Assessment plays a critical role in instruction and curriculum. Existing literature on instructors' assessment practices and related factors has been intensively focused on primary and secondary education. This study extended the contexts of previous literature to post-secondary chemistry education by exploring general chemistry instructors'…

Remedial courses have been part of the college landscape in the United States since at least the 1800s when nearly 250,000 students were placed into remedial courses. Traditionally, students who enrolled in remedial courses were placed into that course solely based on one test score. Students who enrolled in traditional remedial courses were more…

In response to existing anecdotal evidence on faculty development in first-year experience program, this paper provides both a model and an adaptable heuristic for using assessment data to shape faculty development. The author argues that using a mixed method methods approach to assess FYE students' critical thinking provided unique data on…

A significant teacher shortage exists across the United States due to factors ranging from accountability policies for the performance growth of students, the overwhelming workload due to teacher shortages, and the lack of competitive salaries that other professions offer. Consequently, state officials have introduced and implemented changes to…

Knowledge components (KCs) have many applications. In computing education, knowing the demonstration of specific KCs has been challenging. This paper introduces an entirely data-driven approach for: (1) discovering KCs; and (2) demonstrating KCs, using students' actual code submissions. Our system is based on two expected properties of KCs: (1)…

Prior research suggests that Academic Program Review (APR) is most effective when it is a systematic process that supports program improvement. One potential way to increase faculty involvement in comprehensive APR processes is by engaging faculty members as internal peer reviewers (IPRs). This qualitative study investigated faculty members'…

An academic library's single service point, where users can get answers and help with their library needs in one place, is often the first and most popular place used by students. Studies assessing desk design are rare but needed to help guide planning for renovation or service model change. This study investigated an academic library's service…

For more than 30 years, James Madison University (JMU) has used Assessment Days to collect longitudinal data on student learning outcomes. Our model ensures that all incoming students are tested twice: once in August before beginning classes and again in February after accumulating 45-70 credit hours (Pastor, Foelber, Jacovidis, Fulcher &…

Beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year, Christopher Newport University (CNU) transitioned from annual assessment to the triennial assessment of academic programs. This shift was largely motivated by observed limitations to annual assessment such as ineffective use of student learning outcomes, a lack of time, and overutilized faculty. By making…

Background: In response to the effort to increase minority enrollment in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, STEM summer bridge programs were created to help minorities with the transition from high school to college with the long-term goal of increasing the diversity of professionals in STEM. The goal of this…

Despite evidence suggesting that standardized tests are an imperfect measure of academic readiness, many community colleges across the country rely on them alone to determine student course placement. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced campuses to transition to remote operations in spring 2020, proctoring in-person placement tests became…

A simple act of motivation priming can significantly impact the validity of test results, which is crucial for institutional accountability. The progression of the studies discussed in this article illustrates a clear trajectory of building upon previous findings to refine and expand the understanding of motivation priming when gathering…

This article reports on four synthesis findings from the Credentials to Careers (C2C) initiative -- a consortium of seven community colleges working to create and implement innovative programs to train or retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers. These are 1) collaborating with…

Well-developed professional development opportunities are a crucial component in ensuring that faculty engaging in assessment are equipped to do this work well. Creating these opportunities requires clear expectations of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to conduct assessment work. Additionally, the knowledge and skill requirements of…

Many public workforce training programs lead to industry-recognized, third-party awarded credentials, but little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of these credentials in the labor market. This paper provides quasi-experimental evidence on the labor market returns to industry-recognized credentials connected to community college…