Assessing Learning Outcomes in Higher Education: Getting Started; Who’s Doing What and Why You Should Care
March 30, 2015, 11 am EST /7 am PST
To register https://heqco.webex.com/mw0401lsp12/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=heqco
Panelist: Dr. Natasha Jankowski, Associate Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment
Panelist: Mr. Gary Kapelus, George Grown College
In colleges and universities around the world, learning outcomes are quickly becoming the markers of high-quality, accountable and flexible postsecondary education. These clear, concise statements of what students should know and be able to do by the end of a course or program are quickly becoming the norm. But learning outcomes are only meaningful if they are measurable, so how do we measure whether our students have gained the skills and knowledge we set out to teach them? How do we implement assessment tools and programs in our postsecondary institutions and how can the results be used to improve our students’ experiences? How do we foster an assessment culture among all faculty, students and leadership? How do we determine which assessment tools best capture certain skills and at what point within a course or program do we administer the assessment? HEQCO’s new webinar series, Measuring matters: Assessing learning outcomes in higher education, tackles these questions and more. Featuring researchers from HEQCO’s Learning Outcomes Assessment Consortium, as well as guest experts, this interactive webinar series features evidence-based best practices for developing effective outcomes assessment programs at your institution.
In the first webinar, our featured experts are your guides to the still largely uncharted world of learning outcomes assessment. They explore key questions including: What are learning outcomes? Why are postsecondary institutions assessing them? What do they hope to achieve and what are some of the challenges associated with learning outcomes assessment? Researchers from both colleges and universities will share insights from their learning outcomes programs, highlighting the steps to learning outcome assessment at their respective institutions. In addition, Natasha Jankowski, associate director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, draws on her experiences establishing learning outcomes assessment programs at American postsecondary institutions. This first webinar introduces you to the basics and paves the way for learning how to create and implement assessment tools at your institution.