Final ID Brief

Title or Topic of Module/Lesson: Assessment Reporting

Date this Design Created/Modified: 3/20/2018
Designer’s Name: Larry Barraza
Time: 7-10 minutes

Problem Analysis: Mt. San Jacinto College is one of the 114 community colleges in
California. With campuses in San Jacinto, Menifee Valley, San Gorgonio Pass, and
Temecula, the college offers classroom instruction, along with 140 online classes
through Distance Education. For all of its instructional classes, MSJC has been formally
assessing student learning outcomes since 2011. For the first few years, although
instructions were made available, no formal training was provided on conducting
assessments and reporting results. Within the last three years, an assessment
coordinator was hired from the instructor ranks and charged with the responsibility of
training instructors and tracking progress on the completion of course assessments.

In a preliminary interview with the school’s assessment coordinator, it was disclosed

that although timely completion of assessment reporting has improved over the years,
there are still an unacceptable number of departments that do not complete or submit
their assessments as scheduled. The timeliness of assessment completion is analyzed
from a secondary source of data collection in the form of institutional reports that track
the timeliness, accuracy, and degree of completion of scheduled assessments.

Based on the feedback from the school’s assessment coordinator and anecdotal
discussions with instructors, the target audience has experienced some confusion and
frustration with the assessment process, resulting in delayed, incomplete or missing
assessments. Some results are not consistently entered into the assessment tracking
system, which is detrimental to compliance, program reviews and, potentially,
institutional accreditation. Furthermore, instructor performance in understanding the
assessment process, while confidently and consistently completing this important
compliance requirement with accuracy and timeliness, needs improvement. In this
instructional project, learners will gain the necessary background, understanding,
knowledge and skills to competently and consistently satisfy their obligations towards
timely and accurate completion of course learning outcome (CLO) assessments.

This project will provide an on-demand, interactive, and accessible online learning
module of approximately one-hour that incorporates, among other elements, video,
audio, screen capture, and short quizzes. These instructional tools will review the CLO
assessment process, why it is important, and how to report results efficiently, step-by-
step. This learning solution will also include an instructional manual and slideshow
presentation to supplement organizational training and materials. This instructional
project will help ensure institutional and accreditation compliance with higher
assessment completion rates, while improving student learning, outcomes, and
success. Module learners will gain the necessary background, understanding,
knowledge, and skills to competently, confidently and consistently satisfy their
obligations towards timely completion of CLO assessments.
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Target Audience: The learner population for this instructional project consists of over
500 new and existing community college instructors from a variety of disciplines and
departments. These education professionals conduct course delivery in face-to-face,
online and hybrid modalities using the Canvas learning management system for
instruction and eLumen for assessment reporting. As prospective learners for this
project, instructors possess varying levels of experience, confidence and competence in
completing the assessment process. Although live training has been conducted at
various intervals, a repository of instructions is provided, and one-on-one support is
offered by the assessment coordinator, overall results remain inconsistent.

The target audience has varying skill levels with respect to understanding and
completing the assessment process on time. They have also been provided with
varying degrees of training and exposure to assessment materials and systems. Most
have interacted with organizational assessment reporting at some time, depending on
their length of tenure, class assignments, and assessment schedules. These full-time
and part-time instructors are subject-matter experts with industry experience and who
possess bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees, so they are quite capable learners.
They also possess experience managing courses using an online learning management
system. Given the educational and professional backgrounds of the target audience,
they should be eligible to take the learning solution without meeting any prior
requirements, although no other entry requirements are anticipated.

Learning Objectives: As teaching professionals, it is imperative that instructors

continue their professional development to improve, not only their abilities, but their
organizational effectiveness. The primary objective of this project is to rebuild
awareness of the course learning outcome assessment process and explain how timely
completion of assessments is of value to organizational stakeholders, including
students, instructors, departments, and the institution. Upon completion of the learning
module, participants will be able to clearly define the purpose, value and process of
assessing learning outcomes without the aid of notes or other study aids, although
some will be made available for continued reference and learning.

For this instructional project, the learning objectives include:

1. From memory, learners will be able to recognize the purpose of assessing learning
outcomes with 100% accuracy.
2. From memory, learners will be able to state how often assessments must be
completed with 100% accuracy.
3. Given a link to online assessment resources, learners will be able to sign-on to the
assessment management system and navigate the site with 100% accuracy.
4. Given a link to online assessment resources, learners will be able to determine
which courses are due for assessment with 100% accuracy.
5. Given a link to online assessment resources, learners will be able to select learning
objectives for their courses by program/discipline with 100% accuracy.

