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Taking a holistic view of academic assessment
Taking a holistic view of academic assessment
Dr. Mamta Saxena
Dr. Mamta Saxena is the Senior Assistant Dean of Academic Quality and Assessment at the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University. In our interview with Dr. Saxena she leaned into how to align the assessment cycle with the student and faculty journey in a program or course by (a) embedding equity quality indicators in the content design and teaching rubrics, (b) making the data more accessible to faculty to facilitate equity-informed design and teaching practices, (c) including faculty in the process from the start, and (d) offering support and training for faculty on how to integrate the equity quality indicators in their design and teaching practices.
Dr. Mamta Saxena is the Senior Assistant Dean of Academic Quality and Assessment at the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University. In our interview with Dr. Saxena she leaned into how to align the assessment cycle with the student and faculty journey in a program or course by (a) embedding equity quality indicators in the content design and teaching rubrics, (b) making the data more accessible to faculty to facilitate equity-informed design and teaching practices, (c) including faculty in the process from the start, and (d) offering support and training for faculty on how to integrate the equity quality indicators in their design and teaching practices.
Here are some highlights from our conversation with Dr. Saxena:
Here are some highlights from our conversation with Dr. Saxena:
-Her team created a holistic assessment scorecard across the student life cycle at the college to define success indicators, not just post-course but pre-course and during the course.
-As a result, they embedded more tools for instructors to use inside their course to support student learning such as syllabus and course readiness data along with self-assessment or peer-assessment quality rubrics for faculty to share and learn from each other, with the goal of overall design and teaching practice improvement.
-Her team also created monthly sessions called QUEST (Quality Unleashed: Empowering Skillful Teaching) series, in partnership with program faculty, to support equitable design, pedagogy, and data-informed decision-making for inclusive teaching. These series and resources were specifically made accessible to part-time faculty to nurture a sense of belonging and create buy-in for implementation fidelity across the programs.
-Her team continues to work with faculty to gauge their data needs and make actionable data and insights accessible to the relevant stakeholders at the right cadence to support student learning and continuous improvement at the college. There is also an emphasis on including filters for gender, race, and ethnicity so the data can be disaggregated for targeted support.
-Her team continues to work with faculty to gauge their data needs and make actionable data and insights accessible to the relevant stakeholders at the right cadence to support student learning and continuous improvement at the college. There is also an emphasis on including filters for gender, race, and ethnicity so the data can be disaggregated for targeted support.
Dr. Saxena reminded us that the main stakeholders are the faculty, so working to include their voices and expertise from the start, address their program needs, offer development support, and enlist them as champions to support student success are some of the key strategies to obtain leadership buy-in and to make the work valued and prioritized.
Dr. Saxena reminded us that the main stakeholders are the faculty, so working to include their voices and expertise from the start, address their program needs, offer development support, and enlist them as champions to support student success are some of the key strategies to obtain leadership buy-in and to make the work valued and prioritized.
In thinking about Dr. Saxena’s approach:
In thinking about Dr. Saxena’s approach:
1) How might you lead faculty to use data in their course more effectively to make the changes in course design and inclusive teaching?
1) How might you lead faculty to use data in their course more effectively to make the changes in course design and inclusive teaching?
2) What might an ongoing virtual series do to encourage more conversations about student learning and assessment at the course and program level?
2) What might an ongoing virtual series do to encourage more conversations about student learning and assessment at the course and program level?
3) What does holistic program assessment mean to you?
3) What does holistic program assessment mean to you?
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