Academic Unit Consultation | Faculty Development | Instructor Consultation | Assessment of Electronic/Distributed Learning | Outreach | Grant Proposal Review | Resource Identification | Opportunities in Assessment Practice

Services

The Office of Academic Assessment (OAA) offers the following services to the NAU community. For more information or help with any of the services listed below, please contact the OAA at (928) 523-8679.

Academic Unit Consultation

• Assessment Plan Development and Review
• Assessment Report Preparation and Review
• Instrument development
• Development of web-based forms that feed directly to a database (Example)
• Data analysis

Faculty Development

• Workshops (Note: These are scheduled periodically and are open to all faculty. Individual colleges, schools, and academic units can also submit requests for the presentation of assessment related workshops specifically designed for their faculty and discipline.)
  • Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) Workshop focuses on the use of mid semester evaluations as a way to improve courses and student learning. This workshop includes a demonstration of a free online tool that can be used to delivery mid semester evaluations. (Presentation Handout)
  • Critical Thinking Assessment for Improving Student Learning Workshop explores what is critical thinking, what skills and dispositions constitute critical thinking, why critical thinking should be assessed, and how to assess critical thinking. (Presentation Handout)
  • Graduate Assessment Symposium (February 19, 2003) provided a forum for faculty members from various colleges and schools across campus to share ideas and ask questions regarding the assessment of graduate programs. (Why We Do Assessment: Opening Remarks to the NAU Graduate Assessment Symposium* by Dr. Paul Rowland; Quaternary Sciences Assessment Strategies by Diana Anderson (Microsoft PowerPoint presentation); web video of symposium; VHS copy of video can be checked out from the Office of Academic Assessment, 928-523-8679, or the Faculty Development Program, 928-523-8883)
  • Enabling Learner-Centered Education Through Student Learning Assessment (April 26, 2003) was presented in conjunction with a grant-funded project in the NAU College of Education, entitled “Increasing Learner-Centered Education Among Part-Time Faculty”. The purpose of the workshop was to present part-time faculty with a variety of ideas and options for using assessment to better understand and improve student learning within their courses. Within the workshop, examples of classroom uses and tools for assessment were presented. Additional workshop activities involved focused group work on the planning of assessment practices to meet specific uses in the classroom, and this work followed activity guidelines* and used fill-in worksheets*.

Instructor Consultation

• Course Assessment –assist instructors in developing effective practices for assessing student learning for various purposes within their courses
• Course Evaluation –assist instructors in developing and using online course evaluations that include student self-assessment of learning
• Mid-Semester Evaluation –provide assistance in developing online formative evaluations of student learning, instruction, and course features

Assessment of Electronic/Distributed Learning

• Provide academic units with assistance in developing and implementing plans for the assessment of student learning in online programs
• Provide instructors with assistance in assessing learning in courses offered in multiple formats
• Develop assessment procedures for investigating the effectiveness of electronic instruction

Outreach

• OAA can make general presentations regarding the importance of assessment and assessment efforts here at NAU. OAA has presented at:
  • WebCT Faculty Training (August, 2002; January, 2003)
  • UC101 Instructor Retreats (September, 2002; January, 2003; May, 2003)
  • Cline Library Staff Forum (February, 2003)
  • Distance Ed Tech Meeting (March, 2003)
  • Provost's Action Committee on Academic Computing (April, 2003)
  • Student Affairs Retreat (June, 2003)

Grant Proposal Review

• OAA can provide assistance to faculty in developing strategies and plans for the assessment of student learning for internal and external grant proposals.

Resource Identification

• OAA can help locate specific assessment resources for instructors or departments.

Opportunities in Assessment Practice

• OAA can provide internship and sabbatical opportunities in assessment research and development.

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