Symposium on Learning Outcomes Assessment: Practically Speaking April 22-23, 2013 Delta Chelsea Hotel Toronto, Ontario The Symposium on Learning Outcomes Assessment attracts hundreds of postsecondary instructors and educational developers from across the country to share best practices and take part in hands-on workshops on assessing learning outcomes. Through events like the Symposium, Ontario universities and colleges can share best practices throughout the sector so that students and employers can easily recognize the skills and knowledge acquired upon graduation. Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 1 Program Committee Maureen Mancuso, Chair Chair, Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents Provost, University of Guelph Glenn Craney Executive Director Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer André Diez De Aux Quality Assurance Associate Ontario Quality Assurance Service Peter Gooch Senior Director, Policy and Analysis Council of Ontario Universities Sam Scully Chair, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance Cindy Robinson Manager, Quality Assurance Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance Secretariat Support Shevanthi Dissanayake, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance Kim McCaughan, University of Guelph Erica Simmons, Council of Ontario Universities Donna Woolcott, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance Josh Zeliger, Council of Ontario Universities Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 2 Monday, April 22, 2013 Registration and Breakfast 7:45 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Churchill Court Welcome and Introductions 8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Churchill Ballroom • Maureen Mancuso, Provost and Vice-President (Academic), University of Guelph, and Chair, Ontario Council of Academic-Vice Presidents’ Task Force on Teaching and Learning • Tim Klassen, Director, Ontario Colleges Quality Assurance Service • Sam Scully, Chair, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance • Glenn Craney, Executive Director, Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer Churchill Ballroom Keynote Speaker: Thomas Angelo 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Title: Designing for Success: Seven Practical Research-Based Guidelines for Effective, Efficient and Sustainable Learning Outcomes Assessment Chair: Sam Scully, Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance Despite its nearly 30-year history, the learning outcomes assessment (LOA) “movement” in higher education offers very few meaningful, lasting success stories. In this highly interactive session, we’ll consider lessons from LOA successes – and failures – and explore seven practical, research-based guidelines to make your institution’s efforts more effective, efficient and sustainable. Coffee Break 10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Churchill Court Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 3 Concurrent Workshops 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Mountbatten Ballroom Workshop A: Implementing and Assessing High Impact Practices Speakers: Sarah Baker, Associate Dean, Michele Hansen, Executive Director Research, Planning and Evaluation, and Kathy Johnson, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, Indianapolis University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Chair: Jill Grose, Brock University High impact educational practices (HIPs) have been advocated as effective strategies for promoting deep learning and increasing student retention rates and engagement (AACU, 2008). This workshop will provide you with an overview of HIPs and describe how quantitative and qualitative methods can be used to assess HIP student learning outcomes. Carlyle Room Workshop B: Designing Rubrics for Inquiry-Based Learning: Addressing Process and Product Speakers: Cory Laverty, Librarian/Archivist and Nasser Saleh, Head, Engineering and Science Library, Queen’s University Chair: Peter Cribb, York University This workshop examines an inquiry-based assignment in the social sciences and works backwards to create an analytic marking rubric that aligns with learning outcomes. It will be led by a team of academic librarians who work with faculty in different disciplines to design inquiry-based assignments and develop students’ research competencies. Rossetti Room Workshop C: Designing Learning Outcome Assessments for Ways of Knowing in Nursing: Implications for Professional Education Programs Speakers: Janet Landeen, Associate Professor, Louela Manankil-Rankin, Assistant Professor, and Tracey Jewiss, Assistant Professor, McMaster University Chair: Anna Lathrop, Brock University Participants will explore a range of strategies for assessing learning outcomes that cross educational settings (classroom, laboratory, and clinical) and domains of learning (empirical, ethical, personal, aesthetic, and emancipatory). Curricular Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 4 tensions between focusing on profession-specific standards and student-centred learning approaches will be addressed. Scott Room Workshop D: Learning Outcomes in e-Learning: Maintaining Internal Coherence from Program Design to Pedagogical Strategy and Student Assessment Speakers: Francois Desjardins, Associate Dean, Roland vanOostveen, Associate Professor, and Elizabeth Childs, Faculty of Education, University of Ontario Institute of Technology Chair: Brenda Ravenscroft, Queen's University Participants will be guided through a three-phase process of creating learning outcomes in an e-learning context and then using these as the structuring basis for program framework design, course design, and course implementation. Wren Room Workshop E: Under Pressure: Acknowledging Faculty Tensions in Adopting a Learning-Outcomes Curriculum Speakers: Karen Schwartz, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, and Margaret Cusson, Manager, Office of Quality Assurance (Academic Programs), Carleton University Chair: Lionel Walsh, University of Windsor As Ontario universities adopt a curricular framework, there are associated hurdles and tensions that must be acknowledged and navigated in the academic culture. This workshop explores how Carleton faculty members collaborated creatively with Carleton University’s Office of Quality Assurance to address these tensions. Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 5 Concurrent Workshops 11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Mountbatten Ballroom Workshop A: Five Easy Pieces: Capstones and their Kin as Practical Devices for Learning and Assessing Speaker: Douglas Eder, Emeritus, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Chair: Catherine Nolan, Western University The theme of this genial seminar on capstone assessment follows the plan Igor Stravinsky used for composing Five Easy Pieces as piano duets. A complex accompaniment part (for the assessment steward) coexists with a featured but less complicated part (for the teaching faculty member). This structure invites faculty buy- in for assessment while it simultaneously captures data and closes the feedback loop to improve student learning. Carlyle Room Workshop B: Designing a Professional-Oriented, Liberal-Arts Undergraduate Program: Starting with Outcomes and Learning from Others’ Experience Speaker: Philip Savage, Teaching Professor and CMST Advisor, McMaster University Chair: Gregory Finn, Brock University Designed by McMaster University in conjunction with Mohawk College, the Honour’s Bachelor in Professional Communication aims to meet national and international professional communication and research credentials while also reflecting leading liberal arts approaches. This workshop examines issues including embedding learning outcomes into curriculum design; building the assessment of learning outcomes into outlines and assignments; constructing appropriate evaluation tools to assess student work; and using theory-practice learning portfolios. Learning Outcomes Assessment, Practically Speaking 6 Rossetti Room Workshop C: Toward Meaningful Knowledge: Using SOLO to Design and Assess Learning Outcomes Speaker: Michael Potter, Professor, University of Windsor Chair: John O'Meara, Lakehead University Developed in 1981, the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy has since become a well-validated tool for use in educational research, learning outcome and assessment design, as well as curricula and lesson planning for those who wish to help students learn deeply and meaningfully. Participants will learn to use the SOLO Taxonomy to design and assess learning outcomes in multiple educational contexts. Scott Room Workshop D: Value-added Assessment: Challenges and Pitfalls Speaker: Qin Liu, Doctoral Candidate, OISE, University of Toronto Chair: John Doerksen, Western University Value-added assessment focuses on measuring and evaluating gains in student learning, and can be used for both course and program-level learning outcomes assessment. Workshop participants will share methods and challenges of using value-added assessment. Wren Room Workshop E: Leading a process to use learning outcomes for program improvement Speaker: Brian Frank, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen’s University Chair: Alice Pitt, York University In this session participants will begin to develop plans for leading an assessment process to gather useful data for program improvement. Participants will be able to work in small groups on a sample program of common interest. Key concepts include change management principles, identifying key questions, coordination, and software tools to support the process. Lunch 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Churchill Court Lunch will be provided and there will be an opportunity for table discussion with colleagues. Learning