Peer Review of “Closing the Loop” Sections

Information attached will help with answer  

you have now completed drafts of all the content for the two parts of your final course project, the Assessment and Evaluation of Learning Plan presentation   that supports your reasoning for the decisions you made in the development of your plan. For this discussion, post the draft of your “Closing the Loop” sections of your PowerPoint presentation, organizing the sections in this order:

• Strategies to disseminate the results of the assessment.
• Strategies to use the results of the assessment to create improvements.
• Strategies to build a culture of assessment.

Keep in mind that your presentation will be to the specific audience that you have already determined. Post your draft of the PowerPoint slides for this section and include talking points in the notes beneath those slides. Be sure to apply correct formatting for a PowerPoint presentation, as shown in the media for this unit. Limit the number of slides to 4–5.

RunningHead: UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1 1

UNIT 6 ASSIGNMENT 1 9

Xavier Williams

Introduction

This course is designed for the department of engineering. In this engineering course, I will teach the learners about water resource engineering. They will learn Integrated Water Resources Development (IWRD) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as a general framework for Water Resources Engineering. The students will mention water challenges experienced in their locality. This will be done in groups of five students with the aim of stating challenges of water and how to solve them. At the end of each lesson the teacher will lead in demonstration of various water resources and how water from the sources can be harnessed. The following will be the student learning goals; Learners will be able to understand elements integrated water resources management. Learners will be able to know erosion and deposition in rivers, Learners will be able to learn laws governing water in their country and internationally, Learners will be able to know erosion and deposition in rivers, Learners will be able to sit in groups and discuss different water sources.

Since this is an engineering lesson, it will be necessary to conduct a practical experience. Learners play an active role and engage more during practical exercises than in theoretical practices. During practical exercises, students get a chance to utilize what they learnt in class and build confidence while at it to deal with real world situations. Allowing students to have discussions in groups’ plays a great role in learning experience by enhancing democratic learning, complements reflective learning and accommodates individual difference. Therefore, I aim to mix the low-ability learners with the high ability learners and help in leading discussions to ensure achievement of learning goals by the end of the course.

Learning goals

Learning goals state what the teacher intends the students to achieve as a result of a successful completion of the teaching experience. It could be at the end of a program, a course or learning experience. A course learning goal explains what the students will be capable to perform at the end of a course while program goal is what the student is capable of achieving at the end of their degree or diploma certificate. A well state learning goals should state the outcomes (Marzano, 2010). This is basically what the student will be in a position to do after they successfully complete the course. They should be simple and clear such that everyone comprehends them. They should focus more on skills rather than knowledge. This is because the employers of today look for thinking and performance skills when hiring. They should be relevant and focus more on what the students are to learn. They should not be too many. More than five learning goals may reduce the efficiency of learning and may lose focus. The learning goals should fit within the scope of the course content. Most importantly they should help the learners to achieve broader learning goals (Marzano, 2010). I aim that my students will be in a position to define integrated resources management by the end of the course. They student should be in a position to understand different sources of water and to be able to list causes of erosion and deposition. Lastly by the end of this course, students will be able to mention different laws and acts related to water an assignment.

Rationale of learning goals

The learning goals are important in terms of student development. There are different levels of objectives. Students should be in a position to reach objectives from various stipulated levels. They should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of integrated water resources as well as the ability to analyze, apply, synthesize and evaluate the provided learning content. (Ennis, et al 2012). In this course, students will acquire knowledge by identifying water resources and learning laws governing water resources. The students will analyze by comparing different water sources and how to harness water from these sources. They synthesize by doing experiments in the labs and through group discussion.

Assessment instruments

An assessment instrument is part of an assessment tool that includes instructions or a checklist needed to conduct an assessment of a learning outcome. An assessment instrument can either be a test, form or a rubric and it is used to collect data for each outcome. It is the actual product that is handed out to students for the purpose of gauging whether they have achieved a particular learning outcome (Suskie, 2018). Assessment tools measures fluency, skills and abilities of a student. Assessments can either be formal or informal. Formal tools are objective measurements of a students’ skills and abilities using monitoring, screening, evaluation and diagnosis. Informal assessment are inferences a teacher receives from observations. Assessment tools are used by teachers to make informed decisions.

Rationale for learning instruments

An appropriate assessment instrument will help a tutor to measure achievement of the outcomes. It also shows whether the desired performance for a particular outcome was achieved. Assessment instruments are important since they help to produce results that can be used to make decisions that would improve student learning techniques. Assessment can either be direct or indirect assessment. A direct assessment is achieved by observing a learner’s performance or examining of products that demonstrate mastery of specific skills or course contents. It can also be done when a learner demonstrates work quality such as innovativeness or creativity. Indirect assessment is based on the knowledge and abilities reported by external sources such as supervisors, alumni, fieldwork or a faculty.

