Informal Overview of Assessment Practices

Selected College - Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL

Each student will choose a college or university and will be expected to make inquiries via the web about the various assessment practices or instruments this college or university uses.

This will require you to browse the institution's Office of Institutional Research, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Office of Assessment, etc.

You will need to do some research to figure out where the college houses its assessment information. On the scheduled day on the syllabus, you will submit the assignment through the assignment link in the designated learning module AND post on the Discussion Board inside of Blackboard a 2 typed-page discussion of your findings including:

(1) a reflection on how easy or difficult it was to find the information,

(2) a discussion of how much importance you think the college or university places on assessment based on your findings, and

(3) a brief discussion of their assessment practices.

Please make sure your assignment is formatted in APA, 6th edition and includes an APA title page. Also, while this is an informal assignment, students are expected to complete this assignment in a fashion that is reflective of graduate-level work to include correct grammar, etc.

Document Analysis and/or Website Analysis Worksheet

1. Type of document? (i.e.,: brochure, newsletter, website, etc.)

2. What is this document or website used for?

3. Are there any unique or interesting characteristics about this document or website?

4. For what audience was the document written or website created?

5. What are the key messages this document or website conveys?

6. Specifically HOW are the messages conveyed?

7. List 2-3 things this document or website tells you about life or culture in that region (or in the U.S.) during the time it was/is written

8. In what ways is this document or website effective/ineffective in conveying its messages?

9. Based on the information you can gather from the document or website, what do you believe are the underlying values (or assumptions, or beliefs) of the place where these documents originated?

10. Was the document or website easy to use? Easy to read? Well organized? Up-to-date? Interesting to look at? Informative? What might this say about the place where the document or website originated?

11. Provide other general comments about the document or website that might be useful to know or consider