ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 8 3 0 /C&RL News ■ Sep tem b er2001 CONFERENCE CIRCUIT From expectations to results AAHE’s 15th Assessment Forum b y A m o s Lakos T h e A m erican A sso ciatio n o f H ig h e r Education (AAHE) Assessm ent Forum h eld its 15th and best-attended conference, “From Expectations to Results: What Are We Finding, a nd How Are We Improving?” o n June 23-27, 2001, in Denver, Colorado.1 The conference focused o n assessment is­ sues and activities in institutions o f higher learn­ ing. The high attendance (more than 1,800 par­ ticipants) at the conference, the overall quality o f the program, and the intense involvement o f the participants signaled that assessment of academic and institutional outcomes (especially assessment o f student learning) is becom ing a constant and m ature concern in academ e, and that universities and colleges are feeling p res­ sured (especially from accreditation bodies) to deliver assessable learning outcomes. A recurring them e was the need to w in over faculty to assessment of learning outcom es and the efforts needed to m ake assessment sys­ temic in institutions o f higher learning. The conference sought to provide a forum for discussing questions about the collective responsibility for Teaching/Learning Outcome Assessments. To quote Peggy Maki, executive director of the AAHE Assessment Forum, the goal o f the conference was: “To raise the col­ lective academ ic institutional curiosity about student learning, abo u t learning outcom es, about assessment of learning outcom es . . . ” The conference em phasized the collective re­ sponsibility of academic institutions to articu­ late shared expectations and to examine ways to assess and support these responsibilities. Maki exhorted the conference participants to seek ways to align expectations with sound local pedagogy, to use multiple m ethodolo­ gies o f teaching, learning and assessment m eth­ ods, a nd to close the assessment loop betw een missions and educational objectives and the goals and the achievement o f educational out­ comes b y creating real changes and improve­ m ents in academic institutions. The conference attracted educators, institu­ tional research professionals, m anagers, and librarians. It afforded a valuable opportunity to discuss assessm ent issues w ith participants of diverse backgrounds, responsibilities, and types o f institutions. The conference afforded the participants an opportunity to learn, to com­ pare challenges and possible solutions, and to create new netw orks of cooperation for the future. M a k in g th e m o s t o f c o lle g e Richard J. Light, professor o f Education and Public Policy at Harvard University, opened the conference with a plenary address o n “Mak­ ing the Most o f College: H ow Assessment Can Help Both Students and Us,” in which he re­ p orted o n research conducted o n m ore than 90 cam puses o n the effectiveness o f the teach­ ing strategies, advising methods, assignments A b o u t t h e a u t h o r Amos Lakos is senior liaison librarian, Information Services and Resources, at the University o f Waterloo, e- mail:aalakos@library.uwaterloo.ca mailto:aalakos@library.uwaterloo.ca C&RL News ■ Sep te m b er 2001 / 831 to foster learning, a n d the effects o f racial and ethnic diversity o n student learning. H e sum m arized so m e o f th e key findings that help students m ake th e m ost o f their col­ lege education: advising college students early to focus o n their learning goals an d m aking the effort to c o n n ect individually w ith m em ­ bers o f th e faculty. H e also singled o u t tim e m anagem ent as a critical m easure o f success and th e n e e d to teach th e sciences in g roups. His presentation underscored the n e e d for con­ tinuing collaborative assessm ent w o rk a n d cre­ ating positive learning environm ents for b oth students a n d teachers. C re a tin g p o s it iv e a s s e s s m e n t c u ltu re s A n u m b er o f sessions w ere d e v o ted to th e cre­ ation an d enhan cem en t o f positive assessm ent cultures. The n e e d for strengthening a culture o f assessm ent in institutions o f higher ed u ca­ tion w as continuously m entioned, as w ell as the challenge o f getting faculty to b u y into ongoing learning assessm ent program s. A num ­ b e r o f sessions discussed w ays to overcom e inhibitors to system atic assessm ent program s an d identified the n e e d for c oncerted a n d tar­ geted w o rk to c hange o rganizational a n d p ro ­ fessional cultures. Although it w as clear that the m ain motivator for assessment is external—namely the various accreditation bodies—m any sessions focused on getting beyond the accreditation pressure, chang­ ing institutional cultures tow ard assessment of learning outcomes, a n d finding better ways to close the assessment loop betw een goals, pro­ cesses, assessment, a nd actions. A p an el o f presidents, provosts, an d faculty from T rum an State University, Middlesex Com­ m unity College, a n d M orehouse College