Assessment in Higher Education

Laura Plybon on the Value of Evidence-Based Academic Assessment Tools

My name is Laura Plybon. I am currently the Director of Assessment and Instructional Design for Drury University College of Graduate and Continuing Studies in Springfield, Missouri.  In addition to conducting academic assessments for the graduate programs at Drury, I also develop and implement assessment initiatives to improve instructional practices for those adult students who …

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Doug Koch on Key Lessons Learned in Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness

My name is Doug Koch, I am an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology at Southeast Missouri State University. As a university faculty member I find it both ironic and concerning that faculty evaluation instruments often have some very basic issues. Being knee-deep in the promotion and tenure process, I thought …

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Jill Ostrow on Using Rubrics to Self-Assess

I am Dr. Jill Ostrow, an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum at the University of Missouri. I coordinate and teach a yearlong online capstone graduate course titled, Classroom Research. The first half of the course is devoted to learning about Classroom Research: developing the question, collecting data, and beginning …

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Brian Silvey on Grade Points and Evaluation

My name is Brian Silvey, and I am an Assistant Professor of Music Education and the Director of the Symphonic Band at the University of Missouri. I constantly struggle with how to best assess my students. One thing I do know is that using a point system does not seem to work for me. What …

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Viola, Patterson, Gray, and Boal on Reflecting on Students’ Self-Assessments of Knowledge Gained through a Program Evaluation Graduate Seminar

Our names are Wendy Viola, Lindsey Patterson, Mary Gray, and Ashley Boal and we are doctoral students in the Applied Social and Community Psychology program at Portland State University.  This winter, we took a course in Program Evaluation from Dr. Katherine McDonald.  We’d like to share three aspects of the seminar that we felt made …

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Joi Moore on Facilitating Systematic Evaluation Activities

Greetings. I’m Joi Moore, Associate Professor in the School of Information Science & Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri.   I also serve as a faculty member for the Information Experience Lab. Teaching an online application development course, such as Flash animation, can easily become overwhelming for students and the instructors.  Students must acquire the …

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Nancy Aguinaga on The Assessment Aspect of Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education

Hello! My name is Nancy Aguinaga. I am an assistant professor in the College of Education at Southeast Missouri State University. For the last five years, I have worked with pre-service and in-service teachers on the importance of moving away from the traditional “one size fits all” approach to teaching and assessment and moving towards …

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Shonta Smith on Student Ratings of Instruction: Evaluating the Professor

I am Dr. Shonta Smith, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary, Early and Special Education at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau Missouri. Like my fellow university professors, I too, am evaluated each semester by my students in order to assess my overall teaching performance.  The purpose of the evaluation is to …

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Paul Watkins on Itemized Report-Writing Template

My name is Paul Watkins, and I am an associate professor in Educational Leadership. Recently, Southeast Missouri State University’s College of Education received its on-site Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and NCATE visits, evaluating the quality for both graduate and undergraduate programs.  This post examines a key element in preparing for the …

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Cathy Bear on Using Standards-Based Self Assessment to Build Effective School Leaders

Hello! My name is Cathy Bear, and I am an assistant professor in the School of Education at Maryville University in St. Louis. I serve as one of four full-time faculty members in the educational leadership programs at both the master and doctoral levels. Rad Resource: The Master of Arts and EdD in Educational Leadership …

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