Convocation Assessment Wrap Up

It has been two weeks since all ICaP staff gathered for Convocation on January 10th, 2020 in Grissom Hall. Since then, ICaP staff have reflected on Convocation and would like to take this time to thank our participants and give some important assessment reminders. 

Thank Yous

First, ICaP staff would like to take the time to thank our norming co-leaders (Jessica Mercado, Joe Forte, Kailyn Hall, and Victoria Braegger) for volunteering to run norming sessions at Convocation. Without them, norming would have been difficult as a large group, so a huge thank you goes out to these folks. ICaP would also like to extend a thank you to the Assessment Committee members as they have volunteered their time to further a community-based assessment project. Please join me in giving these volunteers a round of applause. 

Second, the ICaP staff would like to thank our instructors for their critical and informative insights on our rubric. This rubric has been ICaP’s pet project this semester and has gone through many iterations. Instructor comments were consistent across the norming groups, which means we are getting closer to consensus and a rubric that speaks to our assessment needs. 

Third, assessment is a long and arduous process, but we have made great strides since we began this project in 2014 with Dr. Jenny Bay et al. at the helm. The project picked up steam again in Fall 2017 with Daniel Ernst leading the way with our common assignment piloting. After two years of pilots, ICaP selected the portfolio as our common assignment and we implemented it in Summer 2019. Instructor feedback from past and present instructors have been informative and helpful in establishing a portfolio common assignment that benefits students and instructors. Again, the community engagement surrounding our assessment effort has been amazing, so a HUGE round of applause to everyone. 

Reminders

ICaP announced voluntary changes to the portfolio at Convocation for the Spring 2020 semester. See the summarized changes below, but please view the Voluntary Changes handout for more information: 

1. Address fewer outcomes in the final reflection
2. Change the audience from an employer-based audience
3. Continue to implement reflective logs/memos using instructor developed prompts
4. Experiment with portfolio formats outside the PDF
5. Use standardized formatting guidelines (see Voluntary Changes) 
6. Use standardized organization guidelines (see Voluntary Changes)

As noted previously, these changes are voluntary for the Spring 2020 semester. Instructors suggested these comments in the Fall 2019 portfolio submissions. Instructor insight is much appreciated as it helps us develop a quality common assignment that fits our diverse students and instructors. 

As we begin our Spring 2020 semester, ICaP would like to remind instructors of our upcoming norm, read, and rate sessions:

• February 4: 9:00 to 11:45a (KRAN G002) 
• February 5: 12:30 to 3:20p (REC 309)
• March 2: 12:30 to 3:20p (REC 309)
• March 5: 9:00 to 11:45a (KRAN G002)

Please remember it is mandatory for instructors to attend at least two of these sessions, and instructors may cancel conferences for the week to facilitate attending a norming session. We appreciate your cooperation in this assessment endeavor. 

Finally, if you would like to get more involved in ICaP’s assessment project, please consider joining the Assessment Committee. The Assessment Committee is polling interested instructors for a meeting time for this semester, so please fill out this Google Form if you are interested in joining the committee. Benefits of joining the committee include professional development opportunities, the opportunity to create assessment changes in ICaP, food, and much more. Direct any Assessment Committee questions at Derek Sherman (sherma11@purdue.edu).