Workshops

This workshop was designed to support enhancement of assessment of student learning for graduate degree and certificate programs. Participants were assisted with practical strategies for developing, implementing, and continuously reviewing assessment processes for their respective programs.

The workshop facilitator presented assessment strategies and shared resources intended to help participants reflect, discuss with colleagues, and develop draft assessment plans to implement in their respective departments and schools. The interactive activities planned for this workshop helped participants to:

• Articulate Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs): Learned how to clearly define and communicate the expected knowledge, skills, and abilities that graduate students should acquire and demonstrate by the end of their graduate program.

• Identify appropriate Assessment Methods: Explored various direct and indirect assessment methods to effectively measure graduate-level student learning outcomes.

• Develop a Curriculum Map: Understood how to create a curriculum map that aligned required courses and other program activities/requirements (e.g., comprehensive or general examinations, internships, thesis or non-thesis options, thesis and dissertation defense) with the program's learning outcomes.

Who Attended: This workshop was ideal for faculty members and Assessment Liaisons (Faculty) involved in graduate-level education and program assessment. Whether participants were new to assessment or looking to refine their existing practices, this workshop provided valuable insights and practical tools.

Additionally, this workshop was intended for Assessment Liaisons (faculty):

a) In academic programs that had not yet developed or submitted undergraduate program assessment reports.

b) In academic programs whose 2023-2024 undergraduate program-level assessment reports were color-coded “yellow” and/or “red” in the “Student Learning Outcomes” (SLOs) and/or the “Assessment Methods” sections and were looking to review their SLOs and/or appropriate strategies for measuring student learning.

Since the SLOs for most programs were available on the Office of Academic Assessment website under Program Learning Outcomes Assessment, participants brought a copy of their program's SLOs if they planned to take part in the in-person session. Those participating in the Zoom session accessed the SLOs for their respective programs during the session.

This workshop was offered both in person and over Zoom

This interactive workshop guided participants through the process of effectively documenting student performance and leveraging that data to inform action plans for continuous improvement.

In this session, we covered the following key topics:

• Analyzing Student Achievement Data: Learned basic data analysis techniques to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement.

• Using Data to Recommend Action Plans: Learned to translate findings into actionable recommendations for program improvement.

• Creating Continuous Improvement Plans: Developed a framework for sustainable action plans and strategies for involving faculty and integrating feedback.

By the end of the workshop, participants were equipped with the knowledge and tools to document student performance effectively, analyze assessment data, and create action plans that supported continuous improvement in their degree or certificate programs.

This workshop was ideal for Assessment Liaisons (faculty) from departments or schools whose 2023-2024 program-level assessment reports were color-coded “yellow” and/or “red” in the “Assessment Results” and/or the “Use of Assessment Results” sections and were looking to enhance their approach to student performance documentation and use data for meaningful educational improvements.

This workshop was offered both in person and over Zoom.

This workshop was designed to help Assessment Liaisons (faculty) ensure the comparability of student learning outcomes (SLOs) for degree and certificate programs offered both face-to-face and 100% online modalities, as well as those offered at both Norman Campus and Tulsa Campus. Participants explored best practices for aligning program-level SLOs and maintaining the effectiveness of program curriculum for diverse educational settings.

In this session, we covered the following key topics:

• Understanding the Challenges of Comparability: Examined challenges regarding ensuring comparability in SLOs by instructional modality and location and why this was crucial for OU’s institutional accreditation process.

• Designing Comparable Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes: Explored strategies for articulating flexible yet consistent SLOs across formats and campuses.

• Ensuring Alignment Across Delivery Modes: Ensured equivalent learning experiences for face-to-face and online courses by aligning assessment methods, course materials, and expectations.

• Monitoring Comparability: Discussed how to monitor and assess SLOs comparability over time through reviews, feedback loops, and data analysis.

By the end of the workshop, participants had a deeper understanding of how to ensure comparability of program-level SLOs across different delivery modes and locations, while maintaining high academic standards. This session provided practical tools and strategies that could be immediately applied to improve assessment practices and ensure that all students met the same learning outcomes.

