Ac Newsletter (v.1 N.1 Sp08)

The Academy and The Committee (cont.)

MXC BOOK REVIEW

The Academy and the student learning project will be the central focus of the Assessment Committee for the next four years. Though HLC granted a 10 year re-accreditation when they visited last fall, they required the college to submit a monitoring report in 2010 on our progress with assessment, but as the college had already been accepted into the Academy, the team made the submission of the monitoring report contingent on our progress at the Academy. To meet the goals of the Academy, the Assessment Committee has a lot of work to do! However, as a result of participating in the Academy, Malcolm X College will be a stronger institution because we will be able to better understand, chart and help our students to learn, thereby fulfilling the greater mission of being “a learning and assessmentcentered community college.” - Claire Stuart-Quintanilla

DEPARTMENT FOCUS

Assessment Update: Department Of Communication and Fine Arts

By Jenny Gustavson During the Fall 2007 semester, the Department of Communication and Fine Arts completed the first steps in the CFA Assessment Plan. As CFA covers a wide range of disciplines, from world languages, to humanities, to speech, to theater, this was quite an undertaking!

Step One: Formal Department Approval In September, the CFA Assessment Committee revised the plan drafted in the summer of 2007. With the work that several of our faculty had dedicated to the HLC Self-Study and Site Visit, the original timeline needed to be adjusted. In October, this revised plan was approved by the department.

Step Two: Mission Statement The big task in November was

to establish a mission statement for the department. After much discussion and experimentation, the department decided on: “The Department of Communication and Fine Arts supports the mission of Malcolm X College by facilitating the development of oral and written communication skills, critical analysis, and an understanding of the fine arts and humanities as well as world languages and cultures.” Step Three: Standard Student Learning Outcomes Spring 2008 Semester has the department focusing on Student Learning Outcomes. Teams of faculty are meeting by discipline to set standard SLOs for every course. This will help us to assess student learning on a deeper level across the department.

Once the SLOs are set, the department will look at the big picture and set competencies for the entire department. We will also be looking at assessment measures at the classroom level.

MALCOLM X COLLEGE

By Stephanie Owen Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, By Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub., 1993, 437 pp. $32.95

CONTRIBUTORS V O L U M E

Marietta McDuffy Mission and Vision

This book is distributed at all Faculty Development Seminars. It offers great ideas on developing, planning, implementing, and analyzing various assessment projects; and it helps faculty to better understand the learning process in their own classroom and to better assess the impact their teaching has upon it.

Michael Lemke CCC’s Faculty Development Seminar

Angelo and Cross outline and discuss the purpose of assessment, the seven characteristics of classroom assessment, assumptions made about classroom assessment, Teaching Goal Inventory (TGI), formal and informal feedback, and planning and implementing classroom assessment.

Jenny Gustavson Department Focus: Assessment Update: Communications and Fine Arts

Additionally, the book proffers fifty classroom assessment techniques (CATS) that can be used immediately to show if learning is occurring in the classroom. Each CAT is discussed thoroughly and organized by ease of use, description, procedure, and practical advice on how to use the data.

TRY IT OUT! CAT TIP Purpose: To assess prior knowledge, recall, and understanding: Name: Empty Outlines Description: Provide students with an empty or partially completed outline and give them a limited amount of time to fill in the blank spaces.

Stephanie Owen, Editor, Layout Design Michael Callon, Editor Claire Stuart-Quintanillo, Editor

Assessment Committee

Claire Stuart-Quintanillo The Academy and the Committee

Stephanie Owen Book Review: Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross

Administration Corner Congratulations to our Assessment Committee in providing outstanding leadership and establishing a culture of assessment at Malcolm X College. The Committee meets regularly and engages its members, who represent all general education and career programs, in the academic dialogue about teaching and learning. I'm especially excited about the inaugural edition of the Assessment Committee Newsletter. Through this vehicle, the College community can learn what faculty are doing to enhance the learning experience of our students. I extend my thanks to the Assessment Committee for providing the leadership needed for the crucially important, ongoing work of assessing and improving student learning at MXC. - Interim President Brooks

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I S S U E

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Mission and Vision

S P R I N G

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By Marietta McDuffy

Mission Statement with the mission of the “The Assessment Committee college. promotes conscious efforts to • Communicate across the ensure accountability in effecdisciplines. tive learning and teaching.” • Identify academic needs for enhancement and Vision Statement growth. We are a collaborative, inter- • Plan, develop, and impledisciplinary entity within ment information reMalcolm X College founded sources related to assesson the premise of creating and ment. developing systematic moni- • Capitalize on instructional toring of academic assessand faculty resources. ment. We serve in the capac- • Ensure quality instruction ity of providing integrity, acfor professional and acacountability, and assurance to demic preparedness. maintain effective student learning. Our Focus • Be a premier example of a Our Commitments functional assessment sys• Align student outcomes tem.

