Office of Academic Assessment > Resources > Professional Development Opportunites

Professional Development Opportunities

Assessment Certificate Opportunity

Faculty members, graduate students, and staff may earn a certificate in Program Assessment by attending the Assessment 101 workshop and two additonal events during the academic year.

Assessment 101

This two-hour workshop will provice a review of each element of the assessment cycle, beginning with student learning outcomes. It will provide participants with the ability to:

Identify the difference between student learning outcomes and other types of programmatic outcomes
Evaluate their program’s current set of student learning outcomes
Explain the fundamental concept behind a curriculum map
Articulate the usefulness of a curriculum map
Explain the critical importance of outcome-measure alignment
Identify measurement options for assessing student learning outcomes
Explain why results should be aligned to student learning outcomes
Describe appropriate ways to report student learning outcome data
Differentiate between using assessment results and evidencing learning improvement
Identify varying levels of quality in each element of the assessment cycle

When: Wednesday, January 31st 2:00-4:00, Location- Foy 246

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IRB for Learning Improvement Research

“The IRB functions to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants. As such, the IRB reviews all research activities, regardless of funding, which involves human subjects for compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and institutional regulations, guidelines, and ethical research principles.” - Office of Human Research (IRB).

If you plan on conducting publishable research with the students in your class or on teaching practices, then an IRB is a must-have. Writing an IRB protocol can be frustrating, so this workshop will help participants by: reviewing the differences between exempt, expedited, and full board protocol forms, reviewing each section of the full board protocol form, and will provide support in writing the participant consent form.

When: Wednesday, February 7th, 3:30-4:30 Location- Foy 246

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Basic Excel/Data Management

There are many data management platforms that can be used to organize and evaluate assessment data. The most accessible platform is, of course, Microsoft Excel. Excel has many useful features that are often overlooked. As a result of participating in this workshop, participants will be able to:

Sort and filter data
Write functions to sum, average, and compute standard deviations
Build basic pivot tables to sum, average, and count data, quickly
Create basic visualizations (graphs) of data
Use tips and tricks for quick execution of data management

When: Wednesday, February 21st, 3:30-4:30 Location- Foy 246

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Sharepoint Communication Strategies

Many programs are beginning to communicate about assessment more frequently, often by email. Another option, is to use Sharepoint as a communication tool. As a result of participating in this workshop, participants will know who to contact to create a Sharepoint site, and will be able to:

Upload data files, word documents, and pdf’s in to a Sharepoint site
Grant different levels of access to Auburn University personnel
Maintain an interactive Sharepoint site that all personnel can use

When: Wednesday, February 28th, 3:30-4:30, Location- Foy 246

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Writing Strong Test Questions

Multiple choice tests are commonly used in the classroom and the resulting grades often factor into student’s course grades. These tests are important, so have you ever wondered about best practices in improving these tests? In this session, I’ll introduce the concepts of measurement theory, reliability, and validity. We will also consider some tips on constructing test questions, and review how to interpret the data provided by Testing Services. After participating in this session, participants will be able to:

Articulate general concepts within measurement theory (i.e., reliability and validity)
Apply best practices to creating effective multiple-choice tests
Adapt test items based on item information provided by testing services

When: Wednesday, March 7th, 3:30-4:30, Location- Foy 246

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Developing Rubrics to Evaluate Student Learning

After participating in this session, participants will be able to:

Explain the difference between grading scales and rubrics
Articulate the usefulness of rubrics in providing consistent scoring across students
Create an action plan for developing course and/or program level rubrics

When: Wednesday, March 21st, 3:30-4:30, Location- Foy 246

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Basic Qualtrics How-to

Qualtrics is an excellent survey tool with many features that can be useful for programmatic assessment. This workshop will provide participants with the ability to:

Create a new survey/assessment
Use many of the question options
Use the block and randomization feature of Qualtrics
Preview your surveys
Email your surveys directly through Qualtrics and schedule “Thank you” emails as well as “Reminder” emails

When: Wednesday, March 28th, 3:30-4:30, Location- Foy 246

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