Topic Outline and Timeline

The following is a draft outline and timeline for the Transformative Assessment Project online workshop/learning community. Participants are required to agree to the terms of the learning contract , and can expect to spend approximately 3 hours a week on assignments, discussions, and other workshop activities (this does not include separate work their institutional project team may be doing). An online learning environment will be provided for the workshop and learning community, as well as a facilitator for the discussions and other learning activities. For each weekly topic, support resources will be made available, learning activities assigned, and a project team task identified that will result in a work product useful to each project team.

WEEK 1 (3/25 - 3/31/02)

TITLE:ORIENTATION
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

How do I navigate around in the learning environment and use the learning environment tools?
How do I share documents in the learning community?
Who are the other community participants?
What do we expect from each other as community participants?
What do I think the results would be of a successful implementation of a transformative assessment system at my institution?

WEEK 2: (4/1 - 4/7/02)

TITLE:CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

What is the READY system, and how can it help us assess readiness?
How do we use the READY system?
What do we think "transformative assessment" is?
What does a transformative assessment system look like?
What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for successful implementation of a transformative assessment system?
How important is alignment of strategic plans, operational plans, and assessment systems to the success of transformative assessment systems?
To what degree are our strategic plans, operational plans, and existing assessment systems in alignment?

WEEK 3 (4/8 - 4/14/02)

TITLE: WHAT ARE WE ASSESSING?
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

Are the institutional mission and values with regard to teaching and learning clearly articulated?
Given our mission/value statements, what kinds of goals are likely to be important?
What are the powerful questions to study in relation to the mission/vision? (What are the questions we need to ask first?)
What are the key indicators that can be monitored institution-wide to give feedback on achievement of goals?
What are some outcomes statements derived from the institutional mission and goals that would help us measure our success in attaining the mission and goals?
What synchronous communication tool is available for our learning community, and how do we use it?

WEEK 4 (4/15 - 4/21/02)

TITLE: TRANSFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT READINESS (THE INSTITUTION, THE TEAM)
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

How "ready" is my institution to use institution-wide assessment systems, in an integrated way for all levels (the nodes identified in the Alignment matrix) to systematically transform teaching and learning?
What is our institutional capacity for assessment? What are our strengths? What are some strategies for leveraging the strengths? What are our weaknesses? What are some strategies for overcoming the weakness?
Do our statements of goals and outcomes reflect a language and understanding of concepts that would be shared by those who will execute the vision - and who are those people?
What strategies might help us all get more clear on the vision, and begin using a common shared vocabulary to describe goals?
What kind of environment and what processes would ensure ongoing consultation, collaboration, and ownership?
Given the stakeholders, processes, and institutional assessment resources, who should be involved in the assessment system?

WEEK 5:(4/22 - 4/28/02)

TITLE: PLANNING THE STUDY (Guest "Speaker")
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE

What are the rationale(s) and approaches for doing studies?
What are different types of evaluation and studies?
What are scenarios for failure and success in achieving goals and outcomes?
How can a team go about prioritizing key indicators for the purpose of selecting which studies to pursue?

Week 6 (4/29 - 5/5/02)

TITLE: METHODOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS
KEY QUESTION TO EXPLORE:

Specifically, what are we going to study?
Who are the audiences for this study, and what sort of decisions will they make based upon it?
Based on assessment system case studies and the purpose(s) of our institutional study, what are the most appropriate and effective assessment methodologies to use?

Week 7 (5/6 -5/12/02)

TITLE: PILOT TESTING
KEY QUESTION TO EXPLORE:

How are those methodologies likely to work in our institutional setting?
Will we end up with the intended results?

Week 8 (5/13 - 5/17/02)

TITLE: FINAL REVIEW OF PLANS; WRAP-UP AND SUMMARY
KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

How would we "map" this complex idea of transformative assessment systems?
What have we learned about the issues?
What are the basic guidelines for creating and maintaining successful transformative assessment systems?
What are the promising practices that we have identified?
How useful was this online workshop/learning community?
What is the one thing that should be kept?
What is the one thing that should be changed?
What is the one thing that should be removed?
Do we want to go on with the learning community? If so, what resources and roles would help keep it useful?
Who will take on what roles to sustain and maintain the community?