• Centralize assessment around

instructional delivery and pedagogy. • Support institutional aims of assessment at multiple levels. • Maintain an assessmentcentered culture. • Provide effective leadership on assessment education. The Malcolm X College Assessment Committee empowers and enables faculty to lead the charge for the college to become an assessment-centered institution. The MXC Assessment Committee meets regularly and works (continues on page 2)

CCC’S Faculty Development Seminar By Michael Lemke In 2007 the City Colleges of Chicago began an ambitious program of professional development. Using a “train the trainer” model, members of our Master Faculty trained over 425 faculty and adult education instructors. One emphasis of the professional development strategy has been the Faculty Development Seminar. The seminars take a workshop approach. A team of two Master Teachers present information about peda-

gogical theories and approaches, and then ask faculty to break into small groups to share their knowledge and pool their ideas. Activities relating to topics ranging from Bloom’s Taxonomy to Howard Gardiner’s theory of multiple intelligences deepen our instructors’ understanding of pedagogical theory while maintaining a constant focus on the central goal of putting new skills into practice.

tant segments are workshops in the development of effective Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and the use of proven Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs). Instructors bring their old syllabi and through small-group and wholeclass exercises and conversation work together to improve course construction and to expand their understanding of the best approaches to assessment and backwards design. (continues on page 2)

Among the most impor-

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COMMITTEE MEMBERS Chair - Claire Stuart-Quintanilla, Social Science Co-Chair - Jane Reynolds, Respiratory Care Archivist - Lois Collins, Biology Treasurer - Hope Essien, Mathematics Recorder - Stephanie Owen, Library **** Beverly Anderson, Nursing Akiza Boddie-Willis, College Advisor Adam Callery, Business Michael Callon, CFA

Mission and Vision (cont.) on numerous plans, reports, and proposals. Some of the Committee’s previous work includes: assisting in the development of departmental plans, aiding in the revision of course syllabi, revising the MXC Philosophy of General Education, engaging in the assessment of student learning and diversity, editing the assessment component for the Self-Study

VOLUME

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ISSUE

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SPRING

2008

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Schedule of Events

Report, and creating Bylaws and standing committees.

APRIL/MAY 2008

General Meetings 4.3.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

The Assessment Committee’s ultimate goal is to help make assessment of student learning a regular part of the college’s daily operations.

Sun

4.10.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

Mon

4.17.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

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Jose Diaz, Manager, Adult Education

Thu

Fri

Sat

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3 Assessment

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10 Assessment 11 HLC Annual 12 HLC Annual Meeting—Chicago

5.1.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

13 HLC Annual 14 HLC Annual 15 HLC Annual 16

17 Assessment 18

Meeting—Chicago

Meeting—Chicago

Meeting—Chicago

Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

5.8.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

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Betty Gammon, Nursing Jenny Gustavson, CFA

http://www.ncahlc.org/

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1 Assessment

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8 Assessment

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10 Last Day of

Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

Byron Javier, Assistant Dean, Research and Planning Ahmed Khan, Nephrology/Renal Technology

The Academy and The Committee

Rong Lin, CFA Antonio Lopez, Dean of Instructions

By Claire Stuart-Quintanilla

Marietta McDuffy, Surgical Technology ++ Ruth Morta, Mathematics Joshua Oladipo, Physics Created by Michael Callon for HLC Academy Roundtable

Lisa Owens, CFA Kathy Rayford, Director, Physician Assistant Program Avni Thaci, Biology Henry Velarde, Business

Faculty Development Seminar (cont.)

The Academy was created by the HLC to help colleges implement assessment. Three times a year, the HLC accepts a cohort of approximately sixteen colleges into the Academy. The Academy is a four-year commitment where schools design and then implement a student learning project with the guidance of a mentor provided by the HLC. At the end of the four years, the colleges will have fully implemented their assessment plans and will be prepared in the processes of assessment and documentation needed for their next accreditation visit.

George West, Respiratory Care Sheila Wicks, Biology Alta Williams, Dean of Career Programs and Health Science Michael White, Radiography Dennis Whiteside, PCI

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HLC Academy Members

++ HLC Academy Team Leader

In addition to valuable presentations and handouts, the program supplies its students with two useful textbooks and plenty of opportunity for interaction between the faculty of multiple Colleges. I participated in the Fall 2007 Faculty

Development Seminar, attended by faculty from Malcolm X College, Harold Washington College, Olive-Harvey College, and Kennedy-King College. It was enjoyable to meet and work with colleagues from across the District. Faculty Development

Seminars, for those who have not yet had a chance to participate, will be held every semester; interested faculty will be enrolled upon recommendation by their Colleges.

- Michael Lemke

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Stephanie Hawley, Vice-President, Academic Affairs

Michael Lemke, CFA

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Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

4 For more information on the conference and on HLC:

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Meeting—Chicago

Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

Helen Doss, CFA Boniface Ekpenyong, Physics, Chemistry

Wed

Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

Special Meetings & Conferences 4.11-15.08 - 113th Annual Meeting of the Higher Learning Commission: Hyatt Regency, Chicago

Tanya Cox, College Advisor

Tue

Meeting—Room 3617 3:00-5:00

4.24.08 - Assessment Committee Meeting, Room 3617 from 3-5

- Marietta McDuffy

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Malcolm X College will be participating in a cohort that includes two sister colleges: Wright College and Olive Harvey College. The cohort kickoff is a Roundtable held February 20-22 at the Hickory Ridge Marriott in Lisle, IL. The Assessment Committee of the college is sending a group of eight to participate. These include Dean Antonio Lopez, Dean Alta Williams, Marietta McDuffy, Claire Stuart Quintanilla, Jane Reynolds, Michael Callon, Akiza Boddie-Willis, and Lisa Owens. The team elected Marietta McDuffy as the Team Leader – the central coordinator of the college’s participation in the Academy. (continues on page 4)

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