Most educational practices continued during the academic year 2020-2021 despite the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. While faculty certainly had to pivot and replace in-person modality with a virtual reality, this switch to virtual did not fully define the educational improvement at the course level at Georgian Court University (GCU). This statement is collaborated […]
Archive | Academic Affairs
Challenges and approaches to improve learning through summative or formative assessment or other evidence-based approaches.
Assessing the Implementation of Changes to Teaching
To satisfy various stakeholders, including their institution’s administrators, faculty assess the effectiveness of their teaching (Haras, et. al, 2017). End-of-course student evaluations are still the most widely used method to assess teaching (Lawrence, 2018). Increasingly, however, research evidence shows that student bias, such as expected grade, gender, age, race, and attractiveness of the teacher all […]
Creating Equity: Scaffolding First-Year Composition At A Hispanic-Serving Institution
Knowing that First-Year Composition (FYC) is closely tied to student success at our Hispanic-serving institution, we conducted a pilot study to see how redesigning our FYC courses with scaffolded reading and writing instruction might impact pass rates and retention of our Latinx students. The results of this study clearly demonstrated that a scaffolded course design […]
Assessment at an Urban Community College: From Resistance to Discovery
By Richard LaManna on September 17, 2020 in Academic Affairs, Fostering Culture, Vol 2, Issue 1 (Sept 2020)
Over the past decade, resistance to assessment has dwindled, no doubt because of two factors. One is compliance. Regional accreditors across the country are exerting more pressure and enforcing stricter oversight at institutes of higher education under the pressure of the federal government. Rather than risk […]
Assessing Student Learning In Distance Learning Environments
By Lizandra Friedland and Cheryl Littman on July 6, 2020 in Academic Affairs, Reflections, Vol 1, Issue 2 (Jul 2020)
Thinking carefully about how we can support our students in achieving the learning goals we set for them is what assessment is all about. A good assessment strategy can both inform your teaching and support your students in the new distance-learning environment. The information below is intended to help Queens College instructors assess […]
Ensuring Student Success: Using Formative Assessment as the Key to Communication and Compassion Among Faculty, Students, and Staff
By Shylaja Akkaraju, Seher Atamturktur, Laura Broughton and Tica Frazer on July 6, 2020 in Academic Affairs, Vol 1, Issue 2 (Jul 2020)
A popular New York Times Op‐ed laments the waste of time, energy, and resources on the pointless exercise of learning outcomes assessment (Worthen, 2018). The article exemplifies how the purpose, value, and process of assessment are utterly misunderstood by many in higher education. The etymology of […]
Reflections on Assessment and the Acquisition of Writing Skill in French 123
During my time as the department representative of World Languages and Cultures on the Bronx Community College Assessment Council, 2015-2017, I developed a rubric for assessing compositions that were part of the French 111 (introductory course) final examination. Students had access to the rubric in advance of the assignment so that they could familiarize themselves […]
