The HETS Consortium recognizes the significance of establishing a solid assessment culture and applying effective and efficient assessment tools to demonstrate the accomplishment of the overall institutional goals of its members and the achievement of learning success.
These are the Best Practices in Assessment aimed at promoting the effective development and implementation of assessment efforts through the innovative and strategic use of technology focused on increasing Hispanics’ access to higher Education.
Below is a table listing the presentations selected to showcase during the conference. Please refer below for the official time schedule of this track.
Date
Time
Room
Presenters
Presentation Title & Abstract
February 16, 2012
4:00 PM
Amphitheater 2
Dr. Cynthia Lucena
Full Professor and Instructional Development and Technology Consultant,
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus and Dr. Carmen Pacheco
Director, Arts Technology and Innovation Department and Current Coordinator of the ePortfolio initiative, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Camus
(This presentation will be conducted in Spanish, translation available.) Electronic Portfolio: Challenges and Opportunities for Authentic Student Assessment.
The UPR-RP College of Education electronic portfolio was conceptualized using the Principles for the assessment of the future teacher to guide the assessment of student performances. Students collect, select and reflect about significant learning using evidence that demonstrate their achievement toward the guiding principles. The assessment promoted by the e-portfolio is a continuous process that involves students’ self-improvement.
February 16, 2012
4:00 PM
Theater
Brenda Ann Camara Walker, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor and Computer Assisted Academic Writing and Intermediate English Course CoordinatorVanessa Irizarry Muñoz, Ph.D.,
Full Professor and General Studies Faculty Assessment Project Coordinator,University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus
(Watch Webcast) Meaningful Online Interactions and Writing Improvement.
The presenters will discuss a research study on a teaching strategy that successfully incorporates conditions that support optimal second language learning in the classroom environment of two low proficiency level English courses at the University of Puerto Rico. Results of their study indicate that providing opportunities to meaningfully interact through the performance of authentic purposeful tasks significantly increases student learning. Research findings on how these students interacted using discussion forums and samples of their socio-culturally relevant creative work using technology will be showcased. The presenters will share their adapted and designed instruments and procedures to assess writing competencies in the technologically enhanced learning environment. Their approach may serve as a model to educators integrating technology in the curriculum.
February 17, 2012
10:30 AM
Amphitheater 2
Marilyn Kulik, Ph.D.
Chair, Online Department of Liberal Arts & SciencesBerkeley College
PresentationVirtual Global Citizenship: Integrating Academic Service- Learning in an Online Anthropology Course.
Students enrolled in an online World Cultures class partnered with Casa de los Angeles in Mexico as part of an international academic service-learning project. Casa de los Angeles is a nonprofit center that supports underprivileged families by providing daycare, transitional housing, a food bank and medical care. Working in a collaborative learning environment, students created sample blogs for our service partner designed to educate and engage supporters and to attract volunteers to the family support center. This hands-on project, along with in-depth class discussions, and reflective journals, helped enrich the study of world cultures and provided a transformative learning experience.
February 16, 2012
11:00 AM
Amphitheater 3
Dr. Christopher Davis
Director, Center for English Language SupportJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice
PresentationAssessment for Advisement: Measuring and Improving Course Advisement Guidelines for Second Language Learners. This presentation describes a project assessing how well students placed in ESL courses were guided in choosing first year college courses appropriate for their level of academic language proficiency. The presentation reviews the need, purpose, method, and results of the assessment project, and outlines best practices for conducting assessments for measuring and improving course selection guidelines for second language learners.
February 16, 2012
3:00 PM
Amphiteather 1
Michele Cuomo
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs,Queensborough Community College
(Watch Webcast) The Value of the AAC & U LEAP Integrated Learning Value Rubric.Queensborough has examined integrated learning through its Learning Community and Student Interdisciplinary Wiki Gropu for the past few years to meet the goals of the Freshman Academy Assessment Protocol. As a result, Queensborough was chosen by the Association of American Colleges and Universities to participated in the Collaborated for Authentic Assessment and Learning, which will use ePortfolio too assess student learning. Using the AAC & U LEAP (Liberal Education America’s Promise) VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) Rubrics, developed by faculty members across the United States, this project will create a process for national rubric score collection. Queensborough has been selected to score the Integrative Learning rubric, which faculty on campus ad been implementing through small cohorts of interdisciplinary faculty members, facilitated by the faculty coordinators of the Freshman Academies.
February 17, 2012
11:30 AM
Amphitheater 1
Dr. Gil Clary
Director, Office of Assessment Natalie Snow
Program Manager of Institutional Research,Bo Zigner
Manager, Office of Distance Education, Dr. Carlos Vargas-Aburto
Provost, All presenters are part of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at Kutztown University
Presentation (Watch Webcast) A Collaborative Approach to Assessment: Hispanic Students, Online Education, and Student EngagementOur presentation will discuss the collaborative model that is emerging at Kutztown University, and will describe the model as it is being applied to assessing the impact of the online education on Hispanic and other minority students. This collaboration centers on an examination of one outcome – grades – for Hispanic students in online courses versus traditional courses. While the first analysis suggested that online education may provide added value beyond that found in traditional courses, additional analyses revealed greater complexity. Moreover, analyses suggest that faculty who participated in distance education training sessions are providing a more rigorous educational experience, a result with clear implications for future actions. In addition to reporting these and follow-up analyses that examine the impact of online education, our presentation will describe our current work in using these results to strengthen the online education experience for Hispanic, other minority, and majority students and our use of technology to support these efforts.
Febraury 17, 2012
10:30 AM
Amphitheater 4
Dr. Vilma Pizarro,
Adjunct Professor Inter American University, Barranquitas Campus and Dr. Maritza Sostre
Associate Professor & Student Support Services, English Program Coordinator
University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus
PresentationLearning English as a second language by means of the discussion of social issues: traveling far beyond traditional techniques. This presentation is aimed at the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) by means of the discussion of social controversial issues. ESL instructors are to be encouraged to incorporate contemporary topics in order to develop class discussion, grammar practice and development of both reading and writing skills. The discussion is also based on a research that describes the transformative learning experiences of a group of ESL teachers who attended a professional development conference aimed at fostering classroom discussions in the context of social issues. The purpose of this research was to explore teachers’ learning experiences which in turn, would provoke ideas to enhance classroom educational practices. A qualitative analysis of the reflections suggests that ESL teachers experienced transformative learning, such as deepened perspectives, developed awareness, acquired a new understanding, and broadened perspectives for integrating classroom talk on social issues. The culture of the professional development conference transformed previous knowledge with the one acquired and the participants became aware that classroom discussions of social issues are a way to guide students to participate in a democracy. This research also marked an effort to offer ESL teachers the opportunity to voice their transformative learning experiences with potential consequences for curriculum improvement.