dis­ cussed institutional challenges a n d solutions for creating a shared a n d collective com m it­ m en t to assessing s tu d en t learning a n d efforts to build organizational cultures that nourish th at com m itm ent. Som e o f th e highlights are: • articulated institutional goals, • creating m otivation for stu d en t learning by focusing o n institutional integrity a n d ef­ fectiveness, • com m itm ent h as to b e p ro v en every day b y p lans a n d deeds, • n e e d to m ake faculty o w n th e process, • n e e d to create the value o f assessm ent culture, A l t h o u g h a s s e s s m e n t in in s t i t u t i o n s o f h ig h e r e d u c a tio n is b e c o m in g a n e c e s s ity , i t is n o t p a r t o f t h e o r g a n iz a tio n a l c u ltu r e . E x te r n a l a c c r e d it a t io n b o d ie s s t i l l d r iv e i n s t i t u t i o n a l a s s e s s m e n t. • m ake assessment systematic—give it struc­ ture, provide skills, an d m ethodologies, • assessment is an expectation at hiring time, • pro v id e lead ersh ip a n d adm inistrative support— sh o w p resence, and • k e e p program s vital a n d changing. T h e p a n e l m a d e c le a r th at to c re a te a longlasting environm ent for assessm ent o f stu­ d e n t learning, it is essential to h ave a sense o f right, a long-term com m itm ent b y institutional leaders, a n d actual p rocesses o n th e ground. A session describing th e transform ational c h a n g e s u n d e r t a k e n a t t h e U n iv ersity o f Charleston in West Virginia w as particularly rew a rd in g , s in c e it d e s c r ib e d a c o m p le te c am pusw ide effort involving m ultidisciplinary c hange w ith a n em phasis o n learning. It in­ volves th e w h o le cam p u s a n d is b ased o n cre­ ating learning com m unities th at are expected to change. Margaret Malm berg, p rovost a n d d e a n of th e faculty, noted, “W hen system s c hange, the last o f th e resisters will believe ‘it’s really going to h a p p e n .’” She em p h asized th e w o rk they a re doing to m ake faculty “o w n th e assess­ m en t p rocess” an d their em phasis o n explain­ ing th e institutional assessm ent culture to n ew faculty an d staff. The lib r a r y , in f o r m a t io n lite r a c y , a n d p a r t n e r in g w i t h f a c u lt y The academ ic library community presented four sessions: library initiatives an d activities d e ­ signed to achieve student learning outcom es by focusing o n integrating inform ation literacy into th e curriculum , developing w ays to m ea­ sure inform ation literacy outcom es, dev elo p ­ ing partnerships w ith faculty, a n d creating a culture o f assessm ent in libraries a n d across campus. T he ACRL “Inform ation Literacy Com pe­ tency Standards fo r H igher E ducation” w as 832 / C&RL News ■ September 2001 highlighted and examples of partnerships with faculty were presented. Library programs that integrate the standards into the curriculum in partnership with faculty w ere presented by D ebra Gilchrist from Pierce College, Janet DuMont from King’s College, Anne Fiegen from C a lifo rn ia S tate U n iv ersity -S an M arcos, H annelore Rader from University of Louisville, Lyn Cameron from Jam es Madison University, and Gregory Heald from the University of Northern Colorado. Carla Stoffle, from the University of Arizona, presented ARL’s “New Measures Initiative” with emphasis o n the Higher Education Outcomes Research Review, which is designed to develop new roles and responsibilities for university li­ braries in advancing student learning through outcom e assessment. Efforts to m ake this all happen by developing a culture o f assessment in libraries, was presented by Amos Lakos from the University o f Waterloo. Co n clu sio n Although assessment in institutions of higher edu­ cation is becoming a necessity, it is not part of the organizational culture. External accreditation bod­ ies still drive institutional assessment. For academic libraries, this conference is of special value. It affords an opportunity to show­ case o u r commitm ent and our considerable contributions to learning outcom es an d to learning o utcom es assessm ent. Increasing awareness about the ACRL “Information Lit­ eracy Com petency Standards for Higher Edu­ cation” and the w ork done o n many campuses by librarians to integrate the competencies into the general curriculum an d to assess student learning outcom es is an important task. Future AAHE A ssessm ent co n feren ces should be important forums for librarians to attend, learn, and present their considerable assessment work and their community part­ nership building w ith faculty. It will afford li­ brarians an im portant opportunity to build collaborative relationships with our m ost im­ portant partners as well as e nhance the status o f libraries in advancing the goal of learning outcomes. N o te 1. The detailed program o f the conference is available from: http://w w w .aahe.org/assess- m ent/200l/fin al% 2 0 p ro g ram /fin alp ro g ram . pdf. ■ http://www.aahe.oig/assess-