcomes or skills or effective written communication, effective oral communication, critical/analytical thinking, and information literacy.

The AAAC was created by the UW - Parkside Faculty Senate in the spring of 1992 to implement and provide ". . . oversight of assessment . . . including

(1) ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of instruction in verbal and quantitative skills and in general education;
(2) making recommendations for improving these programs on the basis of the AAAC's evaluation;
(3) supporting other assessment activities on campus such as program reviews and surveys of graduates;
(4) identifying and recommending to the Faculty Senate changes in ongoing assessment programs, should the need arise."

In addition, the Senate provided the following charge:

"The committee shall make recommendations for changes in instruction in verbal and quantitative skills and in general education. The recommendations shall be contained in an annual report provided each fall to department chairs, the Faculty Senate, the dean of each school, the Vice Chancellor, the Director of Advising, and the Director of Educational Support Services. (UWPF 4.23 (4))."

It is the AAAC's intent, in concurrence with the administration of the UW - Parkside, that the activities of this committee become one part of a variety of activities designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning within the university community. An addition to the assessment of student learning, these activities include program assessment, evaluation of teaching, merit review, and post-tenure review. These activities are summarized in UW - P's consolidated review calendar.

Committee Members: Members of the 1999-2000 AAAC were Donna Carr (Mathematics), Herbert Colston (Psychology), Walter Graffin (English), Sue Norton (Business; Chair), Dwayne Olson (Teacher Education), Jay Sounderpandian (Business), and Vera Kolb (Chemistry).

Overview of Assessment

The AAAC has developed and supervised a number of activities since its creation in 1992. These activities are summarized in the assessment matrix included as Attachment 1. Each academic year, the committee focuses on one or more of these activities, which are intended to

(1) Assist with the identification and/or assessment of student learning at several levels, including General Education and individual majors;

(2) Collect and report back to the UW System data on accountability indicators in the areas of quantitative and verbal skills;

(3) Report assessment findings and research on assessment to UW - P faculty, staff, and students as well as to other key stakeholders;

(4) Provide feedback on assessment to UW - P stakeholders for continuous improvement in the quality of the educational process;

For the 1999-2000 year, the AAAC's primary focus was on General Education. In particular, the following activities were conducted by the AAAC and/or done in cooperation with the General Education Steering Committee (GESC):

(1) formal endorsement of four specific General Education objectives - effective writing, effective oral communication, critical/analytical thinking, and information literacy

(2) second review of current departmental plans to determine extent to which General Education objectives are incorporated into departmental plans/objectives

(3) pilot study of selected General Education distribution courses to focus on extent to which effective writing and critical/analytical thinking are actually included and assessed

(4) full-scale study to review all General Education distribution courses

(5) development of process to collect baseline data on General Education outcomes via University Seminar

(6) completion of assessment plan for General Education

(7) in cooperation with the Career Center, began collecting data to monitor needs of employers in UW - P's service area

The remainder of this report summarizes the results of these activities. Lastly, agenda items for the academic year 2000-2001 are presented.

General Education Objectives: A concern of both the AAAC and the GESC was some confusion over general education objectives. This confusion became apparent during the chair's review of previous annual reports, where there appeared to be some inconsistency from one report to the next on what the general education objectives were. Finally, the chair of the GESC was able to locate a document endorsed by the UW - P faculty senate that provided some guidance. (A copy of this document is included as Attachment 2.)

After lengthy discussions with both the AAAC and the GESC, the two committees formally endorsed effective writing, effective oral communication, critical/analytical thinking, and information literacy as appropriate objectives for General Education.

Integration of General Education Objectives into Departmental Objectives. All departments on campus have submitted assessment plans, which describe the student learning outcomes expected in different majors and the mechanisms used to assess those outcomes. Because both the AAAC and the GESC strongly endorse integration of the curriculum, it is important to monitor the extent to which General Education objectives are incorporated into departmental objectives. Based on the four objectives listed above, the current departmental plans were reviewed to determine which of the General Education objectives are included. (The results of this are presented in Attachment 3).

