The Success Of A Department 's Doctoral Program

I suggested this book because it was the book I studied when I was challenged to question my own practices. This book showed me that grading practices are directly linked to student performance, and play an essential role in building a culture of learning. I learned that grading practices go beyond scoring papers and calculating final averages. Grading practices include creating quality assessments, focusing on standards, and involving students in the learning process. My goal for the book study is to apply my learning described in PGE#3 to guide teachers to the same conclusions. I asked to facilitate the book study because I felt that I could use my own experiences to help move us forward. My long term goal is to engage teachers in meaningful, research-based discussions in order to build a shared vision, allowing us to create a school-wide grading policy that supports student

The term ‘formative assessment’ is used to describe the activities and processes used by teachers and learners to gather information that informs future teaching and learning. Assessment becomes formative if the information gathered is used as feedback to adapt and modify teaching and learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.2). There are a variety of different methods and techniques that can be used by teachers and learners that can contribute to enhancing learner progress. These include

One of the prime debated keynote these days is the evaluation method at academic institutions, with numerous prominent personalities stating that formal written examination is outdated and should be revised. Although, in my perspective, I do entirely undertake this notion and I will give a brief explanation for that in this discourse.

As an emerging student affair professional, it is important for me to invest time into learning about professionals in the field and learning how they navigated being a new professional. I was partnered with Elizabeth Bledsoe, who graduated from the HESA track program in 2013. She is currently the Assistant Director for the Office of Institutional Assessment at Texas A&M, in College Station, Texas. Her office works with all forms of assessment at the university and these main areas are; learning outcome, student support, academics, and curriculum. Elizabeth is specifically in charge of the communication between the different colleges, focused around accreditation and curriculum. Elizabeth said her position is especially important considering Texas A&M is part of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and it is a strict accreditation body.

The research by Jazvac-Martek is commendable and offers a much needed discussion on the expectations and motivations of doctoral students. However, I would have preferred a larger and more diverse group of participants. The

This article demonstrates how 38 faculty members across seven disciplines extend support in forming success for doctoral students. It conducts an in-depth research applying a constant comparative method in understanding faculty members’ own experiences of student success in doctoral education. It begins with summarizing relevant existent literature and the conceptual context guiding the study. Key elements in existent literature relating to doctoral success include retention, academic accomplishment, graduation, and professional socialization were also studied. The research indicates that doctoral education varies and is experienced inversely amongst the different disciplines. In examining the diversity among the disciplines, culture and framework influenced the faculty members’ conceptions of doctoral success. In addition, a common ground was established between departments directly related to institutional effects mainly focused on ranking, status, and funding observations. Of relevance, the study shows several significant conclusions such as successful completion derived from individual departmental cultural viewpoints, questioning existing institutional framework that can enable or hinder students’ success, and institutional funding. Also, the article concludes that research has only been attempted in

The underlying and predominant institutional layout for higher education has recently been redefined over the last 20 to 30 years. Traditionally, higher education institutions were created, maintained, and lead by one and only one goal; the pursuit of academic excellence. Intellectuals and scholars formed together in a decentralized framework in order to collaborate, propagate knowledge, and conduct research. All aspects of a university where based around the goal of education and research. The institution consisted of individuals with the same mission and formed into different departments that agreed and elected two individuals, who exhibited the best qualities of an academic, to act as the president and vice chancellor. The president and vice chancellor were responsible for making and communicating decisions as they related to furthering the development of academic goals. The president and vice chancellor were supported by several committees that encompassed all aspects of the university.

Institutions of higher education have faced growing external demands from state and federal government, accrediting bodies, the public. For the past two decades, the focus on student learning and accountability has grown tremendously. Now, it is difficult to read the news without seeing a headline related to states holding institutions accountable for graduation and retention rates, national initiatives related to graduating more students, or an article looking at funding and affordability issues for students and institutions of higher education. Not only have institutions increased their focus on measuring student learning, now accrediting agencies are also doing so. The focus on accountability and student learning assessment in

