Category: Assessment

  • I’m Not A Programmer But Programming Skills Are Still Extremely Useful

    I don’t work in IT, software development, or anything even closely related to those fields so I’m often surprised at how much programming I do in my daily work life.  At times I write scripts or light programs (e.g., this set of Excel macros), usually to save time and ensure accurate, well-documented, and reproducible results. …

  • New NSSE Survey and Technology Questions

    I’m super excited that my colleagues have finally made the new version of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)  publicly available!  We’ve spent a lot of time working on this over the past 3-4 years, including focus groups, interviews, two pilot administrations, tons of literature review and data analysis, (seemingly) thousands of meetings, and…

  • Thoughts on Backward Design

     This post will be less organized than most posts; some of these thoughts and ideas are still a little raw. Backward design – the method by which one begins with the desired end result(s) of an educational program, determines acceptable evidence showing that the result(s) has been achieved, and then creates a plan to teach…

  • Quick Thought: Appropriate Metrics of Success With Social Media

    (I don’t have time right now to fully develop these thoughts but I want to get them out there while they’re on my mind. I’m sure others have thought about this much more extensively and I would appreciate pointers to them!) I don’t know if many of us yet know what measures of success to…

  • Assessment in IT

    A few weeks ago, I attended the 2010 ResNet Symposium in Bellingham, Washington where I was invited to present a preconference session on assessment.  I presented two identical sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  In this post I’ll reflect on what we discussed in these sessions and my perceptions of assessment…