Note: It is not the intent of either the AAAC or the GESC to require departments to include specific General Education objectives. Indeed, the AAAC and the GESC recognize that it may be helpful to think of the General Education objectives as processes or even tools that may be used very differently in different majors. Certainly, a basic level of proficiency in written communication, oral communication, critical/analytical thinking, and information literacy should be expected for all students regardless of major. However, the application of these skills can - and perhaps should - vary considerably from one major to another. The type of writing appropriate for a senior-level business course, for example, may be very different than the type of writing appropriate for a senior-level history course.

General Education Distribution Courses and Assessment. Previously, instructors of General Education distribution courses were asked to indicate whether their course included any or all of the General Education objectives. A simple questionnaire-type instrument was developed to determine assist the AAAC and the GESC with reviewing general education distribution courses. Initially, the AAAC and the GESC decided to begin with critical/analytical thinking and writing. Approximately a dozen instructors were surveyed to determine if they do actually include these two objectives, how they objectives are incorporated, and how student performance is assessed. When it became apparent that the survey instrument was useful, it was distributed to instructors of all General Education distribution courses. A copy of the survey instrument and a summary of the results are included as Attachments 4 and 5.

Baseline General Education Data and the University Seminar. As noted above, the philosophy of general education is that all students, regardless of major, attain at least some minimum level of proficiency in the four General Education learning outcomes. Because all entering freshman and all students transferring to UW - Parkside with less than 30 credit hours are required to take the two-credit University Seminar, AAAC and GESC determined that the seminar might be an appropriate place to collect some baseline data on student performance. The chair of the GESC developed an exercise where University Seminar students are required to use the internet to find information about a controversial topic [addresses information literacy] and make a short oral presentation where they take a position for or against the topic [addresses oral communication and critical/analytical thinking]. This exercise will be conducted in approximately one dozen sections of University Seminar in Fall, 2000.

Note: The AAAC and the GESC recognize that the proposed University Seminar exercise is not comprehensive. It is not intended to definitively address a student's ability to communicate effectively, or their information literacy, or their ability to think critically. It is expected, however, that this will provide at least some usable data on the skill levels of entering students.

Assessment Plan for General Education. Although all departments/majors and General Education had submitted assessment plans (which were reviewed by both the AAAC and by a consultant from UW - Green Bay), the original General Education plan in particular had several significant weaknesses. During the summer of 2000, the chairs of AAAC and GESC reviewed the original plan and the feedback received, and drafted another plan. This will be discussed by the AAAC and the GESC and is included as Attachment 6.

Interaction with Employers. During the summer of 2000, the chairs of AAAC and GESC worked with the Career Center to begin systematically compiling data on the needs of employers in UW - P's service area. Annual performance appraisal forms used by many employers to assess the performance of their employers were collected and reviewed. This strategy was originally used by the Department of Business with great success. The rationale is that if many or most employers consider a particular skill important, it may be beneficial to students if that skill is formally addressed as part of their curriculum.

Goals for 2000-2001

(1) The AAAC and the GESC will review the results of the pilot study to be conducted in Fall 2000 in University Seminar to determine if sufficient usable data can be collected via this method.

(2) A draft of an assessment policy was developed but due to time constraints, was not finalized. The existing draft will be reviewed by AAAC and the policy, when finalized, will be printed in the UW - P student newspaper and added to the university's web page.

(3) The practicality of developing a standardized syllabus will be discussed, including review of prototypes. Ideally, a format that specifically includes student learning outcomes and assessment methods can be developed and implemented.

(4) An appropriate method for collecting data for UW System purposes on verbal and quantitative skills will be discussed. Previous iterations involved the use of standardized testing, which received mixed support at best due to concerns over the meaning of scores.

(5) Randomly-selected departments will be asked to share assessment progress with the AAAC.

The director of the AAAC gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the late Donna Carr, whose presence on the AAAC will be greatly missed.