EXTERNAL EVALUATOR TO REVIEW HOPE'S ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

By Janet Andersen, Director of General Education
Fall 1999

We are now almost halfway through with the second year of the implementation of the new general education requirements. While part of assessment involves keeping track of numbers during registration to try and "predict" the correct number of sections, another component asks students to assess their classroom experience in terms of the course objectives. The document passed by the faculty in April 1996 not only contained a structure for the new general education program but also contained objectives for each component. Two of the components we have begun to assess in terms of course objectives are the First Year Seminars and the Cultural Heritage courses.

This is the second year we are assessing course objectives in the First Year Seminars. Students are asked to complete a two-page survey (one "bubble" sheet and one "free response" sheet). The results of the "bubble" sheet are compiled for all students and the results of the "free response" sheet are complied for 100 randomly selected students. This is an assessment of the First Year Seminar program - not an assessment of individual sections. Last year, we learned that what students want most from the FYS experience is to know the faculty member as a person; form friendships with other first year students; and become more proficient at discussing an issue in depth. We also learned that variety works best, students typically enjoy outside speakers and field trips, and major projects work better if they are scheduled in late October or early November (rather than at the end of the course). Students find that FYS is helpful in making the transition from high school to college, that it is a 'safe' place to ask 'dumb' questions, and it gives an opportunity to know and feel comfortable talking to an academic advisor. The biggest concerns were consistency of workload and grading across different sections. The results of the FYS survey were distributed to last year's FYS faculty and were used in the summer training workshops for this year's FYS faculty. The same survey (with the modification of one question) will be used this fall so we can compare results across the two years. A copy of the survey can be found on the General Education Discussion Board (click on "First Year Seminar" to find it). You can also obtain a copy by contacting Janet Andersen, Dept of Mathematics, 7909, jandersen@hope.edu.

Other non-departmental components of the general education program include Senior Seminar, GEMS (General Education Mathematics & Science), and IDS 171-172 (Cultural Heritage I and II). The school has used student surveys in Senior Seminar for several years. We have also incorporated pre- and post-attitude surveys in the GEMS courses. It seemed appropriate to start a more intentional assessment of the Cultural Heritage component this year. This assessment consists of faculty focus groups interviews and student surveys. Similar to the FYS survey, the Cultural Heritage survey is tied to the course objectives and consists of one "bubble" sheet and one "free response" sheet. This survey will be administered in all courses that satisfy the cultural heritage requirement, including English 231-232, History 130-131, IDS 171-172, and Philosophy 230-232. This survey is being used to assess the Cultural Heritage component of the general education program rather than assessing individual sections. The results of the "bubble" sheet will be compiled for all students and the results of the "free response" sheet will be complied for 100 randomly selected students. These results will be shared with faculty from the English, History, and Philosophy departments. It is hoped that what we learn will be used to modify the courses or, perhaps, the objectives. The faculty focus groups responded to four questions:

1. What are the advantages of IDS 171-172 as compared to departmental courses?

2. How does teaching IDS 171-172 'feel' different than teaching departmental courses?

3. What are the issues associated with the plenary sessions?

4. What realistic suggestions do you have for ways to improve the course?

The information gathered during the focus groups will be shared with the chairs of the three departments this semester. It is again hoped that this information, along with that gleaned from the student surveys, will inform conversations between the departments of English, History, and Philosophy and lead to modifications of the current courses. A copy of the survey can be found on the General Education Discussion Board (click on "Cultural Heritage" to find it). You can also obtain a copy by contacting Janet Andersen, Dept. of Mathematics, 7909, jandersen@hope.edu

The assessment committee is overseeing two other assessment projects associated with the general education cross-curricular themes. A pilot project to assess writing is being implemented in some sections of Senior Seminar this year. We are also at the preliminary stages of creating an instrument to assess quantitative literacy. A Quantitative Literacy Task Force (consisting of Janet Andersen, Rick Vandervelde, Mary DeYoung, Charlotte Witvliet, Kathy Winnett-Murray, Darin Stephenson and Rich Ray) met several times during the Spring 1999 semester. This task force was formed at the request of Rich Ray and was charged with the task of exploring ways to obtain direct measures of the quantitative abilities of Hope College students. We began by looking at guidelines for quantitative literacy published by the Mathematical Association of America which state:

In short, every college graduate should be able to apply simple mathematical methods to the solution of real-world problems.

A quantitatively literate college graduate should be able to:

1. Interpret mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, and schematics, and draw inferences from them.

2. Represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically, and verbally.

3. Use arithmetical, algebraic, geometric and statistical methods to solve problems.

4. Estimate and check answers to mathematical problems in order to determine reasonableness, identify alternatives, and select optimal results.

5. Recognize that mathematical and statistical methods have limits.

• The shape of the graph.
• The axis or labels.
• Perform a computation using information given by the graph.
• Draw an inference from the graph.

The template problems have been submitted to the Dean's Council and it is hoped that a pilot version of the instrument can be implemented no later than Fall Semester 2000.