News

Integrating E-Portfolios into Your Assessment Strategy

by Greta Bell

Trent Batson, executive director of The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL), stirred some controversy this week with an article entitled “The Testing Straitjacket,” in which he advocates for privileging e-portfolios over legacy testing as a primary tool for assessing student learning, arguing that e-portfolios, which “encourage students to use their collection of evidence as a strong developmental practice, and fully recognize the value of student discovery,” are the more effective assessment tool to evaluate the type of learning needed in the twenty-first century. While many educators do not see such an either-or proposition, interest in the use of the electronic portfolio is growing. However, while older methods of testing have a set of attested practices, the e-portfolio is a much more recent innovation in learning assessment, and many institutions are less sure where to look for effective models and best practices. Tracy Penny Light, assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, a leading e-portfolio researcher and co-author (with Helen Chen at the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning) of the book Electronic Portfolios and Student Success, offers several steps for integrating e-portfolios into your assessment strategy. Ensure Your Assessment Strategy is Aligned with Your Outcomes “The problem we […]

Re-enrolling Stop-Outs: Overcoming the Barriers

In the news recently, the regents for the University of South Dakota system have focused attention on re-enrolling students who have “stopped out” and left their degree incomplete. This is in response to a recent report to the board that demonstrated that 1,889 students who had earned at least 90 semester credit hours had left the university system between 2003 and 2008. South Dakota is one of five states studying this population of students under grants from the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). We asked Demaree Michelau, WICHE’s director of policy analysis, for her advice on the key barriers stop-outs face in returning to campus and how institutions can begin to address them. Barriers Stop-Outs Face in Re-enrolling Michelau notes that studies on this “ready adult” population underway in Nevada, Colorado, North and South Dakota, and Arkansas are identifying several principal barriers to re-enrollment: Competing “life” obligations Lack of familiarity with recent changes in campus processes (for example, registration may have moved from print to online since they were enrolled) Financial holds on registration “Most stop-outs left because life happened, not because they were failing out or doing badly,” Michelau notes. “If you […]

Evaluating Part-Time Faculty

by Greta Bell

Traditionally, most institutions have not made significant investments in either training or rigorous evaluation for contingent faculty. However, given the rising percentages of part-time instructors, it is increasingly crucial that deans and department chairs give thought to implementing evaluation methods that will encourage continued improvement of the quality of instruction in their adjunct-taught courses. For this article, we asked Richard Lyons, senior consultant with Faculty Development Associates and editor of the book Best Practices for Supporting Adjunct Faculty (2007), for advice on how to provide effective evaluation for part-time instructors. Find Effective Ways to Share Student Evaluation Feedback “First, get usable feedback in as many adjuncts’ hands as possible and as quickly as possible, preferably before the next term begins.” Richard Lyons, Faculty Development Associates Lyons stresses the importance of feedback from student evaluations speedily at the close of the term, as well as the importance of sharing them with all instructors, not just in cases in which a red flag was raised. Whether you are sharing these through a spreadsheet, through your course management system, or through some other tool, make sure that the sharing of evaluation data is systematic and that you offer guidance on how to interpret the […]

Training and Preparing Your Faculty for Teaching Online

This year we have seen a growing proliferation of proposed online degree programs, as more institutions feel the pressure of needing to increase enrollment and revenue without also increasing expenditures in physical infrastructure. Most recently, Indiana has launched an online-only university to serve rural adults, and the University of California has decided to invest between $5 and $6 million in piloting online programs in preparation for offering online undergraduate degrees. These announcements coincide with the distribution of research studies that continue to raise questions regarding how to ensure the quality of instruction offered in some online programs and courses. This week saw a paper, for instance, questioning the quality of instruction offered in video lectures. These ongoing concerns suggest the need to place more priority on training and preparing faculty for teaching online. In a recent interview with Academic Impressions, Charles D. Dziuban, director of the Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Central Florida, offered strategies for ensuring that: You have hired adequate faculty for your online degree program The faculty are the right fit for the online program You are delivering the training and faculty development needed Two Options Dziuban notes that you really have two options in faculty selection for an […]

Doing Lecture Capture Right

Lecture capture has been receiving a lot of attention in the news this year, as colleges attempt to expand online and blended course offerings or make instruction to more students in remote locations. The impact on student learning of removing the ‘face-to-face’ dynamic remains a continuing concern for educators. A few institutions have recently made quite costly investments to compensate for this; Madison Area Technical College, for example, is provided synchronous lecture capture to students in remote classrooms by installing large, high definition screens in both classrooms — effectively providing a life-size, two-way videoconference, visually fusing the two classrooms. Most institutions, however, are taking a much less intensive approach to video capture, and a recent study by a professor of education and social policy at Northwestern University indicates that although video capture does not lag far behind live instruction, there is still a gap in student learning, particularly for Hispanic, male, and low-achieving students. It’s a Question of Quality Not all approaches to lecture capture are equal. The key takeaway from the Northwestern University study is that it’s critical to invest very thoughtfully in the quality of your video lectures. Providing high quality lecture capture is not as simple as just […]

