Principles of Good Practice

Two major associations, The National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges'(NASULGC), and the American Association of Higher Education, have developed a set of guidelines regarding student learning outcomes.

The Statement of Principles on Student Outcomes Assessment that the NASULGC dveloped express that programs for student outcomes assessment should:

focus primarily on the effectiveness of academic programs and the improvement of student learning and performance;

be developed in collaboration with the faculty;

be appropriate to the particular mission and goals of the institution;

use multiple methods of assessment;

be fiscally conservative and not impose costly programs on institutions;

be linked to strategic planning and program review processes within the institution.

AAHE's Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning are as follows:

The assessment of student learning begins with educational values

Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.

Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.

Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes.

Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic.

Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved.

Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions people really care about.

Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement shen it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change.

Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.

All outcomes assessment procedures developed within the university must be consistent with these guidelines.

We believe that all outcomes assessment procedures, as expressed on our Programs' assessment plans, must be consistent with these guidelines and those delineated on our Institutional Plan for Assessment of Student Learning.

Workshop - Effective Test Taking Strategies for the GRE

You are about to finish your current academic endeavor, but you already know that you want to pursue a degree in higher education in the United States. Maybe you are an Natural Sciences undergraduate student who wants to achieve a graduate degree in Chemistry, or perhaps you are a current graduate student majoring in Educational Research and Evaluation who wants to pursue a Ph.D. in Measurement, Research, and Evaluation.

Among the things you need to do in order to complete the process of admission is to take ETS's Graduate Record Examination General Test. The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study. Most institutions that offer graduate degrees require the GRE General Test as part of their admission requirements (to be sure, check before enrolling).

We at the Office of Evaluation of Student Learning are committed to strengthen our students' abilities and skills, as it is expressed in our Institution's mission, such as critical thinking, effective communication, social responsibility, research and creation, information literacy, logical-mathematical reasoning, among others. Thus, the Effective Test Taking Strategies for the GRE Workshop is our way of proving an opportunity to prepare our students better for their next path on their academic journey to higher education.

To access a copy of the presentation, please click here.

To download a copy of the materials presented on our workshop, please click one of the following links.

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If you have any comments about our workshop, please let us know through our blog or email us (oeaeupr@gmail.com).

We hope that this presentation, along with the materials we have compiled for you, can help you to achieve a high score on your GRE General Test.

How to integrate Literacy Skills on courses' Syllabi

In order to strengthen our student's digital fluency, Dr. Snejanka Penkova, Director of the Library System of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus points out that a distinction between computer literacy and information literacy must be made first.

Using the Association of College and Research Libraries'(ACRL) Standards, Dr. Penkova stresses the importance of integrating literacy skills in our courses' syllabi by first stating student learning objectives, then developing activities with their corresponding instructions and bibliography support, and finally by assessing student learning and proposing transforming actions. She believes each course should promote literacy skills in our students with the purpose of effectively managing what the 21st century is all about- information.



To access, Dr. Snejanka Penkova's presentation click here.

Additional notes:

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching, and research.

ACRL is the largest division of the American Library Association (ALA). ACRL currently has a membership of more than 12,000 members, accounting for nearly 20% of the total ALA membership.

For further information, please visit ACRL's website

Free Webinar - Linda Suskie Presents: Understanding Assessment Results

Your assessments have been conducted. Your students have finished tests, assignments, and surveys. Faculty have evaluated student work. The results are piled up on your desk. Now what? In this fast-paced webinar, Ms. Suskie will talk about some of the ways to set standards or benchmarks for interpreting assessment results. Ms. Suskie will then share tips about how to share assessment results in clear and useful ways with assessment audiences.

Presented by:
Linda Suskie
Vice President
Phone: 267-284-5019
Email: lsuskie@msche.org
Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Tuesday, September 21, 2010
12:00PM to 1:30PM Eastern Time

Click here to register for this unique opportunity.

Assessment Related Activities of the Second Semester 2009-2010

1. Electronic Portfolio as a Useful and Comprehensive Assessment Tool



Date: February 12th, 2010
Meeting place: College of Education's Library
Speaker: Dr. Cynthia Lucena, College of Education

Click here to access Dr. Cynthia Lucena's presentation.




2. Assessment Coordinators Meeting & How to Develop a Curriculum Assessment Matrix

Date: February 17th, 2010
Speakers:
Prof. Julio Rodríguez(OEAE)
Prof. Nadia Cordero(OEAE)

Click here to access Prof. Julio Rodríguez and Prof. Nadia Cordero's presentation.

Click here to access an example of a Curriculum Assessment Matrix.

Click here to access the document that each Academic Program needs to complete in order for the OEAE to submit the corresponding information for the Periodic Review Report.

Click here to access the format of a Five Year Assessment Plan.




3. Using Excel as a Tool Analyze and Inform Assessment Data

Date: March 3rd, 2010
Meeting Place: College of Natural Science’s Library

Speaker:
Sr. William Estépar (OEAE)

Click here to access Sr. William Estépar's presentation.




4, Promoting Learning through Technology



Date: March 12th, 2010
Meeting Place: Classroom C 236, College of Natural Sciences (Phase II)
Speakers:
Dr. Juan Peña, College of Business Administration
Dr. Juan Meléndez, College of Education
Prof. Carmen Pacheco, College of Education




5. The Brain and the Learning Process



Date: March 19th, 2010
Meeting Place: Amphitheater 108 - College of Social Sciences
Speaker: Dr. Héctor Joel Alvarez, College of Education

Click here to access Dr. Héctor Joel Alvarez's presentation.




6. Strategies for the Development of a Culture of Active Learning and its Assessment



Date: April 16th, 2010
Meeting Place: Classroom CRA 217 - College of Social Sciences
Speaker:
Dr. Juanita Rodríguez, College of Business Administration