Setting Standards

Setting meaningful assessment standards, benchmarks or targets for student learning assessments is a huge challenge for educators. The first challenge is that the assessment community has limited glossary to define different terms that refer assessment such as goals, thresholds, benchmarks or targets. I settled to use standards to describe minimal acceptable student performance. The other challenge is use of standard and target. Standard described minimal acceptable performance while target describe proportion of students to reach the standard mark. There are four ways that help in setting achievable standards. A students’ standard can be established from their peers (Norcini, 2003). This is done by ensuring they perform as well or better than their peers. Standard can also be set by an external body such as passing a license exam. History records can also be used in that the current students should perform better than the former students. However, most times the three options aren’t available. In this case teachers can set their own standards. This is called a local standard.

The following steps are used when establishing a local standard; a teacher should settle on a standard that does not embarrass him or her. It would look ugly if people noticed a student that passed your course did so because you had a low assessment standard. A relative harm should be considered when setting an assessment to high or too low. A very high standard means a teacher is identifying shortcomings of a student that may not be important or scarce resources and time are used to address them. On the other hand, a very low assessment standard may mean that a teacher is risking students to graduate without being ready or capable to thrive in what comes next such as a job market (Norcini, 2003). Before setting a standard, the assignment being assessed should be considered. This is because a test done in a three-hour class will not be as polished as a three-week assignment. If an external source can be used to set the assessment standards the better. This could be a faculty from another college or a disciplinary committee. Lastly, use previous performance of the students to inform your thinking.

Student assessment aims at fulfilling to interpret and use performance results effectively and appropriately to enhance accountability and improvement of teaching as a profession. A good assessment should yield results that are used to improve teaching and learning practices. Improvement helps stakeholders to have a self-reflection of the institutional goals and figure out if the performance conforms to the vision, mission and objectives therefore improving achievement (Ervin, 1988). The steps involved in setting a good quality assessment standard, is to first know the purpose of the assessment results which ca be to maintain a status quo or to enhance improvement. One should also know who will use the results and what they will inform. The second step is to state the consequence of setting a standard bar too high or too low. Lastly the standard to be set should be grounded to the data which is subjected to discussion in order to be aware if they have achieved the set standards.

In this integrated water resource course I intend to use the following as my assessment standards. They include written exams that may be in form of short answer questions, essays and multiple choice questions. I will also use written assignments such as reports, work logs, portfolios, literature reviews and essays. Student will be required to do practical assignments that will test students’ abilities to cope with real world situations. Lastly, I will assess my students by how they participate in class.

Rationale of assessment standards

The assessment rationale for the students will be to confirm and measure students’ performance and achievement in relation to a students’ stipulated learning objectives. The rationale will also be to promote, improve and enhance the quality of learning through a clear feedback that is timely, informative and relevant to student needs. It will also reward the student achievements and efforts with an appropriate grading system. Lastly, it will provide relevant information that will help to continuously improve and evaluate quality of the curriculum and the effectiveness of the teaching methods.

Evaluation of learning plan

As a teacher, one is always working to improve the learning curriculum, organization and instruction. Evaluating lesson plans helps teachers to improve their practice, meet the learner’s needs and develop strong reflective habits. Part of evaluating a lesson plan results from evaluating lesson design. When preparing a learning plan the following questions should be considered; what is the purpose of the plan. This could be to know whether learning goals have been achieved. A teacher should also have an ability to foresee learning plan challenges and to know whether the learning plan is effective or not. To evaluate a lesson plan one should evaluate the preparation process, the lesson itself and the students (Knowles, 1975). The following questions can be used when evaluating the preparation process; How hard was it to plan the lesson and what made it hard to plan, how efficient were you in following the lesson plan, was it difficult to gather the materials required, how useful were the materials used in delivering the lesson. To evaluate the lesson itself a teacher should check if the goals set at the start of the class, which activity was well executed, whether all the students were engaged, were lesson goal successes confirmed after the lesson and finally if there was an assignment at the end of the lesson.

The Stakeholders

The Assessment and Evaluation of the learning outcomes of students or trainees in the various situation is a process that will involve all the stakeholders involved directly or indirectly. Stakeholders are individuals or a group of people who have an interest in the assessment and evaluation plan (Gardner, 2014). The Assessment and Evaluation process or plan will involve both internal and external stakeholders as the issues affect them both. The internal stakeholders are the students, teachers, administrators, and the staff while on the other hand, the parents the education standard body, alumni and the employer are the external stakeholders. The stakeholders have a say, and their actions can alter a decision in the institution and so they must be involved in every activity.

Rationale of Stake Holders

The involvement of the stakeholders in the evaluation and assessment plan is to ensure that there is a mutual understanding between all the parties involved. It is meant to prevent frustration and resistance during the assessment (Gardner, 2014). The other significant benefit of engaging the stakeholders is to get suggestions that might help you in coming up with a better and inclusive plan that will result in you achieving the objectives of the assessment and evaluation. The stakeholders can also act as sponsors in case the project needs funding or other resources. The involvement of stakeholder ensures that the best decision is made in every step of the process, which results in achieving the ultimate goal of the evaluation plan.

