Dr. Milton Hakel, chair of the Student Achievement Assessment Committee, shows the "SAAC lunch," containing a $25 dining services gift certificate, that was presented to the eight winners for their success in fostering long-lasting learning.

Not a ‘five-minute university’
BGSU recognizes achievements in student assessment,
durable learning

It was abundantly clear at an awards ceremony earlier this month that BGSU understands the importance of fostering the type of education that sticks with students long past graduation.

The Student Achievement Assessment Committee (SAAC) presented awards to eight University programs for their efforts to create lasting learning experiences for students. On hand to view the presentation was Karen Solomon, BGSU’s liaison with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ Higher Learning Commission.

Karen Solomon (right) of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools chats with Provost John Folkins about BGSU's assessment activities.

Winning the “SAAC Lunch Awards” were the departments of psychology, romance languages, marketing and English, plus the College of Musical Arts, the School of Art, the MBA degree programs and Orientation and First Year Programs.

Part of achieving enduring impact involves not just testing students’ knowledge but also assessing one’s teaching methods as reflected in student learning. SAAC Chair Dr. Milton Hakel, Ohio Eminent Scholar in psychology, reminded those gathered that the original Latin root of “assess” is asidere, or “to sit beside.” “We must be coaches and mentors in addition to simply measuring achievement,” he said. “That is the path to true, student-centered assessment.”

Some of the challenges, he said, include “How do you get students to become active, lively learners? How do you get students to seek feedback? How do you get students to want to be assessed?"

The committee reviewed 346 reports over the last four years and chose 40 finalists (posted on the SAAC Web site), whose work was on display at the event. Nominations were based on specific years’ efforts. The finalists all demonstrated that they had focused on the University learning outcomes they wanted to promote, and then developed action steps to enable students to achieve those outcomes.

Not all the finalists came from academic departments. “Student learning takes place beyond the traditional classroom,” Hakel said. From dining services to the psychology department, faculty and staff have internalized the belief that to be a “premier learning community,” as set out in our mission statement, the University must set clear expectations, promote intellectual engagement and active participation, and undergo institutional transformation.

“True learning,” Hakel added, “goes beyond knowing to being able to do what you know.”

Also key is the awareness that learning takes place in a community and through communities. “We learn from each others’ results and build on our learning,” he said.

Hakel praised the winners and the rest of the finalists for having helped Bowling Green move beyond being a “five-minute university.” He showed a video of comedian Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci proposing the “Five-Minute University,” in which, for $20, Father Sarducci would teach students only what they would remember in five years.

The audience laughed as Father Sarducci gave his examples: In Spanish, what you can expect to remember is Como esta usted? Muy bien. In economics: supply and demand. In business, you buy something and sell it for more. In theology (since he is a priest, after all): Where is God? Everywhere. To graduate, he asks you those items, you answer, receive a diploma and a Polaroid photo, and you’re a college graduate!

Afterward, Hakel said “It’s funny, but it’s too close to the truth.” Attendees had been challenged to sketch out a deep and durable learning intervention—one that students would retain for longer than five years. The finalists and winners all showed excellent approaches to fostering durable learning.

Provost John Folkins commented, “As professors and academics, student-centered assessment is at the heart and base of what we do.” Praising the University’s development of creative and well-rounded assessment methods, he decried the increased national focus on standardized tests, saying they “sterilize the educational process.”

A positive step, he said, is BGSU’s foray into using electronic portfolios, which are valuable tools for student self-assessment as well as presentation to prospective employers.

Nate Oshaben, a graduate music education major who also received his undergraduate degree at BGSU, showed his e-portfolio to the audience. “When I communicate with prospective employers, it’s a very good way to lay out everything I’ve done with my student teaching," he said. His e-portfolio contained clips of him working in the classroom as well as examples of problem solving he has engaged in and his reflections on what he has learned. “We can view tapes of our student teaching, enter the data and see what we’ve done,” he added. The results can be stored in the portfolio.

Hakel said the next round of assessment reports will be due June 15. “We can show the progress we’re making at putting student learning at the center of this university.”

Note: Oshaben’s portfolio is on the Web at http://joshab.with.bgsu.edu. General information about the portfolio software is at http://Epsilen.with.bgsu.edu. The SAAC Web site is at www.bgsu.edu/offices/provost/Assessment.

Karen Solomon (right) of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools chats with Provost John Folkins about BGSU's assessment activities.