their normal classroom activities. Upon completion of the work-shop, participants are expected to train others in their colleges and departments to use the

materials and to develop their

own performance tasks.

For more information regarding the CLA or CLA in the Classroom Academy, please contact Dr. Marsha Watson, Director of Assessment, at 859.257.7086 or email at marsha.watson@uky.edu.

The Office of Assessment hosted an institution-exclusive, two-day CLA in the Classroom Academy May 28-29 at the UK Student Center. Thirty-one faculty, staff, and ad-ministrators from across the university participated in the workshop conducted by Dr. Marc Chun and Esther Hong of the Council on Aid to Education.

The Collegiate Learning Assess-ment (CLA) is a nationally-normed test currently used by UK to measure core general education learning achievements. The CLA in the Classroom Academy is a “train the trainer” workshop designed to complement the results of the CLA test by train-ing participants to design and assess Performance Tasks, an active learning, critical thinking assignment design strategy di-

rectly aligned with the nationally-normed test. This approach to assessment constitutes authentic, performance-based, curriculum-embedded assessment of student

learning, an approach which re-spects faculty time and ensures that assessment is a discipline-based learning experience for students, rather than some added-on testing program that is imposed upon and disruptive of

Tara Rose will join the Office of Assessment in the position of Assessment Specialist II on July 6, 2009. In her previous position as Assessment Director of the College of Business and Eco-nomics, she led the College’s assessment activities.

In her new role, Tara will facili-tate and provide logistical sup-port for assessment and im-provement of student learning at UK, particularly in General Edu-cation. Tara brings to the Office of Assessment significant statisti-

cal analysis experience and re-search skills from her years with the Kentucky Legislative Re-search Commission and the Justice and Safety Center at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU).

A native of Lexington, Tara re-ceived her Master of Science in Criminal Justice from EKU, and Master of Public Administration from Walden University, where she is currently pursing a doc-torate in Public Policy Admini-stration. Her experiences as an

adjunct professor at EKU and as a graduate student sparked her inter-est in student learning and assess-ment.

When not assessing learning, Tara enjoys being outdoors and spend-ing time with her husband and two children. She is also an active PTA member at her daughter’s school and even chairs a committee.

Why so much dedication to educa-tion? Tara believes each and every student is capable of producing social change.

CLA Academy Participants with Marc Chun and Esther Hong

CLA Academy at UK

Rose Joins the Office of Assessment

J U N E 2 0 0 9 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

CLA

Academy at

UK

Tara Rose

joins the

Office of

Assessment

What is a

Performance

Task?

Upcoming

Assessment

Workshops

SIZZLE What’s Hot in Assessment

P A G E 2

“I appreciated the

humor which

improved our

sense of

camaraderie

without taking us

off course”

- CLA Academy

Participant

Workshop facilitators Dr. Marc Chun

and Esther Hong await presentation

of performance tasks

What is a Performance Task?

Academy Participants Get Busy Participants of the CLA in the Classroom Academy learned how to design and use a per-formance task to accomplish their instructional and course objectives, as well as to achieve and assess general education learning outcomes. Performance tasks, which con-sist of a scenario, a “document library,” and a series of open-ended questions, can be de-signed in any discipline(s). Working individually or col-laboratively, participants cre-ated performance tasks for a

wide variety of disciplines that will be used in their courses; many were designed for courses that will address the new general educa-tion learning out-comes. At the end of the second day, a wall gallery allowed participants to pre-sent and discuss their performance tasks, and to see and hear what their col-leagues created. All Academy activities

were designed so that partici-pants would leave with a unique task suited to the courses they teach.

various sources of information such as research reports, pho-tographs, tables, diagrams, newspaper articles, memos, and interview notes.

Each performance task begins with a scenario that sets up the hypothetical but realistic situation. The scenario assigns the student a specific, relevant role.

After reading the scenario, the

student is instructed to answer a set of questions based on the evidence provided in the docu-ments included in the docu-ment library.

The purpose of the perform-ance task is to provide stu-dents with an authentic oppor-tunity to demonstrate the higher-order skills they have developed through instruction and course work.

A Performance Task is an ac-tivity that requires students to use critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and problem-solving skills to answer open-ended questions about a hypothetical but realistic situation. A docu-ment library is usually provided to the students to aid in pre-paring their responses to the task-related questions. The document library includes

S I Z Z L E

Dr. Gil Boissonneault discussing the task with Dr.

Rena Murphy and Ms. Tara Rose

Dr. Phil Harling, Dr. Arne Bathke, and Dr. Bill

Rayens working on a performance task

Marveling at the Fruits of their Labor P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

11. Jordan, Becky (UK 101)

12. Kovash, Mike (Physics & Astronomy)

13. Lane, Derek (Comm. & Info. Studies)

14. Lehman, Rhea (Arts & Creativity)

15. Moecher, Dave (Earth & Env. Sciences)

16. Mullen, Mike (Agriculture)

17. Murphy, Rena (Health Sciences)

18. Peters, Jane (History)

19. Rayens, Bill (Statistics)

20. Rogers, Jeff (MCL)

21. Rose, Tara (Business & Economics)

22. Sacks, David (TASC)

23. Sellnow, Deanna (Comm. & Info. Studies)

24. Sharp, Debbie (UK Libraries)

25. Stewart, Sharon (Health Sciences)

26. Warren, Jami (Comm. & Info. Studies)

27. Withers, Ben (Fine Arts)

28. Wiza, Judith (UK Libraries)

29. Yanarella, Ernie (Political Science)

1. Ashcraft, Michelle (UK 101)

2. Bathke, Arne (Statistics)

3. Bird, Eleanora (Pharmacy)

4. Boissonneault, Gil (Health Sciences)

5. Carey, Karen (CPE/Education)

6. Crooks, Deborah (Anthropology)

7. Edgerton, Lee (Agriculture)

8. Franklin, Chris (UK Student Center)

9. Greissman, Richard (Program Support)

10. Harling, Phil (Arts & Sciences)

Provost Subbaswamy takes time to view the per-

formance task posters

CLA in the Classroom Participants*:

Participants taking the

Gallery Walk and giving

feedback about the work

their colleagues accom-

plished

Participants presenting their

performance task posters

* Excluding Office of Assessment Staff

Mission

The mission of the Office of Assessment is to provide university-wide support for assessment of student learning, planning, and continuous im-provement activities at course, program, and insti-tutional levels, and to develop and sustain across the university community a culture of assessment.

Values

Continuous improvement of student learning

Shared responsibility, shared resources, and collaboration

Use of technology to achieve efficiency

Responsiveness and communication

Rigorous, authentic, and useful assessment data

Upcoming Assessment Workshops

www.uky.edu/IRPE/assessment.html

For more information, please contact us at: Office of Assessment 311 Patterson Office Tower University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506 Phone 859.257.7086 Fax 859.323.3999 Or email us: Dr. Julie Johnson, Assessment Specialist jfjohnson@uky.edu Natasha Mamaril, Graduate Assistant tashmamaril@uky.edu

Date Time

Location Title

JUNE

23-June 10:00-11:30 am Assessing Learning in an Online Environment

Tuesday 206 Student Center

18-August 10:30-11:45 am Drafting and Refining Unit Assessment Plans

Tuesday TBD

AUGUST

For more information about the workshops, please email Dr. Julie Johnson at jfjohnson@uky.edu or visit our website: http://www.uky.edu/IRPE/assessment.html