As Director of the Office of Student Learning and Institutional Assessment at SFA, the Provost charged me with developing, implementing, and overseeing institutional effectiveness efforts for academic programs, administrative units, and educational support units. Under my leadership in institutional effectiveness, SFA was successful in achieving reaffirmation from the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) with no monitoring reports or recommendations, an achievement that only 10% of institutions could claim during the year SFA received reaffirmation. We were able to accomplish this distinction despite the fact that the institution had no consistent or formal institutional effectiveness processes in place just 3 years before our compliance report was

As a Middle School Language Arts teacher, I have found that assessments are a daily part of our job. Everything that my students do in the classroom ultimately ends up being assessed in some sort of way. I must admit that it can at times be overwhelming for assessments to be such a huge part of our curriculum; I understand the necessity of each one. I haven’t always been focused as intently on assessments. I really didn’t consider the importance of assessments as much. As I gained experience and knowledge I realized that assessing my students provides me with information that makes my job more successful. I believe to effectively teach my students, I must understand and implement the right assessments properly. My assessment philosophy is that to be able to ensure our students are learning and that we are teaching the right way we must include proper assessment for validation. With that being said it is very important to use different forms of assessments to gauge student performance. One of the outstanding features of studies of assessment in recent years has been the shift in the focus of attention, towards greater interest In the interactions between assessment and classroom learning and away from concentration on the properties of restricted forms of test which are only weakly linked to the learning experiences of students (Black 2015) This research supports the idea that assessments

Whether formative assessment is the best method to be used to assess students, can a particular method of assessing students have an impact in students’ learning, is teacher’s role in assessing students’ important for students learning and does students’ voice and formative assessment have any relation in enhancing students learning, are some questions that I want to get crystal clear answers for and look into with keen interest to find out whether students learning is enhanced through formative assessment. Hence in this essay I will be digging into, a descriptive, a critical and a reflective deep look through my own experiences, researches and theories in the related field on the questions or issues mentioned above to find out whether formative assessment in real enhances students’ learning. The main focus of this essay is the urge of finding out whether formative assessment in real enhance students learning. With the high hope of applying and practicing every little bit of information that I compile from the readings into the current practices in any correlated

The author points this out in a statement made by Richard R. Beeman, a historian and former dean at the University of Pennsylvania, “The very idea that universities with very different institutional cultures and program priorities can be compared, and that the resulting ranking can be useful to students, is highly problematic.” One of Leonhard’s weak ethos claims regarding the credibility of rankings emerges in his stating, "Measuring how well students learn is incredibly difficult, but there are some worthy efforts being made.” However, the citing he makes of researchers at Indiana Universities further clouds the objectivity needed for unbiased ranking, because students are asked “how they spend their time and how engaged they are in their education, while another group is measuring whether students become better writes and problem solvers during their college years.” Here Leonhardt artistically uses persuasion and logical reasoning to point out that the measuring tools are subjective, hardly noteworthy of credible rankings for colleges.

This paper deals with my personal assessment of how I plan on successfully completing my doctoral degree. I have identified some obstacles that could affect my successful completion. I also describe my strengths, and define the importance of self-sufficiency as well as personal reliance. I lay out how I will reach my personal goals and overcome my personal articles. I will finally discuss the areas where I might need some additional coaching.

The landscape of higher education in the United States has been shifting, requiring institutions to satisfy increasing demands for accountability. For over a century, accreditation has served as a primary means of accountability and quality assurance in higher education (Wolff, 2005, p. 78). However, the traditional means of accreditation has come under greater scrutiny with critics asking if it remains an adequate means of accountability, serving the current needs of students, government, and the public (Eaton, 2003, p. 1). Although the federal government has depended upon a decentralized, peer review system of accreditation to keep institutions accountable for academic quality for over fifty years, increasing demands for accountability have resulted in an intense debate over who should manage accreditation.

The academy lacks a serious culture of teaching and learning. When students do not learn enough, we must question whether institutions of higher education deliver enough value to justify their costs. The authors’ final statement about “the limited learning in the U.S. higher education system cannot be defined as a crisis” sparks a warm feeling; wondering why it is not defined as a crisis? Despite how the system works, the institutional actors in the system should also think critically, accept responsibility and accountability, take the perspective of others, or meet the expectations of the students and gain some interest in undergraduates’ academic growth.