Assessment Resources

Collection and Assessment of Student Work

Messina wants to work with faculty to utilize less survey-based practices and move toward a model primarily using a collection of direct evidence of student work. Messina is looking to collect:

• Theme-wide event reflection papers
• Journal prompts/ reflections on the end of semester/ end of year
• Student projects related to their first year
• Reflection assignments related to Messina modules or use of to campus resources
• Course assignments/ projects

At this time, student work can be emailed directly to Sarah Lewis or sent to Maryland Hall 145. Please include a copy of the assignment that was given to the student. For all assessment questions, ideas, and information please reach out to Sarah Lewis, Associate Director of Messina at selewis@loyola.edu, 410-617-1188, or stop by her office in Maryland Hall 145. Sarah coordinates all Messina assessment data collection and dissemination.

Class Visits During Student Presentations

Messina is happy to send a staff member to your class or enrichment session to observe student presentations. These could include group projects or individual student presentations on the Messina experience. Please email messina@loyola.edu with the date(s), time, and location of your class along with a brief description of or copy of the assignment students will be presenting. On the day of the presentations, the Messina staff member will observe and utilize a rubric to assess student work. Following the presentations, the Messina staff member will compile observation notes and send a copy to the faculty and/or Messina Mentor for review. The purpose of this assessment is to examine how students demonstrate learning outcomes of Messina in their course and enrichment session work.

Rubrics Utilized for Assessment of Student Work/Presentations

As student work is collected, Messina will utilize the AAC&U VALUE Rubrics that relate to aspects of the Messina Learning Outcomes. We specifically utilize the AAC&U Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric and the Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric.

The Messina Learning Outcomes Assessment is another tool that may also be utilized to evaluate general presentations or projects of students reflecting on their Messina or first-year experience.

Messina Assessment Findings

We invite working groups to check out the results from past Messina annual student surveys. Included in our findings is student feedback on the topics of enrichment sessions most beneficial to them in the fall and spring semester.

Student Reflection Ideas

Loyola's Faculty Fellows site includes strategies from Loyola faculty for engaging students in active learning.

Reflection of the First-Year Experience

Having your students keep a private weekly journal? At the end of the semester or year consider having students review their journal and write a one page reflection paper about the experience of keeping the journal and something they learned about their self while reviewing their entries.

Theme-wide Event Reflection

Following attendance of a Messina theme-wide event, consider having students write a reflection paper about the event and what they learned. All Messina theme-wide events come with an event guide that include discussion questions that could be turned into reflection prompts. Below are examples of other questions you could utilize:

• Identify three things you learned during this theme-wide event.
• What is the relationship between this event and your Messina theme, [insert theme name here]?
• Please give an example of how this event is either personally relevant to you, relates to an aspect of your academic coursework (either within your Messina course or a different Loyola course), or is relevant within the current societal context.

Messina Course and Theme Connections

At the end of the spring semester consider having students write a reflection of their Messina course experience, asking the following questions:

• Reflect back on your two Messina courses. What are specific ways that the concepts you learned in the fall semester translate to your spring semester Messina course experience?
• Review the description of your Messina theme and reflect back to what you learned in your two Messina courses. In your own words, how do you feel your Messina theme relates to what you learned in these two courses? (If you switched into a different course/theme in the spring semester, please elaborate how your fall course related to its Messina theme and how your spring course related to its Messina theme.)

Reflective Assignments Presentation

Developing Reflective Assignments: This document is a PDF of the presentation on Developing Reflective Assignments led by Mary Ellen Wade at the Messina August 2017 Workshop. This document includes reflective prompts. Books referenced in this document are a part of the Messina book collection. Please contact Messina if you would like to check out one or more of these books.

Reflective Reading: Student vs. Learner

In his book designed for college students, Matthew Sanders, author of Becoming a Learner: Realizing the Opportunity of Education, proposes that college students must not perceive themselves as students but instead as learners. This excerpt from the book on Becoming a Learner can be used as an introductory reading and reflection activity with your Messina students to lay the foundation for understanding their responsibility for practicing integrative learning.