Concurrent Session 1

Making Technology Work for You: Key Considerations

At what point will higher education stop using technology as a "band-aid/fad" solution to recurring and entrenched problems and instead, proactively drive EdTech innovation and solutioning to be focused on data use for student equity and success? Join a panel discussion with four experts as we offer differing insights and strategies for higher ed professionals to consider and act on.

Presenters:  Divya Bheda, Examsoft; Natasha Jankowski, Consultant and Lecturer; Peter Felten, Elon University; and Andrew Cress, California Baptist University

View the presentation here.

Building the new Dallas College: Integrating Student Health and Wellbeing Services

Across Seven Campuses

Dallas College has recently merged seven affiliated campuses. Health services/promotion, student care/basic needs, and counseling have been restructured with personnel and program changes. These changes created a new strategic plan, expanded health promotion programs, and new basic needs approaches. The presenters will discuss these changes and best practices associated with assessment of health and wellbeing at community colleges.  

Presenters:  Carlos Cruz and Thaddeaus Mantaro, both from Dallas College

View the presentation here.

Assignment Alignment as a First Step toward Assessment Reliability

Well-designed assignments are the first step to supporting students’ learning and ensuring reliable assessment results. This session presents an assignment alignment model developed as part of Central Connecticut State University’s GenEd Learning Outcomes Assessment Initiative, funded by Davis Educational Foundation. Session includes participatory activities to practice the alignment process and consider how similar strategies can be utilized at other institutions.

Presenter:  Cassandra Broadus - Garcia, Central Connecticut State University

View the presentation here.

Concurrent Session 2

Globalized Perspectives Toward Equitable Outcomes: Collaborations to Inspire New Thinking

International perspectives have illuminated insights and approaches that have the potential to inform American educational institutions to reevaluate their approach toward promoting equity. Drawing on research insights from a recent book, international panelists will share perspectives on the role that education has played in dismantling their marginalization in society, with special attention given to the role assessment has played in their countries’ schools addressing equity.

Panelists:  Jacquelynne Boivin and Heather Pacheco - Guffrey, both from Bridgewater State University; Parbati Dhungana, Katmandu University; Iqra Iqbal, University of Central Punjab; Fatimah Alhashem, Gulf University for Science and Technology; Wafa Subhi Al Tamimi, IAG Engineerin & Contractors Company; Jannatul Akmam, Jamia Almadia Sunnia Mahila Fazil Madrasah

View the presentation here.

Pivoting Experiential Learning in a Graduate Healthcare Management Capstone

During the Pandemic

Over the past year, the Pandemic brought many challenges to students, faculty, and educational institutions. Among those challenges was our commitment to provide graduate healthcare management students quality field-based experiential learning (FBEL) opportunities. This session will explore the measures taken to create multiple FBEL pathways while maintaining the integrity of the graduate capstone experience and assessment of student learning outcomes.

Presenter:  Kathleen Patenaude, Granite State College

View the presentation here.

Lessons Learned: Program Review, Assessment Coach, Mentor, and Director

This workshop will focus on lessons learned from external program review during COVID.  The focus, being an assessment coach, mentor, and director.  The presenter will provide insight as to the administration and faculty perspective on receiving coaching, mentoring, and directing from the office of assessment, while creating a partnership of assessment in a shared governance environment during an external program review process.  Discussion will cover what worked, what did not work, and what will be done going forward.

Presenter:  Paul Antonellis, Endicott College

View the presentation here.

Advancing Educational Equity with the Anthology Platform

Higher Education is laden with inequitable student outcomes—from access to completion, and engagement to outcomes.  To shift toward equity, the conversation must center equity and use data to examine and change institutional systems and practices.  Despite a fierce commitment to this mission, many institutions still struggle to put their equity-centered principles into action.  In this session, we’ll review 5 key ways that the Anthology platform helps member institutions advance this important cause.

Presenters:  Anne Lundquist and Jenna Ralicki, Anthology

View the presentation here.

Concurrent Session 3

Low-Cost Assessment for Career Readiness

In this panel,  Lasell’s faculty join their Teaching and Learning Center staff to describe how they:

· Assess National Association of College and Employers (NACE) competencies in core courses

· Collect and rate student work

· Engage students in assessment design

· Create  outcomes, rubrics, and reports

They will share lessons learned and encourage questions from the audience.

Panelists: Heidi Burgiel, Matthew Boyle, Dennis Frey, Deborah Baldizar, and Halliday Piel; all from Lasell University

View the presentation here.

