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Copyright 2005 College of Design
Ames, Iowa 50011 |
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Student Outcomes Assessment in the College of Design
Introduction
The college strives to provide each student with a broad educational
background and preparation in specific environmental design or art
discipline. Each program is designed to develop knowledge and
appreciation of the physical and cultural environment, to stimulate
creative thinking and analysis, and to prepare students for
participation in a wide variety of careers.
The College of Design and its departments regularly assess student outcomes to evaluate and guide changes in curricular
offerings and structure. The establishment of curricular goals,
assessment of those goals, and development of plans for improvement
have been part of the College of Design since its inception. Faculty
members are committed to the continuous improvement of student learning
through the systematic collection, discussion, and use of evidence and
data-beyond grades and end-of-course evaluations-about student
learning.
Accreditation standards and regular external reviews have provided
the formal structure and system of accountability for stimulating
improvement. Six of the degree programs in the college are accredited
professional programs, and outcomes assessment is an integral part of
presenting the curricula and student work to the
accrediting bodies via self-study reports and site visits. Assessment
that occurs in concert with strategic planning and catalog revisions
and by departmental advisory boards provides additional layers of
informal review to stimulate positive change. Finally, the nature of
studio pedagogy results in constant observation and evaluation of
student work (outcomes) by a broad sector of the faculty via public
reviews and exhibitions of that work. Students consistently are
involved in assessment of their learning through reflection and
self-critique of this same work. As such, the assessment of student
outcomes is an extension of the studio pedagogy of the college.
Collegiate Assessment Goals, Measures, Results and Changes
The broad learning objectives of the collegiate mission have been
further refined in each of the college's five-year strategic plans. The
vision statement of the 2000-2005 Strategic Plan expresses clear
aspirations, dependent on explicit
goals that place high value on student learning, including the
following:
- Enhance learning through exceptional learner-centered teaching, services, and enrichment opportunities;
- Enhance students' ability to understand and communicate visual information;
- Maintain and/or achieve national distinction for innovative
instructional programs and interdisciplinary collaborations in built
and material culture;
- Reinforce and celebrate the studio method of education as a learner-centered approach to address complex issues;
- Enhance the college's leadership in experiential approaches to learning.
Toward
the accomplishment of these strategic goals, and as a result of
assessment and fiscal challenges, the college's Envisioning Process
fundamentally reviewed the structure of the college. A brief
restatement of the tenets of this plan follows:
- Create an academic environment in which all degrees are equally
meaningful and rigorous, and all offerings are rooted in the land-grant
principles of the larger university, including its bias toward science
with practice.
- Strengthen position of College of Design as a professional College
of Design, maximizing the unique opportunities presented by the mix of
programs within the college, and taking full advantage of
cross-disciplinary opportunities.
- Invigorate the development of a culture of innovation in design education.
Shared foundations will uniquely ground the undergraduate professional design programs:
- Providing a rich, rigorous, inclusive base for the professional degree curricula;
- Creating shared language, experience and community for programs, faculty and students;
- Exposing students to all disciplines, allowing them to make
more informed degree choices, apply to multiple programs, and
experiment with interdisciplinary work;
- Introducing faculty to each other across disciplines, discovering future collaborators;
- Raising the level and expectations of all undergraduate programs to that of the strongest programs.
The graduate programs will become a Graduate School of Design, an identifiable, integrative entity:
- Offering an unparalleled mix of concentrations within single degrees;
- Offering numerous possibilities for double degrees;
- Strengthening and enriching all graduate degrees through cross-disciplinary concentrations and connections;
- Optimizing opportunities for shared courses;
- Optimizing opportunities for increased funded research.
Measures
Key student outcomes assessment measures that provide data include:
- Selective admissions scores, including portfolio reviews, to the
professional programs of architecture, landscape architecture, graphic
design and interior design, which occur annually;
- Formative and summative course evaluations, which occur each semester;
- Faculty notes and logs from in-studio reviews of student work,
which occur in the daily and weekly contact between students and
faculty in a critical teaching feedback pedagogy;
- Student and faculty notes or journals from public reviews of student work, which occur 2-4 times per semester for most studios;
- External reviewers' notes and comments from external exhibitions, competitions and grants, which occur irregularly;
- Faculty notes from collective faculty end-of-semester reviews, which occur annually or semi-annually;
- Faculty notes, comments and grades for senior or diploma projects, which occur annually;
- Minutes from faculty assessment, program, and curriculum committee meetings, which occur at least monthly;
- Minutes and comments from departmental professional advisory board meetings, which occur at least annually;
- Employee reports from internships and practicums, which occur each semester;
- Records of student awards and scholarship recipients, which occur annually;
- Placement and salary data from Career Placement Survey, which occurs annually;
- Public reports from accreditation reviews, which occur every 3-6 years in the professional degree programs;
- Pass rates on licensing examinations of graduates of professional programs, which occur perpetually.
