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Focus on Learning
Latest findings from the WELS. In 2003 Western initiated a series of student surveys designed to track entire cohorts of Western students from their preparation for college to how the Western experience affects their attitudes, values, and learning during their years at Western, to how their experiences at Western shape their post-graduation lives and careers...(...more)
CII Launches Online Syllabus Tool. The course syllabus can be a powerful tool for student learning when giving a positive first impression of a course, and making learning objectives explicit. The Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) has worked with WWU faculty to develop an online tool for creating and modifying the course syllabus. Named Calypso, the syllabus-building tool will prompt instructors to include all of the standard syllabus items, including a dynamic schedule feature, with ease and flexibility. The Calypso Syllabus Tool will be demonstrated on March 2nd from 4-5 p.m. in MH 158. (...more)
Assessing General Education. Although virtually all of the academic major programs at Western are well along in developing and implementing plans for assessing the success of programs at achieving student learning goals, as yet the assessment plan for the General Education program is still in the design stage. During Winter quarter 2006 Gen Ed instructors will be surveyed about the range of learning outcomes they assess in their courses, and the information provided will be used by the faculty Committee on Assessment, Teaching, and Learning (CATL) to begin formulating an ongoing Gen Ed assessment plan in preparation for Western's Accreditation Review in 2008. (...more) |
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Testing Center News
Using the Midterm Course Evaluation. Western is committed to the use of multiple assessment tools for continually improving teaching and learning. As part of that commitment, a Midterm Teaching and Learning Survey has been created and made available for all instructors who use Blackboard in their courses. This tool allows instructors to survey students regularly about how well the course is meeting its objectives and how well students are learning.(...more)
Interpreting Course Evaluations. Over the past three decades, student evaluations of instruction have become the default documentation of instructor effectiveness, and instructors and administrators regularly use them to make important inferences about courses and instructors, despite limited understanding of the statistical properties which should guide meaningful interpretations. Very often course evaluation results are used in ways that are more likely to ensure student satisfaction rather than student learning. (...more)
Grade Book Services. Each quarter, the Testing Center constructs custom Grade books for all requesting instructors. Gradebooks are Excel files which are pre-programmed to compute student grades according to instructor specifications. Each gradebook includes a class list, customized headings, and formulas which automatically weight scores, compute averages, and make other calculations. A new feature this year facilitates an interface with Blackboard. (...more)
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