This workshop was offered both in person and over Zoom.

This hands-on workshop guided Assessment Liaisons (Faculty and Staff) through the process of efficiently uploading and managing the key components of OU program assessment process in the Platform – OU’s official repository for program assessment reports. Participants learned how to enter general information for their program(s) such as the mission of their program, department, as well as input and organize contents related to Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), Assessment Methods, Results of Student Performance, and details regarding the Use of Assessment Results for Continuous Improvement, ensuring that all program-level assessment steps as well as any related documents (e.g., rubrics, surveys) were captured in the system and tracked effectively.

Target Audience: Assessment Liaisons (Faculty and Staff) who used the Platform to upload the annual assessment reports for degree and certificate programs. Those who did not yet have access were instructed to email Dr. Felix Wao at wao@ou.edu to request it.

Sessions (each covering the same content) were offered over Zoom.

This workshop is designed to help prepare and implement assessments for large classes (face-to-face, hybrid or fully online).  Although definitions of what constitutes a large class can vary, this workshop will help anyone who needs to develop assessments for a class of 50 or more students, or more simply put, one that is larger than they are accustomed to teaching.  We will cover challenges of assessing large groups of students and appropriate assessment strategies to address those challenges.

By the end of this session, you should be able to

• Identify some of the key challenges associated with assessing a large class.
• Consider alternative forms of testing and assessment to compliment traditional multiple-choice tests.

Multiple-choice tests are traditionally used to assess knowledge and recall of facts. However, in this workshop, participants will learn how to design test items that can capture students’ critical thinking skills (e.g., application, analysis, synthesis, etc.) based on sound student learning outcomes.

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Explain the strengths and weaknesses of multiple-choice tests
• Identify common error in writing multiple-choice test questions
• Write multiple-choice test questions that assess higher order thinking

This workshop is designed to help faculty promote and assess critical thinking in their courses.  A primary objective of the workshop is to define and illustrate critical thinking as an instructional objective from the various perspectives of the disciplines represented by the faculty in attendance.  Participants will review and develop appropriate techniques for promoting critical thinking in their courses.

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Articulate what critical thinking means in their respective disciplines.
• Develop learning outcome(s) that demonstrate critical thinking.
• Develop learning activities that can both promote and assess critical thinking.

Rubrics are excellent instruments for grading students’ work in a consistent, transparent and timely fashion.  In this hand-on workshop, participants will learn how to use free online rubrics programs to develop or construct rubrics and apply them to the grading process.  Further, discussions will center on how to use rubrics to provide students with clarity relative to expectations as well as a better understanding of assignment grades. =

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Develop or construct rubrics for evaluating various types of student assignments
• Find good examples of rubrics to adapt or adopt
• Determine inter-rater reliability or consistency
• Presenting results

Qualtrics is OU’s institutionally supported surveying software. The program allows users to navigate the entire surveying process, including creating surveys, distributing surveys, collecting data, generating reports, and exporting data for further analysis.  Participants will learn the Qualtrics interface, question types, survey options for developing and deploying professional online surveys, and how to obtain customized results using the program.

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Describe the principles of creating effective online surveys
• Create and distribute an online survey using Qualtrics
• Identify and evaluate Qualtrics survey options
• Operate data collection, result attainment, and data export with Qualtrics

Are you looking for interesting and informal assessment strategies to enhance student learning in your course(s)?  Are you interested in finding out how you can make adjustments to your instructional approaches based on valuable feedback from your students?  This session explores a variety of simple, effective, and low-stakes formative assessment techniques that not only provide information about students’ knowledge and skills at a given point in time, but also gives timely feedback that instructors can use to make instructional adjustments.

At the end of the session, participants should be able to:

• Select appropriate assessment techniques to apply in their courses.
• Utilize feedback from students to make adjustments in their instructional methods
• Determine which concepts need to be re-taught to specific students

Curriculum mapping (in the context of program assessment) is a process of systematically aligning program level student learning outcomes with required courses and related educational experiences, as well as corresponding assessments used to measure each learning outcome. In light of this, a curriculum map (or curriculum matrix) can be quite helpful in (1) revealing various levels of relationships between core/required courses and learning outcomes, (2) showing contributions of individual courses to the program curriculum, (3) identifying any gaps that may exist, and (4) providing opportunities to plan program-level assessment.