Action Plan To Guide Implementation

Before the actual implementation of the evaluation and assessment process, it is essential first to have an action plan. The action plan is the steps that should be followed to ensure that the evaluation plan will result in success and achieve the objectives (Banta et al., 2015). For that reason, then the action plan should be clear and direct to prevent confusions during the implementation of the actual project. Coming up with a practical assessment and evaluation plan, it is essential. First, plan on the tasks that will take place during the process, the time that every task will be expected to start and end, assess the risks that can be encountered at every step and also the resources that will be deployed for every task.

Rationale Of Action Plan For Implementation

Before implementing any plan, it is necessary first to have a laid-out plan of the activities and processes that will be involved in the actual implementation of the evaluation process. The action plan acts as a guide that indicates what should be done by whom, when, the resources needed to actualize the activity, the risks assessment and mitigation strategies for the risks (Banta et al., 2015). The action plan is essential when planning as it ensures that all the resources needed are assigned before going to the field. This prevents frustration and challenges. The action plan also acts as a sample of the actual project, and it is used to review and make changes before the real intention is implemented. It is essential always to have an action plan to guide you as it ensures everything is in its right place before performing the actual process.

Closing The Loop

My suggested assessment and evaluation plan aims at ensuring that the students, trainees or learners achieve the expected benefits from the program, and the institution. The project will determine if the expectations of the program in equipping the students with the skills and knowledge on the subject are met and what more can be done to enhance or change the situation. The plan will assess the effectiveness of what the students are learning and the impact it has on them and the society at large (Marzano, 2010). The assessment will determine if the program should continue or be scraped off depending on its effectiveness and response by the students.

The Rationale Of Closing The Loop

The importance of the evaluation and assessment of the learning outcomes of the program will determine if it is increasing any value on the students or is it a waste of time and resources (Shewbridge et al., 2011). If the data collected in the evaluation suggests that the program is not sufficient and its objectives are not being achieved then the program can be stopped as it is a waste of time and resources for the institution and the students. On the other hand, if the evaluation concludes that the program is effective and it is adding value to the stakeholders, more resources are deployed to support it, which will be beneficial for all the stakeholders.

References

Ennis, C. D., Ross, J., & Chen, A. (2012). The role of value orientations in curricular decision

making: A rationale for teachers’ goals and expectations. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63(1), 38-47.

Ervin, R. F. (1988). Outcomes Assessment: The Rationale and the Implementation.

Knowles, M. S. (1975). Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers.Mayer, R. E.

(2011). Applying the science of learning. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Marzano, R. J. (2010). Designing & teaching learning goals & objectives. Solution Tree Press,

22-33

Norcini, J. J. (2003). Setting standards on educational tests. Medical education, 37(5), 464-469.

Suskie, L. (2018, May 27). What are the characteristics of a well stated learning goals? Retrieved

from h

ttps://www.lindasuskie.com/apps/blog/show/45689916-what-are-the-c

haracteristics-of-well-stated-learning-goals.

Closing the Loop

Sheree Salaam

Capella University

Strategies to Disseminate the Results of the Assessment
Make assessent results easy to access (Banta & Blaich, 2011)
Post assessment results on the university website
Send emails to all stakeholders informing them of assessment updates and links to view results on the website

Banta and Blaich (2011) noted that having information that is easy to access for assessment is important.  Along with easily accessed information, interested parties should be able to contact persons with specific questions and receive answers (Banta & Blaich, 2011).  All students will be emailed to inform them of assessment results.  They are important stakeholders in this process and need to be updated with information.  Faculty, staff, administration, and external stakeholders will also be informed of assessment news.
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Strategies to Use the Results of Assessment to Create Improvements
“Conduct only assessments that will impact important decision” (Suskie, 2018, p. 150)
“Give faculty and staff clear expectations and guidance” (Suskie, 2018, p. 132)
Instructors must document teaching modifications with correlating assessment results

The goal is to utilize everyone’s time wisely.  There is no need to give assessments that will not affect major changes.  Participating in professional development will help faculty be knowledgeable of assessment, but they still need directions on how to proceed.  I will give each faculty member involved in the program specific responsibilities. They will be given a checklist so they know all the steps that must be completed.  The documentation of modifications of teaching will be used to review with later assessment results.

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Strategies to Build a Culture of Assessment
“Provide opportunities to learn about assessment” (Suskie, 2018, p. 128)
Involve students in assessment surveys
Assess the assessment program (Banta & Blaich, 2011)

Professional development, workshops, and information meetings will be provided for faculty and staff.  The more they learn about assessment, the better equipped they will be to assess students and make improvements.  Feedback from students is crucial to having successful assessments. Listening to feedback from students will help us modify aspects of the assessment plan to achieve better results.  According to Banta and Blaich (2011), “assessment is a learning process- that is, it takes trial and error for institutions to figure out how to assess” (p. 26).  We will frequently analyze our assessment plan, to achieve better results positve participation in the program. 
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References
Banta. T., W., & Blaich, C. (2011).  Closing the assessment loop. Change, 43(1), 22-27.  Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library.capella.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=87f22247-830c-4c7a-a357-fb216d44a957%40pdc-v-sessmgr04
Suskie, L. (2018).  Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide.  Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.library.capella.edu/lib/capella/reader.action?docID=5215462#