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Focus on Learning
Course Assessment Handbook now available. Staff at OIART have recently published a second assessment handbook to guide faculty in the development of effective assessment practices at the course level. The handbook provides a thorough discussion of the principles and best practices of course assessment. Both the new volume and its predecessor on program assessment are available online. Hardcopies of both manuals are available on request. (...more)
Latest findings from the WELS. The Western Educational Longitudinal Study is an ongoing program for assessing and tracking changes in student attitudes, opinions, and behaviors from their preparation for college to graduation and beyond. Recent WELS reports include survey results of freshmen and transfers who entered Western in Fall 2005... (...more)
Writing Proficiency. At the request of The Faculty Senate, OIART conducted a survey of faculty on the development of writing proficiency among Western students. Selected findings from the survey are available as a brief slide presentation.
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CII Innovative Teaching Showcase. Each year, several instructors are nominated to participate in the Innovative Teaching Showcase, an online publication created by the Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) to highlight and share exceptional teaching practices. The Showcase is published online at the end of each academic year. The current Showcase features three WWU instructors who have found different ways to incorporate sustainability into their courses and their disciplines. (...more)
Assessment Data Management System unveiled. Western has developed an outcome assessment data management system (WADMS) that links our enterprise information system (Banner) with custom tables to track assessments at the student and course levels. This common sense approach provides demographic, student and course reports using a data warehouse. (...more) |
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WELS "Data Bytes." OIART is now publishing weekly "Data Bytes", interesting bits of information from the ongoing WELS research project. Each weekly Byte will be posted here and on the WELS webpage, where you may also view previous Data Bytes. (...current Byte)
Freshman retention, 2002-2007. (...latest figures)
QSR Proficiency Test. For the past several years, a committee of dedicated faculty and staff have been working to develop a basic competency test for quantitative and symbolic reasoning abilities. When fully developed, the test will provide a valuable tool for assessing whether and to what degree Western graduates can demonstrate abilities in QSR. The accompanying chart summarizes some of the challenges of constructing a "good test."
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Testing Center News
Testing Center representing more online tests. The Testing Center is now offering the Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3), Microsoft Office Specialist, Microsoft Business Certification and Adobe Certified Associate program tests. Certiport prepares individuals with current and relevant digital skills and credentials for the competitive global workforce. We also offer many IT tests for certification and licensure through Pearson Vue including CompTIA, Adobe, and Cisco Systems.
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Increasing number of courses evaluated. Over the last several years the proportion of on-campus courses evaluated by students has been increasing. Until about 2002, instructors of only about half of all courses offered were made available for student evaluation. Since then, the proportion has steadily increased to about 70% of all courses offered on campus in Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. (...more)
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