CTAAR Newsletter

March 3 - Workshop by Richard Keeling

Richard Keeling, of Keeling and Associates, gave a presentation in New Brunswick last November on learning outcome assessment that was very well attended and very well received. Many attendees asked that we arrange for a day long workshop with Dr. Keeling and his team, and we have done so.

When: March 3, 2009, from 8:30 am to 5 pm.
Where: College Avenue Student Center Multipurpose Room
Format: The workshop will be conducted in a team format. Teams will be accepted from schools, academic departments, or professional staff offices. The optimal team size is four members, but larger teams are acceptable.

Registration Deadline: February 23, 2009.

Below is an outline of the workshop, as prepared by Dr. Keeling:

• Review current knowledge from multiple disciplines about the nature, characteristics, and processes of learning -- especially, transformative learning -- and how to link the science of learning to the assessment of student learning.
• Explore the intellectual foundations of the assessment of learning.
• Explain the role of assessment in improving both teaching and learning.
• Clarify differences between operational, or process, effectiveness and mission-centered, or outcome, effectiveness -- and between operational indicators and student learning outcomes.
• Differentiate levels of student learning outcomes -- institutional, divisional, departmental, and program/activity.
• Prepare participants to create meaningful student learning outcomes and basic assessment and evaluation plans, including methods, metrics, and processes with which to evaluate the effectiveness of learning experiences inside or outside the classroom.
• Describe the uses of assessment in program improvement.

The deadline for teams to sign up for the conference is February 23, 2009. You can sign up by sending an email to Monica Devanas at devanas@brokenmail.rutgers.edu please replace "brokenmail" with ctaar.rutgers.edu. Please list your team members names and email addresses in your email. There is a limit on the number of attendees, so please don't delay.

March 25 - Teaching and Technology

When: March 25, 2009 from 9 am to noon.
Where: College Avenue Student Center, Room 411
Format: There will be three short presentations followed by discussions on innovations in teaching lead by three faculty members. Lunch will be served at noon.

Terry McGuire, Genetics will present on 'just enough' technology
Neil Sheflin, Economics will present on Would Socrates use clickers?
Carolyn Williams, English will present on Writers House

Please register by sending an email to devanas@brokenmail.rutgers.edu please replace "brokenmail" with ctaar.rutgers.edu.

CLA Exam - Seniors earn $30

Seniors can earn $30

Rutgers University is conducting a self-study to assess learning outcomes. During the Spring semester, 100 seniors take the CLA Exam, the anonymized results are compared to SAT scores and to first-year students who took the exam in the Fall.

Only graduating seniors are eligible. The CLA is limited to 100 graduating seniors on a first-come, first-serve basis. Seniors who complete the exam will receive a $30 RUExpress card. The CLA takes 90 minutes or less to complete.

For more information or to register, go to http://ctaar.rutgers.edu/students/cla.