Peer Review | Winter 2009

VOL. 11, NO. 1 | WINTER 2009 EM E R G I N G T R E N D S A N D K E Y De BAte S I N U N D E RGRAD UAte E D U CAT ION Assessing Learning Outcomes Lessons from AAC&U’s VALUE Project A PUBLICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES CONTENTS Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs Debra Humphreys Editor WINTER 2009 Shelley Johnson Carey From the Director .................................................... 3 Associate Editor Laura Donnelly-Smith OVERVIEW Design & Production Darbi Bossman The VALUE Project Overview ...................................... 4 Cover Illustration David Cutler Studios ANALYSIS Editorial Advisory Board The Benefits of E-portfolios for Students and Faculty in James A. Anderson Fayetteville State University Their Own Words Randy Bass Ross Miller and Wende Morgaine ........................................ 8 Georgetown University David A. Berry Moving Beyond a National Habit in the Call for Accountability Community College Humanities Association Peggy L. Maki ........................................................ 13 Norman Coombs Rochester Institute of Technology Peter Ewell PRACTICE National Center for Higher Education Management Systems E-portfolios at 2.0—Surveying the Field Ann S. Ferren J. Elizabeth Clark and Bret Eynon ........................................ 18 American University in Bulgaria Mildred García California State University–Dominguez Hills Institutional Uses of Rubrics and E-portfolios: Richard Guarasci Spelman College and Rose-Hulman Institute Wagner College Myra N. Burnett and Julia M. Williams .................................... 24 Elise B. Jorgens College of Charleston Adrianna J. Kezar RESEARCH University of Southern California Electronic Portfolios a Decade into the Twenty-first Century: Ann Leffler What We Know, What We Need to Know University of Maine Kathleen Blake Yancey ................................................. 28 Donna Maeda Occidental College David E. Maxwell RESOURCES Drake University ................................................. .12 Catherine Hurt Middlecamp AAC&U Calendar University of Wisconsin–Madison Chandra Talpade Mohanty Highlights on AAC&U Work on Assessment........................ .33 Hamilton College John P. Nichols Saint Joseph’s College REALITY CHECK G. Roger Sell Higher Education Assessment— Missouri State University Who Are We Assessing, and for What Purpose? Joan Straumanis National Science Foundation Diane Auer Jones ..................................................... 35 Beverly Daniel Tatum Spelman College EM E R G I N G T R E N D S A N D K E Y De BAte S I N U N D E RGRAD U Ate E D U CAT ION VOL. 11, NO. 1 | WINTER 2009 Annual subscription rates are $35 for individuals and $45 for libraries. Single issues are $8/$10; Published by the Association of bulk discounts are available. For additional information or to place an order, visit us online American Colleges and Universities ©2009 1818 R Street, NW • Washington, DC 20009 or call 800.297.3775. 202.387.3760 • www.aacu.org www.aacu.org/peerreview ISSN: 1541-1389 2 AAC&U | PEER REVIEW | WINTER 2009 Copyright© 2009 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities FROM THE DIRECTOR he higher education community continues to engage in efforts different types of institutions. These shared core criteria for learning to effectively communicate among colleagues and with audi- provide a foundation for national conversations about quality ences outside the academy about what students are learning learning and how our students’ work demonstrates this quality. in college and the value of a college degree. Calls for greater The articles in this issue show how VALUE can work. They Taccountability for student learning have focused, however, on the present a promising approach to assessing student learning in its rich simplest of indicators related to student success, e.g. retention and and robust fullness that provides faculty with information they can graduation rates. It is important that students who come to higher use to improve teaching; provides students with expectations for education remain and successfully complete their studies, of course. learning at progressively more complex levels of performance; builds However, it is even more important that our students actually learn from the work that faculty and students engage with through the what we have determined is critical and that they do so at a high curriculum and cocurriculum on our campuses; and allows programs level of quality. To date, the emphasis from policy makers and many and institutions to report aggregate findings of learning gains to higher education leaders has been to rely on standardized test scores internal and external audiences on the broad array of outcomes asso- as proxy measures for quality student learning on our campuses. ciated with the global and complex world in which we live. Given that most campuses using the leading standardized tests More than seventy campuses across the country have pilot tested rely upon only a sample of students entering and leaving our institu- the rubrics with their students’ work through e-portfolio collections tions, the results of these tests give only a snapshot of learning on or with traditional paper assignments and artifacts to determine the a limited set of outcomes at two points in time; and the scores are reliability and validity of the rubrics in assessing student learning. of little use (and often not reported) to students or faculty. It is sur- Through the feedback from the pilot assessments, faculty teams have prising, then, that so much attention and reliance is being placed on revised the rubrics to enhance their clarity, usefulness, and utility. this thin wire. Significantly, little information from these test results is In a soon-to-be-released AAC&U survey of its members, a strong being used by students or faculty to guide pedagogical and curricular majority are already using e-portfolios, in some form, and more are improvements and enhance the quality of teaching and learning. exploring the feasibility of using them (see figure below). This is a weak strategy. VALUE is not the only answer to the assessment and account- The Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education ability challenge, but it is a promising alternative that is needed project (VALUE) is a national project of the Association of American to redirect the focus of the national conversation toward student Colleges and Universities’ Liberal Education and America’s Promise learning based on authentic evidence. — TERREL RHODES (LEAP) initiative that is exploring the possibility of an alternative approach to assessing learning. VALUE is developing an alternative INSTITUTIONS’ USE OF ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS that can provide the types of information that students can use to 57% develop their own abilities to self-assess their learning and to reflect on their progress. It can inform faculty about what areas of learning, Used for assessments? assignments, and pedagogies are effective. And, finally, it can provide § Most used for this 10% a basis for programs, departments, and institutions to showcase § Some used for this 32% student learning. § Exploring options 11% 29% § Not used for this/ VALUE builds on the existing work of faculty and others on our do not plan to do so 4% campuses to develop rubrics—statements of expected learning—for 14% a broad range of essential learning outcomes. Faculty teams from over forty institutions have developed the rubrics for a set of essential learning outcomes drawn from LEAP, including those that have typi- 3% Use Exploring Do not use, cally been unexamined because they appeared to be too ineffable to electronic feasibility no plans to assess. We are documenting the shared expectations around student portfolios of using develop learning among faculty and student-affairs professionals and across Source: Learning and Assessment: Trends in Undergraduate Education. AAC&U/Peter D. Hart Research Associates, forthcoming. WINTER 2009 | PEER REVIEW | AAC&U 3 Copyright© 2009 by the Association of American Colleges and Universities OVERVIEW The VALUE Project Overview s part of the Association of American Colleges and PROJECT ACTIVITIES University’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise VALUE’s work is guided by a national advisory board that is com- (LEAP) initiative, the Valid Assessment of Learning in prised of recognized researchers and campus leaders knowledgeable Undergraduate Education (VALUE) project contributes about the research and evidence on student achievement of key Ato the national dialogue on assessment of college student learning. learning outcomes and best practices currently used on campuses VALUE builds on a philosophy of learning assessment that privileges to achieve and measure student progress. VALUE focuses on the multiple expert judgments of the quality of student work over reliance development of rubrics for most of the essential learning outcomes on standardized tests administered to samples of students outside that articulate the shared expectations for student performance. their required courses. This project is an effort to focus the national Achievement and assessment of these outcomes is demonstrated in conversation about student learning on the set of essential learning the context of the required college curriculum (and cocurriculum), outcomes that faculty, employers, and community leaders say are and includes models for e-portfolios and rubrics describing ascending critical for personal, social, career, and

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