Assessing student learning in undergraduate research

1. Assessing student learning in undergraduate research • Contact: David P. Aday, Jr. Professor of Sociology and American Studies Director of SACS Accreditation Review Special Assistant to the Provost • Slide presentation prepared by: Elizabeth Deer Office of Strategic Planning and Assessment

2. Why We’re Here • Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Core Requirement 2.12: institutions must develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that is “a carefully designed and focused course of action that addresses a well-defined issue or issues directly related to improving student learning” • The College selected a project that draws directly from the current general education curriculum: “there is wide consensus in the College community . . . that we aim to go further and cultivate our students' intellectual curiosity, flexibility, and depth. If our students are going to be equipped to play leadership roles in the arts and sciences, in public affairs, and in the business world, we must nurture the skills and habits of independent inquiry” (Final Report, April 15, 1993: p 6) • The Final Report concludes “Among the most important educational objectives enumerated in the Statement of Purpose and the Statement of General Education Objectives are the skills involved in the development, oral presentation, and rational defense of the student's ideas. . .”

3. Quality Enhancement Plan More specifically, the College defines independent inquiry as a process: • undertaken by upper-level undergraduate students with guidance from more experienced investigators, researchers, scholars, or artists (typically faculty members). • intended to promote the development of independent skills, habits, and attitudes that are necessary to disciplined or enlightened investigation, research, scholarship, or creative activity. • that will include opportunities for students to develop their own ideas, findings, or creative works and to present and defend those results both orally and in writing.

4. Quality Enhancement Plan The specific goals included in the approved QEP are to: • Increase the number of opportunities for students to engage in independent inquiry during the junior or senior year. • Improve the quality and variety of independent inquiry experiences for students during the junior and senior years. • Elaborate, refine, and articulate the relationships between independent inquiry experiences and the general education, major, and minor curricula.

5. Assessing Student Learning in the QEP Components: • Purpose of project/program • Expectations: What should students learn about independent inquiry/undergraduate research as a result of their engagement in the project? • Evaluations: What student work will be used as evidence of learning? • Examples from QEP/Mellon funded projects

6. Examples from Funded Projects • FPGA Chips and Student Research Projects for Physics 351

7. Examples, cont. • Resource Center for the Principle of Separation of Church and State at the College of William and Mary in Virginia

8. Examples, cont. • La Pena: Cultural Studies Research Forum

9. Suggestions for Writing Student Learning Expectations • Make a logical connection with the program’s purpose. • Focus on critical aspects of the program. • Describe the knowledge, skills and dispositions that students are expected to gain • Example: “Students are able to…” vs. “The project provides students with…”. • Use action verbs such as explain or formulate rather than terms like “understand” or “become familiar.” Source: Morningside College, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Writing Student Learning Outcomes

10. Effectively Expressed Learning Expectations Examples of “learning expectations” STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: • Write clearly, correctly, and coherently • Use voice, movement and understanding of dramatic character to affect an audience • Use gender as an analytical category to critique cultural and social institutions • Design an experiment to test a hypothesis Suskie, L. (2004). Assessing student learning: A common sense guide. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

11. Developing Student Learning Evaluations Questions to consider: • What knowledge or skills will students learn and use in the project? • How do the skills relate to research, scholarship, artistic or creative work? • Are there specific tasks associated with the development or use of the knowledge and skills? • What criteria should my students and I use in assessing project tasks/assignments? For more information, see Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

12. Evaluating Assessment • Valid: Measures the knowledge and skills as intended • Authentic: Examines the value of the funded work for promoting student engagement in independent inquiry • Respectful: Allows students to reveal their uniqueness as learners • Responsive: Provides evidence that leads to improvement For more information, see Huba, M. E. & Freed, J. E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

13. Examples of Assessment Information • Research paper/thesis • Project—single, collaborative, community • Development of a Product • Performance • Exhibition • Poster • Case Study/Critical Incident • Oral Presentation • Debate • Interview • Portfolio • Reflection papers • Journals • Online discussion threads through BlackBoard, Blogs • Creative Works—film, photography, poetry, prose, musical compositions, visual arts • Web Sites • Peer Evaluations • Lab Reports • Experimental Designs • Mathematical Solutions with Narrative

14. Final Thoughts Key Issues: • Focus on student learning through the research project • Consider the critical aspects of your program • Write clear learning expectations • Consider what you would regard as evidence of the intended learning • Don’t hesitate to call or write