These are software programs that are being used statewide for assessment management:
Trac Dat - www.nuventive.com/products_tracdat.html
eLumen - www.elumen.info
CurrucuNet - http://www.curricunet.com/cnet_home/
WEAVEonline - http://weaveonline.com/default.asp
Parscore - http://www.scantron.com/downloads/pdf/ParSCORE.pdf
Below is a summary of comments statewide:
This posting is a summary of the responses I received regarding a query
about managing software for learning assessment information and data
requested by Cheli Fossum, SLO Coordinator from Laney College in Oakland,
California. The original query, and most of the responses, are posted in
this email.
Bob Gabriner (rgabrine@ccsf.edu), Moderator, Learning Assessment Listserv
___________________________________________________________
What software packages exist for managing SLOs and assessment information?
I am aware of: TracDat, Elumen, and CurricuNet, although I'm not very
familiar with any of these. Has anyone used a purchased software package
for assessment information?
Would you recommend it to others?
Cheli Fossum SLO coordinator Laney College
______________________________________________________________________
We have purchased Trac Dat by Nuventive and have modified it to suit our
needs. It will make a tremendous difference when it comes to reporting our
assessment activities. Mt Sac is a large college (40,000+ students).
Small groups on campus have tested the software , and it certainly is
quite effective. The recommendation that we purchase Trac Dat came from
our Chief Technology Officer, and I did not take part in the decision
making process. I do know that it will revolutionize our program review
process when it is fully implemented in the fall.
I recommend that you take steps to adjust any software you purchase to
match the SLOs terminology and format for assessment that you are
currently using on your campus. If you don't, your constituents may feel
frustrated .
Jemma (JBJudd@MTSAC.EDU)
______________________________________________________________
There are two others--"WEAVEonline" for management of assessment
processes and a new company that does E-portfolios-College LiveText also
has begun to explore uses in weaving assessment processes. We have not
yet purchased any of these or any of the ones you mentioned and would be
interested in hearing about the experiences of those institutions that
have.
Angeles Eames (a-eames@NEIU.EDU)
Executive Director, Assessment & Institutional Studies
Northeastern Illinois University
_________________________________________________________
We use CurricuNet for our curriculum development process. I am looking
at Perception a software developed by Questionmark for the assessment
process.
Vi Rajagopalan, Ph.D.
(RajagopalanV@MORAINEVALLEY.EDU)
___________________________________________________________
We are looking into Parscore software from Scantron. For departments
wanting to place embedded objective format items (i.e., questions that all
instructors agree to use across all sections of the same course), we have
found a Scantron form (an alternative to 882e) that will score in a
regular scantron machine, and can then be sent through a Scantron data
terminal. Parscore - they say - will allow one to set up "subtests" (these
would be the embedded items only) and produce a separate analysis of just
the bubbled in responses to the embedded SLO questions. I'll be working on
this over the next two weeks. I think it will be an important solution.
The other part of this is to help faculty develop embedded objective
format questions that are much more sophisticated than simple recognition
and recall questions. That is - questions which require the student to
apply a concept, analyze, etc. (higher on Bloom's taxonomy).
Jerry Rudmann Coastline and Irvine Valley SLO co-coordinator (
jrudmann@coastline.edu)
_________________________________________________________________________
Here at OCC, after reviewing the available software packages and
considering their cost, I determined it was more cost effective for us to
design our own database to manage our Program Assessment activities. We
are a multi-campus (5) comprehensive community college with over 80
programs actively engaged in assessment.
The MS-Access database resides on my office LAN and can be accessed by
authorized faculty throughout the college. In addition to maintaining
current program assessment plans, their Learning Outcomes, Benchmarks and
Assessment Methods, we also are able to monitor time lines, individuals
responsible for conducting the assessments, historical/archived reporting,
generation of monthly assessment feedback reminders, etc.
Designing our own database allowed us to create a system that best fit our
needs. Going with an "off the shelf" package tends to force you into a
corner, where in some cases it doesn't fit with local needs. And, it's
either impossible or extremely expensive to have a big vendor write
special code. My goal was to design a user friendly and easily
maintainable system with minimal cost.
It was my choice to design our own database in-house. If we went with an
outside package, our IT department would have been highly involved and I
would have less control over those fine details that are so important. We
are actually into a second version of the database. This is natural as
any assessment program matures.
I'd say that it took us two to three months to design, test and go live
with the database. Of course, there are always enhancements,
modifications, etc. which need to be managed, but that is no different
from any other type of system. Designing it in-house also gave me the
ability to prioritize what got done and when.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help to you as you weigh the
pros and cons.
Martin Orlowski, Director Assessment & Effectiveness Oakland Community
College (248) 522-3882 (MAORLOWS@OAKLANDCC.EDU)