Promoting Digital Learning Success Through Remote Assessment

Digital learning tools not only provide needed flexibility for both faculty and students, but they also enable the teaching and learning experience to be personalized, data-driven, and effective measurement instruments for student success. This presentation will provide examples of how an institution was able to leverage existing technologies to effectively transition to remote learning and maintain academic integrity and student success.

Presenter: Emily Bouchard, New England College of Optometry

View the presentation here.

Faculty Support: The Importance of Investing in Ourselves to Help Students

Due to the recent pandemic and changes across higher education, online enrollment has increased, resulting in changes to faculty course loads and teaching expectations.  Ensuring that faculty have the necessary training, resources, and support has been essential in supporting this shift to online instruction. This presentation will describe our efforts to provide emotional, technical, and moral support for our faculty.

Presenters:  Genevieve Condon and Michelle McGrath, both from Bay Path University

View the presentation here.

Equity, Assessment, and Academic Integrity

International students are often reported for Academic Integrity Violations (AIV) at a much higher rate than domestic students while studies show that half of domestic students self-report having cheated during college. Current strategies used by faculty to spot cheating can lead to the perception that international students are committing AIV at a higher rate than domestic students. Discrepancies in AIV reporting also point to the potential for implicit bias in grading. This session will share assessment strategies to ensure that institutions base reporting and education for AIV on objective standards, rather than subjective perceptions.

Presenters:  Mamta Saxena and Ori Fienberg, both from Northeastern University

View the presentation here.

Institutional Learning Objective (ILO) Revision and Assessment: A Grassroots Approach

Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs) are the keystone outcomes for graduates of an institution. Course and program learning outcomes should align to these ILOs. We present a grassroots strategy for revising ILOs, ensuring they are informed by the PLOs that lie beneath them. This involves analyzing all PLOs, assuring interrater reliability, identifying emergent themes, and using those to inform ILO revision.

Presenters:  Thomas Mennella and James Wilson, both from Bay Path University

View the presentation here.

Concurrent Session 4

Relevance: Preparing Faculty to Pivot When Change Challenges the Landscape of Education

Pandemic ushered in change particularly in higher education. This session offers insights into how educators pivot and the need to work together to formulate effective responses. From OER to UDL, the panelists will look at what changes have been faced as our institutions went from single universities to a learning common driven approach, demanding even more pivoting.

Panelists:  Sandi Coyne-Gilbert, Matt Connell, and Lisa Coolidge Manley; all from Goodwin University, and James Page from University of Bridgeport

View the presentation here. 

Towards Equity-based Assessments with Evolving Technologies and Policies in Higher Education

To enable equity-based education, technologies need to be aligned with assessment design and institutional policies. This session covers applications and lessons learned from technology use in alternative assessments. Key ideas include using multimodal technologies for greater flexibility and accessibility in educational assessments. An exploration of higher education policies and its impact on equity-based education will be discussed.

Presenters:  Eliana Elkhoury and Levina Yuen, both from Athabasca University

View the presentation here.

Formative Feedback to Improve Student Experiences

Using end-of-semester student evaluations are an integral part of adjusting our practice as faculty to ensure ongoing instructional improvement. This panel consists of a director of a teaching and learning center, and two faculty members. The panelists will share the various avenues they use to gain insights from students throughout the semester and the benefits of such feedback via formative assessment.

Presenters:  Jacquelynne Boivin, Bridgewater State University; Chris Hakala,and Daniel Zukergood, both from Springfield College

View the presentation here. 

Seeking Educational Assessment Positions:  Perspectives from Both Sides of the Interview Table

This session will explain Bristol’s Institutional Assessment Coordinator hiring from the perspective of applicant and hiring institution. Our Institutional Assessment Coordinator will discuss transitioning to Assessment and locating and successfully applying for the position. A search committee member will explain how the position was justified, designed, and how the search went. This information will help people planning job searches this year.

Presenters:  Danielle Licitra and William Duffy, both from Bristol Community College

View the presentation here.

Conversations with Assessment Leaders: Reflecting Back and Looking Ahead

Are you a one-person assessment office? Would you like to find creative ways to involve your campus in assessment? Reflecting and conversing with colleagues can bring to light the great things that are happening at our institutions as well as surface problems that have yet to be solved. Join us for a conversation with two assessment leaders who are making progress and planning for improvement.

 Presenters: Amber Tatnall, York County Community College; Kathryn Schultz, SUNY Cobleskill; and Sheri Popp, Weave

View the presentation here.