Content area
Full Text
The complexity and varied outcomes associated with signature experiences have presented many assessment challenges for participating institutions in the LEAP Challenge: Engaging in Capstones and Signature Work consortium, led by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Each college and university evaluated outcomes by developing customized approaches that were designed for both the type of experience and the specific institutional mission or culture. Higher education's emphasis on signature work is a recent development, and most of the consortium schools believe their institution has yet to make significant progress in assessing such work. In this article, we will examine some of the early efforts to assess signature work with a particular focus on practices used at individual colleges to assess students' reflections, as well as student and institutional preparedness for signature work. We will also discuss some of the challenges and issues faced as work on this front has moved forward.
USiNG EXiSTiNG iNSTiTUTiONAL DATA
Assessing undergraduate signature work may seem daunting at first. After all, institutions often vary in how they define and implement signature work within their curricula. These differences may lead administrators and professors to the conclusion that they must create new assessment mechanisms. Creating new assessments may be necessary, depending on the unique circumstances of each institution. However, it is often possible to assess signature work in meaningful ways using existing institutional assessment practices. In this section, we illustrate how our institutions have applied three distinct, existing assessment tools to help evaluate undergraduate signature work. In doing so, we hope that other institutions may use these examples to implement their own signature work assessment measures.
Among the institutions participating in AAC&U's capstone and signature work project, the most common assessment tool was an institutional or departmental senior survey. Some institutions also employed an alumni survey or a general survey of current students. Through these assessment mechanisms, students self-report learning outcomes or rate their preparedness for signature work. Institutional research offices often administer senior surveys to measure a variety of outcomes within the curriculum, cocurriculum, or other aspects of campus life.
There are several benefits associated with the use of a senior survey. First, some institutions require students to complete a survey before graduation, thus ensuring a high response rate and robust...