August 29, 2005 the department approved an assessment policy and a department committee to lead the assessment process. In order to address a number of issues a from, called the assessment tracking form (see on the web page http://www.ndsu.edu/instruct/juell/cs-assessment/home.html) was developed. Each faculty member teaching a undergraduate class fills out this form. The form has the faculty member identify outcomes listed for the instructor's course (see the outcomes document on the web page). The instructor then is to list how this outcome is being addressed in the course. Normally this will refer to a particular assignment. If the course is designated for formal assessment, the instructor will also acknowledge this and will indicate exactly what will be collected for the assessment committee.
The immediate effect of using the form was several faculty checked what the stated outcomes would mean for their course. This interaction is part of the designed function of the form. That is the individual faculty are keep aware of the current expectations for a course both by filling the form out and by feedback from the assessment committee when expectations are not addressed.
For Fall the form caused several faculty to make small to large changes in the course offered to more accurately address the stated outcomes for the course. In some cases the faculty found they were not previously aware of the external goals for the class and clarified what should be done. In one case, the assessment committee identified from the form something the instructor had not addressed and worked with the instructor to bring the course back on track to address the stated outcomes.
During Fall we collected all homework for targeted assignments for the assessment process. A rubric was developed for evaluating the individual assignments and the evaluation process was divided between two individuals on the assessment committee for each assignment packet. Our initial evaluation showed close values between evaluators, so we feel we will have usable metrics to guide the rest of the process.
For Spring we have designated additional targeted assignments and are continuing the collection and evaluation process.
Web space
By Sep 12, 2005 we had a web page and some documents on-line for the department assessment process. This site is at http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/juell/cs-assessment/home.html . The web page is listed on the department policy page. This site has the current guiding information for the department and the assessment committee.
The following notes are in reference to the DRAFT STATEMENT FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT for interim visit.
A. Objectives and Assessments
The department formed an Ad Hock committee to formulate a new assessment
process before the start of Fall 2005. This committee included
personal from the previous admirative team and from the new team.
The associate chair of the new team was designated to lead this process.
A set of documents, policies and outcomes were developed.
This was presented to the department's faculty and they gave their support
and voted in the new structure.
A new committee for the on-going operation was formed which included
the associate chair, representation of the department's graduate committee
the the departments undergraduate committee and student representatives.
This committee has started the assessment process with a moving list
of targeted courses for which we will collect and evaluate assessment data.
The committee has been and will be working with the faculty to both setup the assessment process and make the faculty aware of the process. As we proceed, we will be providing feedback based on the assessment to the individual faculty and the department as a whole. This interaction will make the process part of the overall operation of the department.
B Student Support
It is important for courses to address the overall expected outcomes. To help this happen, we are using a from we call the assessment tracking form. Each instructor, of undergraduate courses, needs to fill this out for each course each term. This form lists the department outcomes the course is to address. This both is causing the faculty to check on the current expectations for the course and allows feedback in cases of items not addressed.
D. Curriculum
See above note on the tracking from use for keeping the course consistent with program objectives.