Connecting Undergraduates with Careers

Even as the demand for career services from students and recent graduates is rising, many career services centers are seeing their budgets cut. Yet this is a critical moment; there is evidence of increased hiring in some sectors, and many companies are again looking for interns. A recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that hiring of college interns is expected to increase 3% this year after a stark 20% drop last year. Christian Garcia, director of the University of Miami’s Toppel Career Center, and Flora Riley, executive director of career services at Clemson University, offer practical strategies for connecting your students and graduates with employers — on an ever-tightening budget. We asked Garcia and Riley: How to get the most out of limited resources How to connect students in traditionally “harder to sell” majors (the humanities and the social sciences) with careers First, Do a Strategic Audit of Your Services “Do an analysis, get input from students, employers, faculty, even from your own staff — see what services are most critical. You need to invest what resources you have as wisely as possible.” Flora Riley, Clemson U You need to know where you are most effective so that you […]

Connecting Young Alumni with Careers

With a shaky job market, many alumni offices are seeing rising demand from recent graduates and young alumni for networking and career help — just as many undergraduate career offices are seeing rising demand for their services from students nearing graduation. We asked Matthew Donato, senior associate director of alumni career services for the University of Chicago Alumni Association, for advice on what alumni relations professionals can do better to help their young alumni connect with career opportunities. Online Tools “Particularly for young alumni, offer a strong set of online resources. Our young alumni expect to have these resources at their fingertips, whenever they want them.” Matthew Donato, U of Chicago This means a website where young alumni can log in and find tools that might include: Help with cover letter/resume writing Tools for improving interview skills Critique of practice interviews A networking tool to find professional contacts in the young alumni community Donato recommends cultivating an alumni careers network on LinkedIn. “Facebook often supports more social networking than professional networking,” Donato advises. “Also, look to tools such as Twitter that you can use to provide advice and market some of your services to young alumni in a more transactional but […]

Connecting Returning Adults with Careers

The majority of career services programming targets either traditional-aged students approaching graduation or young alumni. However, the recession has driven increased enrollment by returning adults who have already spent some time in the workforce but who may now have been displaced from their jobs or who are hoping to boost their career with some further education. We asked Lisa Andrews, director of career services for the University of Maryland University College, for tips on providing effective career advising for this growing student population. What Services They Need Most Andrews notes that the mock interview is critical. For many of your returning adult students, it may have been some time since they interviewed, and they may be unfamiliar with the styles of behavioral and case interviewing that is now common practice. “They need to practice,” Andrews notes, “especially case interviewing, so that they are prepared to tell stories about themselves and position themselves well to the employer.” Besides the mock interview, adult learners may need help with: Job search strategy (“what if they have never been on Monster?”) Networking skills and the use of social media to facilitate career connections Resume format Values clarification Andrews notes that you can get this […]

Rethinking Your Approach to Corporate Donors

Corporations are giving less frequently this year and in smaller amounts, and in many cities the corporate landscape has changed dramatically during this recession due to mergers, consolidations, and bailouts. In an editorial this week, the CEO of Western Union suggested that universities and other nonprofits need to seek out more holistic and intentional partnerships with corporate donors. Caroline Preston’s op ed is timely and implies a broader question — how can universities take stock of what has changed and adjust their approach to corporate donors accordingly? Chris Groff, executive director of corporate and foundation relations at Fairleigh Dickinson University, offers advice for how shops need to re-engineer their approach to cultivating and stewarding corporate donors this year. Profile Your Top 50 “Who are your top 50 corporations that you want to do business with? Update a profile for each of those.” Chris Groff, Fairleigh Dickinson U Given the extent of recent changes in the corporate environment — mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry; mergers, bailouts, and takeovers in the banking industry — Groff suggests that the most pressing need is to recalibrate your prospect list. “You need to know who is still viable, and who is not, and you need to start looking […]

Contract Training in a Changing Economy

An Inside Higher Ed article this week noted that with fewer large businesses influencing workforce training, many colleges engaged in contract training are shifting their approach away from serving larger employers and toward serving as a training “hub” for numerous smaller businesses. We reached out to Leah Kier, community outreach and custom training director for the University of New Mexico’s continuing education division, and Amy Wartham, director of corporate training for the office of continuing education at the U of North Carolina at Charlotte Ben Craig Center, for their advice on how colleges (including four-year institutions) need to shift their contract training approach to be effective in both meeting the needs of this changing economy and identifying new revenue streams. Revisit Your Offerings The reality in most regions is that corporations have cut back severely on their training budgets. Wartham notes that many large organizations are internalizing their training, rather than outsourcing to vendors or universities. And smaller organizations with fewer staff are not likely to find the expense of a university course to be an effective training solution. Kier and Wartham recommend reinvesting your existing resources, transitioning from offering customized training courses toward more consultative services. For example, you can […]