ERIC Number: EJ944116
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1086-4822
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Between the Ideal and the Practical: Using Assessment to Find the Balance
Sriram, Rishi; Scales, T. Laine; Oster, Meghan
About Campus, v16 n4 p26-29 Sep-Oct 2011
Perhaps a decade ago, accreditation agencies might have been satisfied with a list of student learning outcomes and some evidence that students achieved them. More and more, accreditors request evidence of "improvement". It is not enough to merely demonstrate that what one is doing works reasonably well; one must also show that he or she invests in new ideas to improve the institution. This is the context in which Baylor University senior administrators approved a quality enhancement plan to strengthen the undergraduate experience. While the program developed from an accreditation requirement, it quickly became an opportunity to do something creative for the benefit of students. In the resulting program, Engaged Learning Groups (ELGs), educators aimed to increase student engagement in academics through small residential learning communities led by faculty teams. In this article, the authors share how the assessment efforts of Baylor University's ELGs have led to effective advocating for program improvement as well as increased administrative support.
Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Curriculum Development, Program Improvement, Program Effectiveness, Accreditation (Institutions), Outcomes of Education, Academic Achievement, Educational Improvement, Student Experience, Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Study, Student Research, Administrator Role, Administrators, Educational Assessment, Teacher Student Relationship, Active Learning, Cooperative Learning, College Administration
Jossey-Bass. Available from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail: subinfo@wiley.com; Web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/browse/?type=JOURNAL
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A