ELI 2002 Spring Focus Session		Topic Outline and Timeline The following is a draft outline and timeline for the Transformative Assessment Project online workshop/learning community. Participants are required to agree to the terms of the learning contract , and can expect to spend approximately 3 hours a week on assignments, discussions, and other workshop activities (this does not include separate work their institutional project team may be doing). An online learning environment will be provided for the workshop and learning community, as well as a facilitator for the discussions and other learning activities. For each weekly topic, support resources will be made available, learning activities assigned, and a project team task identified that will result in a work product useful to each project team. WEEK 1 (3/25 - 3/31/02) TITLE:ORIENTATION KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: How do I navigate around in the learning environment and use the learning environment tools? How do I share documents in the learning community? Who are the other community participants? What do we expect from each other as community participants? What do I think the results would be of a successful implementation of a transformative assessment system at my institution? WEEK 2: (4/1 - 4/7/02) TITLE:CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: What is the READY system, and how can it help us assess readiness? How do we use the READY system? What do we think "transformative assessment" is? What does a transformative assessment system look like? What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for successful implementation of a transformative assessment system? How important is alignment of strategic plans, operational plans, and assessment systems to the success of transformative assessment systems? To what degree are our strategic plans, operational plans, and existing assessment systems in alignment? WEEK 3 (4/8 - 4/14/02) TITLE: WHAT ARE WE ASSESSING? KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: Are the institutional mission and values with regard to teaching and learning clearly articulated? Given our mission/value statements, what kinds of goals are likely to be important? What are the powerful questions to study in relation to the mission/vision? (What are the questions we need to ask first?) What are the key indicators that can be monitored institution-wide to give feedback on achievement of goals? What are some outcomes statements derived from the institutional mission and goals that would help us measure our success in attaining the mission and goals? What synchronous communication tool is available for our learning community, and how do we use it? WEEK 4 (4/15 - 4/21/02) TITLE: TRANSFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT READINESS (THE INSTITUTION, THE TEAM) KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: How "ready" is my institution to use institution-wide assessment systems, in an integrated way for all levels (the nodes identified in the Alignment matrix) to systematically transform teaching and learning? What is our institutional capacity for assessment? What are our strengths? What are some strategies for leveraging the strengths? What are our weaknesses? What are some strategies for overcoming the weakness? Do our statements of goals and outcomes reflect a language and understanding of concepts that would be shared by those who will execute the vision - and who are those people? What strategies might help us all get more clear on the vision, and begin using a common shared vocabulary to describe goals? What kind of environment and what processes would ensure ongoing consultation, collaboration, and ownership? Given the stakeholders, processes, and institutional assessment resources, who should be involved in the assessment system? WEEK 5:(4/22 - 4/28/02) TITLE: PLANNING THE STUDY (Guest "Speaker") KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE What are the rationale(s) and approaches for doing studies? What are different types of evaluation and studies? What are scenarios for failure and success in achieving goals and outcomes? How can a team go about prioritizing key indicators for the purpose of selecting which studies to pursue? Week 6 (4/29 - 5/5/02) TITLE: METHODOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS KEY QUESTION TO EXPLORE: Specifically, what are we going to study? Who are the audiences for this study, and what sort of decisions will they make based upon it? Based on assessment system case studies and the purpose(s) of our institutional study, what are the most appropriate and effective assessment methodologies to use? Week 7 (5/6 -5/12/02) TITLE: PILOT TESTING KEY QUESTION TO EXPLORE: How are those methodologies likely to work in our institutional setting? Will we end up with the intended results? Week 8 (5/13 - 5/17/02) TITLE: FINAL REVIEW OF PLANS; WRAP-UP AND SUMMARY KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE: How would we "map" this complex idea of transformative assessment systems? What have we learned about the issues? What are the basic guidelines for creating and maintaining successful transformative assessment systems? What are the promising practices that we have identified? How useful was this online workshop/learning community? What is the one thing that should be kept? What is the one thing that should be changed? What is the one thing that should be removed? Do we want to go on with the learning community? If so, what resources and roles would help keep it useful? Who will take on what roles to sustain and maintain the community?
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