By the end of this session, workshop participants should be able to:

• Map out required courses to each program student learning outcome
• Interpret the level of emphasis or contributions of each course to each learning outcome
• Understand how curriculum maps can support program outcomes assessment and advising processes

Although student ratings of instruction (commonly referred to as course evaluations) are normally viewed as a summative strategy for evaluating a course and an instructor, they can also be quite beneficial in terms of enhancing teaching and learning.  This workshop focuses on tips to help you extract specific information/feedback from your evaluations that you can use to enhance your teaching while at the same time, improving student learning.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• Interpret results of your course evaluation(s).
• Identify critical points that can be useful for enhancing your teaching as well as strategies to help you make changes that will help your students to learn more effectively or efficiently.

Effective program assessment often depends on the nature and quality of assessments conducted in required courses and/or program-specific educational experiences, as well as the extent to which those assessments directly address program learning outcomes.  In this workshop, participants will learn how to better utilize assignments and exams already existing in required courses to effectively assess program-level outcomes.

By the end of this session, workshop participants should be able to:

• Systematically align course level goals and outcomes with program level learning outcomes.
• Create a matrix indicating how students’ achievement in assignments and examinations address various program level learning outcomes.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will be guided through the process of completing the Annual Program Outcomes Assessment Report using a simple program level assessment template. The session will include strategies for embedding requirements of the Annual State Assessment Reports and Regional Accreditation (Higher Learning Commission [HLC]). Specifically, the session will focus on how to:

1. Develop program-level student learning outcomes (SLO’s).
2. Develop a program curriculum map.
3. Identify appropriate direct assessments measures or methods for each outcome.
4. Document assessment results.
5. Interpret results and strategize on how to make programmatic improvements.

By the end of this session, workshop participants should be able to:

• Identify key components of a functional assessment process recommended for academic programs at OU.
• Develop assessment plan/report for their respective programs.
• Clarify the similarities and differences between course and program assessment.
• Work with other department faculty to implement recommendations resulting from program assessment process.

This workshop presents various direct assessment methods appropriate for addressing specific learning outcomes.  Participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm and develop techniques for implementing direct assessments, as well as determine when to use specific assessment method to address a learning outcome or outcomes.  Differences between direct and indirect assessment methods will be explored.

At the end of the session, participants should be able to:

• Distinguish between direct and indirect assessment measures
• Develop and implement various forms of direct assessments in their courses.

The purpose of this workshop is two-fold. First, to provide information on how to develop an assessment plan for a certificate or degree program offered 100% online. Second, to present strategies for ensuring comparability of learning outcomes (which is required) if a similar certificate or degree program is traditionally offered using face-to-face (F2F) or blended format.

By the end of this session, workshop participants should be able to:

• Develop assessment reports for degree and certificate programs offered fully online.
• Document techniques for ensuring comparability of student learning outcomes if a similar program is traditionally offered using the face-to-face or blended format.

The above workshop is intended for directors of and faculty teaching in programs offered 100% online.

Please click here to access the documenting assessment activities for certificate and degree programs offered 100% online session presentation.

This workshop is intended for Assessment Liaisons who are new to TracDat and would like to learn how to upload assessment reports for their department’s or school’s certificate or degree program to TracDat. The session will provide an overview of how to document student learning outcomes (SLOs), direct and indirect assessment methods, descriptions of assessment results and details of use of assessment results for continuous improvement.

By the end of this session, workshop participants should be able to:

• Upload contents of the assessment plan (i.e., SLOs and methods of assessment) for a certificate and/or degree program.
• Upload contents of the assessment reports (i.e., descriptions of the student performance and details of the use of assessment results for continuous improvement).
• Revise contents of their assessment plan(s) and/or report(s).

The above workshop is intended for Assessment Liaisons and those charged with uploading assessment reports to TracDat.

Please click here to access the uploading assessment plans/reports to TracDat  session presentation.