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Assessment: Interactive video quizzes will be incorporated into the categorical topics
of the learning module. These will be utilized to measure the understanding and
retention of concepts and practices for practical application on-the-job and fulfill
assessment responsibilities on time. Feedback will be collected to check the perceived
and actual effectiveness of the training. A review of the accuracy and timeliness of
assessment reporting will be conducted about six months after the initial training once
the majority of instructors have completed the learning module. Results will be
compared to prior periods, and changes will be made to further improve results. This
instructional project will be considered successful if the assessment coordinator and
school administration is satisfied with improved results and outcomes.

Instructional Strategies: No single theory or strategy will be used to address module

learner needs. Influences of Behaviorism and Cognitivism, along those of Gagne and
Bandura, will be evident in the design of this training module. For example, many of the
aspects of the First Principles of Instruction theory would be applicable to this project,
including delivering new and novel ways of providing training opportunities that engage
the learner with lessons, information, and practice to facilitate learning and improve
performance. This theory can be of practical use and application to instructional design
projects like this one, particularly those requiring task-centered learning.

For this module, the 4CID theory could also apply in most respects. To prepare for
effective instruction, learning tasks will be designed that focus on set performance
objectives and a sequence of task classes. To facilitate learning, supportive information
will be created from the analysis and application of cognitive strategies and mental
models. In addition, the creation of procedural information in lesson design will benefit
from analyzing the rules of cognition and prior knowledge required for current
learning. As participants progress, part-task practice will promote rule automation with
the practice of recurring tasks, which will be of value for recurrent task completion in the
future, including successful completion of assessment tasks.

Additionally, Elaboration theory can be applied in this project. Lessons will be

sequenced with conceptually organized instruction that presents the easiest and most
familiar concepts first. Procedures will then present steps logically, in order of their
performance. These theoretically organized lessons will also move from the simple to
the complex. Given the education and experience of participants, analogies will relate
content to their prior knowledge. In addition, summarizers will be used to review lesson
and module content. Synthesizers, such as diagrams, flow charts, and job aids, will
help learners integrate contents into a meaningful whole. Participants will also be able
to exercise some control over their training progress, including speed and practice
toward learning on an independent, asynchronous basis.

Furthermore, participants in this learning module will be provided with several

opportunities to review and practice modeled behaviors to achieve optimum results. As
an introduction to the module, learners will be assessed for their current knowledge,
understanding and attitudes regarding the topic. They will also have repeatable access
to reading materials, instructional videos, procedure maps, and sample documents that

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enable and encourage repetitive review, practice, and efficacy. Learners will also be
provided with reference documentation, job aids and contact information during and
after working through this instructional module for ongoing practice and support.

Given how new learning is built and scaffolded upon existing knowledge and experience
of the intended module participants, the Constructivist learning theory is also applicable.
Within this module, learning is “acquired”, as an active, interactive, and contextualized
process. Through application, feedback, and refinement, learners can develop the
competence and confidence to retain and use what they have learned independent of
the instructor to achieve their goals.

Instructional strategies to implement and facilitate learning also include:

• Introduction and Pre-training: Learners will be introduced to the topic and presented
with the key objectives of the instruction. To ensure a better understanding of terms
and processes, learners will be provided with a glossary of key terms for reference.
This learning tool will help orient participants to their learning goals.
• Tone: The visual and written content will be presented for academic professionals.
Some narration, where appropriate, will also be delivered in a conversational, but
professional manner.
• Contiguity and Modality: To address the varying needs of instructors’ schedules and
access to technology, content will be presented using online instruction and
resources via the school’s learning management system and/or institutional website.
As appropriate, content will be presented in writing, using graphics, video, and
interactive animation to promote comprehension, along with narrated and on-screen
text, which will be minimized to reduce the learner’s cognitive load.
• Worked Examples: Simulated assessment examples will be assigned to tasks, as
appropriate, to become familiar with and demonstrate applied knowledge.

Resources:
The majority of instructional materials will be developed using institutional tools and
resources. Content will be drawn from the school’s assessment coordinator and
institution-approved assessment guidelines. Module elements will be created using
institutional office technology, including Microsoft Windows-based machines and
software, plus other applications, such as TechSmith Camtasia and Adobe Captivate.

References:
Barnes, N., Dacey, C.M., Fives, H. (2017) U.S. teachers’ conceptions of the purposes of
assessment. Retrieved March 14, 2018 from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X17302895
Durisova, M., Kucharcikova, A., Tokarcikova, E. (2015) Assessment of higher education
teaching outcomes (quality of higher education). Retrieved March 14, 2018 from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281500974X
Omer, A. H. (2015). Online training to support governance, risk and compliance
initiatives. Retrieved March 14, 2018 from
https://www.trainingindustry.com/articles/learning-technologies/online-training-to-
support-governance-risk-and-compliance-initiatives/