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Assessing the Ineffable

Assessing the Ineffable. How can we measure what we truly value in a liberal education?. Literary Study, Measurement, and the Sublime Donna Heiland and Laura Rosenthal Eds . The Teagle Foundation 2011. Summary and Thinking Points. The Ineffability Debate.

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Assessing the Ineffable

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  1. Assessing the Ineffable How can we measure what we truly value in a liberal education?

  2. Literary Study, Measurement, and the SublimeDonna Heiland and Laura Rosenthal Eds.The Teagle Foundation 2011 Summary and Thinking Points

  3. The Ineffability Debate • What we truly value about a liberal education, especially in arts and humanities fields like literary studies are so-called “ineffable” qualities • Learning outcome assessments do not and cannot capture these ineffable qualities • Assessment threatens to reduce learning within the humanities to solely “peripheral” and “instrumental” qualities

  4. What are “ineffable” learning outcomes? • Those “Ah-ha!” moments that signify intense, passionate engagement with and understanding of a subject leading to original creative insights and a love of learning

  5. Learning Outcomes • Basic reading/writing/ communication skills • Knowledge of key terms and concepts • Research and citation of secondary sources • Ability to construct and support an argument • *Critical thinking • Love of learning • Passionate engagement with course content • Analytical “shrewdness” • Creative cognitive insight • Shaping of character and intellectual habits Instrumental Ineffable

  6. But is the Ineffable… …truly un-measurable?

  7. Rethinking Assumptions Creating an Ineffable Assessment Plan

  8. Philosophy • Bring the tools and language within a discipline to bear on the assessment process • Ex. Theories of the sublime 1 • Attempt to understand what happens in moments of intense engagement between subject and object • The conditions under which such moments occur • What the subject and object look like before and after sublime experiences • Acknowledge that sublime experiences cannot be fully captured but are worth pursuing • We assess the ineffable elsewhere, so why not in learning?

  9. (In)Direct Assessment Measures • Level of student enthusiasm/engagement • Engagement in “high impact” activities2 • Reading Practices • Thesis->antithesis->synthesis • Affective reading experience • Measure growth of students’ “need for cognition” using the NSSE’s “deep learning” scale and Wabash National Study of Liberal Education Survey • Survey questions: “Have you ever been so absorbed in a book/poem/discussion that you lost track of time?”3

  10. Needs: Discipline-Oriented Assessment • Assessment in the language and terms of the discipline • Greater faculty support • Shape to curricular practices

  11. Needs: Clearer Articulation of Ineffable Learning Goals (!) • The value and terms of so-called “instrumental/peripheral” outcomes are easier to articulate, to explain, and to assess • Ineffable outcomes have been relegated to “catch-all” and abstract categories like: • Critical/creative thinking—e-portfolios • Broadening of worldview • Rubrics—Not Just for Assignments4 • Build in flexibility • Collaborative, dialogic, and evolving

  12. Value of Ineffable Learning • Learning to think outside the “inbox” • Understand the power that comes from the skillful use of words and images • Makes “working”—engaging processes of analysis, understanding, and creation—enjoyable, encouraging students to think broadly and innovatively, helping them achieve work positions they will find more fulfilling • Engages an affective experience that is also another dimension of learning; not just a means to an end but an end in itself

  13. Sources • The concept of the sublime is used as an organizing principle throughout the reader, but the particular breakdown of the concept used here comes from: “Approaching the Ineffable: Flow, Sublimity, and Student Learning” by Donna Heiland • Rachelle L. Brooks discusses George D. Kuh’s concept of “high impact” educational practices in: “Making the Case for Discipline-Based Assessment” • Heiland, “Approaching” with discussion of Thomas F. Nelson Laird, George D. Kuh, and Rick Shoup’s “Measuring Deep Approaches to Learning Using the National Survey of Student Engagement” • For further discussion of assessment and rubrics see: “Fearful Symmetries: Rubrics And Assessment” by Sarah Webster Goodwin

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