Assessment Processes
The assessment programs of the College of Design are effective and
ongoing, supporting the goal of continuous improvement of student
learning.
The organizational structure of the college assessment program is as follows:
- The associate dean for academic affairs coordinates the program
with the Academic Affairs Council. The college governance document
establishes the Academic Affairs Council as the collegiate assessment
committee. Student representatives participate in the business of the
Academic Affairs Council.
- Departmental representatives on the Academic Affairs Council serve
as assessment liaisons to their departments. Within departments,
departmental chairs are the key individuals guiding outcomes assessment
efforts. Chairs work with faculty program leaders, and coordinate their
assessment programs with faculty program committees. Departmental
curriculum committees review and advise the assessment programs.
Departmental governance documents establish their respective assessment
committees.
- The college and departments require syllabi to indicate the
measurable objectives for student learning and how student learning
will be assessed.
- The assessment committee coaches individuals and works with unit heads and faculty to develop feedback loops.
The
college maintains a system of data collection that helps sustain an
effective assessment program. Key student outcomes assessment measures
that provide data include:
- Selective admissions scores, including portfolio reviews, to the
professional programs of architecture, landscape architecture, graphic
design, and interior design, which occur annually;
- Formative and summative course evaluations, which occur each semester;
- Faculty notes and logs from in-studio reviews of student work,
which occur in the daily and weekly contact between students and
faculty in a critical teaching feedback pedagogy;
- Student and faculty notes or journals from public reviews of student work, which occur 2-4 times per semester for most studios;
- External reviewers notes and comments from external exhibitions, competitions, and grants, which occur irregularly;
- Faculty notes from collective faculty end of semester reviews, which occur annually or semi-annually;
- Faculty notes, comments, and grades for senior or diploma projects, which occur annually;
- Minutes from faculty assessment, program, and curriculum committees, which occur at least monthly;
- Minutes and comments from departmental professional advisory boards, which occur at least annually;
- Employee reports from internships and practicums, which occur each semester;
- Records of student awards and scholarship recipients, which occurs annually;
- Placement and salary data from Career Placement Survey, which occurs annually;
- Public reports from accreditation reviews, which occur every 3-6 years in the professional degree programs;
- Pass rates on licensing examinations of graduates of professional programs, which occur perpetually.
The
assessment programs are bi-annually reviewed and updated by the
Academic Affairs Council, alternating with catalog revision years.
The effectiveness of changes made to support student learning is
evaluated and documented.
Table of Assessment Processes, College of Design
| Assessment Activity | Period or Cycle of Activity | Record of Activity | | Assessment Program Review | Every 2 years | Review, revise, and affirm assessment programs | | Catalog Revision | Every 2 years. Most recently completed December 2004. | Review and revise curricula and courses in response to assessment data. | | College Program Review | Every 7 years. | Preparation for College Program review includes a self-study and peer comparisons. | | Professional Accreditation Reviews | Varies by department, every 5-6 years |
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Departmental Information
- College of Design
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- Architecture
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- Art and Design
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- Community and Regional Planning
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- Landscape Architecture
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Assessment Program Materials and Reports
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- 1998 College of Design Student Outcomes Assessment Report: |
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Assessment Contacts
- College of Design
- Kate Schwennsen, Associate Dean
- 134 College of Design
- 294-7428
- kschwenn@iastate.edu
- John Cunnally, Professor and Academic Affairs Council Chair
- 162 College of Design
- 294-7702
- cunnally@iastate.edu
- Department of Architecture
- Undergraduate:
- Gregory Palermo, Associate Chair
- 154 College of Design
- 294-7163
- gpalermo@iastate.edu
- Tom Leslie, Assistant Professor and Academic Affairs Council member
- 589 College of Design
- 294-8460
- tleslie@iastate.edu
- Graduate:
- Clare Cardinal-Pett, Associate Professor and DOGE
- 484 College of Design
- 294-8711
- ccardp@iastate.edu
- Department of Art and Design
- Undergraduate:
- April Katz, Assistant Professor and Academic Affairs Council member
- 97 College of Design
- 294-3363
- akatz@iastate.edu
- Graduate:
- Roger Baer, Chair and DOGE
- 158 College of Design
- 294-6724
- rebaer@iastate.edu
- Department of Community and Regional Planning
- Undergraduate:
- Francis Owusu, Assistant Professor and Academic Affairs Council member
- 585 College of Design
- 294-7769
- fowusu@iastate.edu
- Graduate:
- Tim Borich, Associate Professor and DOGE
- 126 College of Design
- 294-8707
- borich@iastate.edu
- Department of Landscape Architecture
- Undergraduate:
- Michael Martin, Associate Professor and Academic Affairs Council member
- 579 College of Design
- 294-8974
- mdmartin@iastate.edu
- Graduate:
- Paul Anderson, Professor and DOGE
- 481 College of Design
- 294-8943
- fridolph@iastate.edu
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Updated 11/04/05-02:48 PID:105
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