Implementing Equity-Minded Assessment: One Institution’s Story

Beginning in 2021, the University of New England’s assessment, institutional research, and teaching and learning offices set out to bring equity-minded assessment to the institution. Our offerings—a Faculty and Professional Learning Community and a mini-grant program—launched projects in seven curricular and co-curricular areas. We will share our methods for fostering equity-minded assessment and our discoveries in the data.

Presenters:  Jennifer Mandel and Kelly Duarte, both from University of New England

The presenters have shared presentation materials.

Students Aren’t Snapshots: Creative assessments to support student success and retention

MA Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education mandates “Gateway Tasks” for educator preparation programs. The authors present their set of newly created assessment tasks and share their development of a more holistic framework and system of assessment designed to capture a broader snapshot of our teacher candidates (TC) to inform retention efforts.        

Presenters:  Heather Pacheco-Guffrey and Marlene Correia, both from Bridgewater State University   

The presenters have shared presentation materials.      

Can We Use Artificial Intelligence to Promote Equity in Assessment?

In this session, we will present our pioneering efforts to integrate Artificial Intelligence into assessment at Western New England University. Our focus is on understanding how AI can help promote equity in assessment and encourage inclusive practices. By considering faculty research, we aim to shed light on how AI may enhance future assessment methods, as well as discuss how this might impact faculty engagement and buy-in of the assessment process.

Presenters:  Josephine Rodriguez, Lisa Hansen, David DiSabito, and Thomas Mennella; all from Western New England University

The presenters have shared presentation and handout materials.

Empowering Students: Developing Leaders in Assessment and Student Success

The mini-pilot "Empowering Students: Developing Leaders in Assessment and Student Success" is planned to help transform the assessment culture on campus by cultivating student-centered assessment. As student leaders develop a comprehensive understanding of assessment practices, they will contribute to continuous improvement within their academic programs. Participants will be invited to share experiences involving students in assessment.

Presenter:  Thelma Woodard, North Carolina A&T State University

The presenter has shared presentation materials.

Using Data to Tell Your Story

This session will focus on how to use data to tell your student affairs department’s story. Participants will consider conceptual foundations of and tools associated with data storytelling, analytics and assessment, and the experience of one student affairs unit at Brandeis, in developing a plan for how they might tell their own stories in their own contexts.

Presenters:  Matt Galewski and Sammy Ghansah, both from Brandeis University

The presenters have shared presentation and handout materials.

Navigating Ambiguity: Holistic Assessment in Nursing Education

Clinical judgment is the process of using clinical reasoning to support decision-making and is a direct application of knowledge and experience developed over time. Nursing education is not accurately assessing this skill in students, leading to concerns about patient safety and nurse competency. This session presents creative, holistic assessment methods and teaching strategies that better reflect diverse student learning.

Presenters:   Josephine Dawes and Elizabeth Landers, both from Endicott College

Student Directed Affinity Focus Groups: How BHCC Benefited from Student Driven Qualitative Data Collection

Aiming to use intentional equitable research methods, include an authentic student voice, and gain insight into the experiences of Black and Latino Men at Bunker Hill Community College, the Office of Institutional Research empowered student ambassadors to lead the charge in building questionnaires and conducting focus groups. 

Presenters:  Amy Boudreau-George, Evans Erilus, and Elyon Mark; all from Bunker Hill Community College

The presenters shared presentation materials.

ChatGPT as a tool for Formative and Learner Self-Assessment

The presentation demonstrates the strengths and limitations of ChatGPT as a tool for developing assessment questions in online course development. ChatGPT is used to develop “Test Yourself” questions for several well-established, graduate-level, online learning courses that needed more opportunities for student practice and self-evaluation. After refining the ChatGPT prompts, the questions were successfully incorporated into the course.

Presenter:  Jean Rattle, BU Virtual, Boston University

The presenter shared presentation and handout materials.

Humanizing Assessment: The Anthropological/Psychological Approach

Bloom’s Taxonomy and behavioral evidence of learning sometimes fail to capture faculty interest in assessment. Preference for direct over indirect assessment also discourages faculty engagement. We propose an anthropological approach – “What do faculty want to achieve?” – and a contemporary psychological approach that moves beyond behavior to include attitudes, interests, and beliefs. We present the results and applications of these approaches.

Presenters:  Raymond J. Shaw, Merrimack College and Edward N. Morgan, Bunker Hill Community College

Exploring Assessment Data Holistically and Contextually

Assessment in higher education is dictated by the need to certify learning. We end up investing a lot of time and resources in summative assessment when it is too late to have an impact on what and how students learn. This is especially problematic for professional programs where learners desire a portfolio of authentic and experiential learning experiences. How do we take the data we collect and put it into context? What strategies can we use to draw out the stories it’s trying to tell us about their holistic learner experience, their identities, pain points, and needs to support their success?

Presenters:  Mamta Saxena and Asim Javed, both from Northeastern University

The presenters have shared presentation materials.

Story, Storying, and Storytelling in Institutional Effectiveness

Telling stories in the world of assessment is more than just providing information about a program or a set of students.  The artifact of story and the acts of storying and storytelling combine to describe institutional mission, institutional culture, and institutional movement. This presentation explores the anatomy of storytelling and shows how it can be used to build and grow.

Presenter:  Glenn Phillips, Watermark

The presenter has shared presentation materials.

Developing Equitable Opportunities for Success: Inclusive Assessment Design Elements and Practice

Educators can make a difference in reaching each student’s potential no matter their backgrounds. How do educators establish a nurturing and equitable learning environment through course design and assessment as change agents? This session will share equitable and inclusive assessment design practice that faculty can apply into their teaching and educational developers can share with faculty.

Presenter:  Ye Liu, BU Virtual, Boston University

The presenter has shared presentation materials.

Co-Curricular and Curricular OA Combine to Communicate the Student Experience

Engagement in co-curricular activities plays an important role in students’ academic and life experiences. However, these activities are often planned outside of an institution’s established OA process resulting in missed opportunities for curricular and co-curricular synergies. This presentation focuses on modifications that can be made so that curricular and co-curricular outcomes can developed and measured in a cohesive system.

Presenters:  Jane Boyland and Jennifer Galipeau, both from Johnson & Wales University

The presenters have shared presentation and handout materials.

Sparking Creativity: An Assessment-Guided Digital Badging Program for Faculty

A significant focus of assessment is to clarify and humanize processes for students. Faculty members also need the process to be clear, human-scale, and accessible, and have an opportunity to increase their engagement and professional development tied to learning outcomes. This session will explain our processes for creating a cohort-based digital badging model for faculty development tied to learning outcomes.

Presenters:  Rita Kondrath, Abigail Scheg, Susan Nagelsen, and Carina Self; all from the University of New Hampshire

The presenters have shared presentation materials.