Best Practices in Assessment

This course is the advanced level of Legal Research and Writing and is Writing Enriched. Accordingly, the students are required to prepare 4 major writing assignments (each approximately 10 typed pages) to successfully complete the course. Each assignment builds upon the other.  Students are provided a fact pattern in which a civil complaint is eventually filed and office and court documents are submitted as if the student were a paralegal; the instructor serves as the supervising attorney.

• The first assignment requires research regarding the civil action (irrespective of which party the firm represents) with a critical analysis of the primary authority governing the matter. 
• The second assignment requires an objective analysis of the advantages both parties possess based upon the law.
• The third assignment requires preparing a subjective argument to the court, urging either granting/denying a trial court motion.
• The final assignment requires submission of an additional subjective argument about why an appeal from the trial court should be granted or denied.

This progressive analysis of advanced legal research and writing connects to the Penn College definition of assessment in that it is “systematic, iterative, collaborative, documented, and adaptable. It applies multiple measures, both qualitative and quantitative. It identifies strengths and areas that warrant improvement.”

Rubrics for Dual Use

Rubrics are provided to the student prior to each assignment so s/he has an understanding of both quantitative and qualitative analyses of her/his work. It provides the framework for each writing.  Thus, the student can organize the writing, using the rubric(s) first as a guide, then as an evaluation of individual assessment.  The third and fourth writing assignments comport with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure OR the federal rules of such (depending on the fact pattern).

A student may use his/her written products as evidence of the drafting of legal documents to portray to prospective employers the student’s worth as an exemplary paralegal.

Assessment of the oral presentations in the Dental Hygiene Capstone course (DEN 495) is more objective and consistent with use of a rubric. The rubric provides straightforward criteria with performance expectations and grading standards which are provided in advance of the presentation.  Students have access to the grading criteria (rubric) at the start of the semester, which allows them to assess the quality of their work prior to the presentation.

The evaluation utilizes a five (5) point Likert scale that attaches a weight of 1 or 2 to each element. Key component areas such as planning, implementation and assessment have a higher weight due to the significance in the capstone project. Other areas essential for a strong quality presentation are included as elements in the rubric but have a weight of one in the calculation. Points earned are divided by the possible points of 75 to calculate a final percentage grade.

Initially the evaluation form was used by all members of the audience. This changed as more students opted to do their presentations via DVD submission. Currently just the class instructor uses the rubric which provides a single grade for the presentation.

DEN 495 Capstone Oral Presentations

KEY:

5	4	3	2	1	0
Excellent Outstanding Exemplary	Above Average Very Good	Average Good	Below Average Needs Improvement	Unsatisfactory Poor	Did not attempt or complete

This assessment activity works toward making the “subjective” more concrete while providing students a three-tiered response to their projects. The project requires students to create a landscape design that satisfies the client’s expectation while also satisfying the principles related to a thorough and successful proposal.

The instructor creates a rubric that encompasses both needs. The rubric is applied, first, by the student-designer as a self-assessment, attaching his/her grade; it is then applied by a group of three or four peers who collectively study the proposal, arriving at a group grade. Finally, it comes to the professor, who determines the “official” grade, which most likely mirrors the first two grades.

This approach develops the students’ ability to appraise their own work critically and to honor client preferences/expectations (rather than their own), introducing the students to a level of professionalism necessary in their field.

The faculty and the advisory committee recognized a weakness in the major, specifically, students’ performance in a team/work group environment. To address this weakness, the faculty undertook a research project that, first, required students to respond to a survey instrument following their completion of the first team project. The survey results revealed the key roadblocks to effective teamwork. In response, the plastics faculty recommended that instructional strategies be embedded in the course, which required an adjustment to the lab-lecture hours. When the revised course is taught, the teamwork survey will function as a pre/post assessment.

A four-pronged assessment is built into the capstone and combines a commercially-prepared test with other measures:

• Application of the Major Field Test in Business (ETS instrument) offers norming as well as individual student performance information. The data enables the department to identify the strengths/weakness of its curricular approach and provides students with information about their cumulative mastery of the material.
• A rubric, mirroring program objectives, allows for individual assessment of each capstone presentation.
• Student Satisfaction Survey (initiated in 2002, thus providing longitudinal data) serves the faculty’s assessment review as well as the two agencies accrediting the major.
• The Business Strategy Game, an online simulation with 3,000 teams participating, provides Penn College students with another norming opportunity; moreover, the simulation promotes further development of technology and communication skills.

Students are introduced to the methodology required to complete a major research project, one that spans four semesters of work and that integrates the program goals with the goals of the baccalaureate core curriculum. From research proposal, précis, data collection, to the completed report that culminates in recommendations, the students’ theses incorporate statistics, research and writing skills, and technical/management skills related to the automotive industry. Students maintain a notebook of all related correspondence, drafts, and reference materials, which hones their organizational skills.

Pre- and post testing of students allow faculty to measure student progress as well as the effectiveness of teaching methodology. The data indicates student achievement from the start through the completion of the course, while also identifying topics/concepts that require additional focus. Four years of data has been collected and analyzed via this pre/post-test approach in an extrusion course; the data revealed a lower-than-anticipated improvement in one topic area.