Overview

This site is a guide, especially for WISR faculty and students, but also for Board and alumni, on WISR's methods of evaluating student learning. These methods serve many purposes, including:

• evaluating whether or not students have met WISR's minimum academic standards to progress toward graduation, 

• giving each student feedback on how they can more effectively learn and pursue their personal goals, 

• providing everyone at WISR with insights into how to improve education at WISR, and 

• providing evidence to those outside of WISR who wish to know about learning at WISR, including the qualities of its successful methods, and overall value. 

The evaluation of WISR's curriculum, mission, learning outcomes, and teaching-learning methods is continual. WISR was founded with the intention of being mindful and purposeful in experimenting with educational improvements.  

Outline of Topics to be Addressed

• Grading and Documentation

Topics include:

Activities to be Evaluated in Each Course—the learning activities that faculty will evaluate, including the role of student self-assessments and the importance of being aware of WISR’s Mission and Degree Program Outcomes.

Faculty Evaluation of Student Learning, including the form used by faculty in the Evaluation of Student Performance.

The Evaluation of student Progress through the Degree Program

WISR’s Official Policies and Practices on Grading and Awarding Credit

Challenges and Opportunities in Grading and Documentation of Student Learning, including the various uses of student learning portfolios, the value of collaboration among students, and the importance of transparency about the details of that collaboration.

Rubrics used by WISR faculty in evaluating student assignments and learning. 

•  Program Evaluation and Review

Topics include:

Annual Evaluations of Program and Faculty—we give details about the several ways in which we gather data to evaluate our programs—our goals, methods and faculty.

The evaluation of WISR's curriculum, learning outcomes, and teaching-learning methods is continual. WISR was founded with the intention of being mindful and purposeful in experimenting with educational improvements. We describe some of the many ways in which this process happens, day by day, month by month.

• Rationale for WISR's Methods of Evaluation

Topics include: 

WISR’s Philosophy of Transformative Evaluation, including a discussion of the roles of summative, formative and transformative evaluation.

The sometimes, contradictory purposes of formative and summative evaluation, and the relationship to “Learning-Certification” contradictions.

Evaluation as the “Discovery of Grounded Theory”, including a discussion of the merits of those approaches to research which develop concepts, theories, questions, tentative courses of action, and working hypotheses from specific examples and stories.

The article, "WISR’s Learning Methods, Learning Objectives and Assessment of Outcomes:  Relevant Theories and Epistemology on the Development of Expert Knowledge and Practice in the Real World." A discussion of how, as part of our ongoing process of reflecting on, and articulating, our methods of learning and evaluation, WISR faculty recently revisited our ideas about "expert knowledge and practice"--as a way both to educate further our students, as well as to guide our methods of evaluating student learning and learning outcomes, and engaging in continual review of our academic  programs.

• Mission, Learning Outcomes and Measures

WISR's institutional mission

Learning Outcomes--for each of WISR's three degree programs