Summary+of+February+23+class

I'm trying to think about the most important lessons that I hope the class can "take away" from this class. I can divide the experience up into three parts: the assessment chapter, Sam's presentation, and the ID process.

Most people feel traumatized by assessments, especially those assessments that determine one's fate. The GRE was not a fun experience for many and the more expressive students in class shared how they felt when the GRE or the TOEFL determined their professional journey. I'm not at all sure that I accomplished what I wanted to for this part of the class. I think it is important for people to get their feelings out in the open, in order to move forward. By talking about that particular rite of passage in a PhD program (the GRE experience) students can clear their minds of the trauma and think of reasons why norm-referenced tests might actually be important. I think Shari articulated the rationale for norm referenced tests best ... they work when resources are limited. If an organization needs to cover a lot of information quickly, and be able to respond to a crisis at the end of some type of training, and the type of information involves strong reading skills ... then a norm-referenced test of reading ability makes sense. In our doctoral program it makes sense to look at norm referenced tests because students are required to do a lot of reading in a short amount of time. We also take into account their interviews and their grades and letters of recommendation. The norm referenced tests become one of several measures that we look at. With that said, however, I'd have to admit that the norm-referenced tests are not predictive of academic achievement in my classes. Motivation, more than anything determines success in my classes and with the dissertations that I chair. Institutions as highly respected as Stanford no longer require norm referenced tests for admission to their programs. (I'm not sure this is a fact, I read about it in an article and never really checked myself).
 * The assessment chapter**

Criterion referenced tests are much more "fair" as a method of assessment. A teacher/organization using criterion referenced tests provides the opportunity for students to achieve mastery, as defined by a teacher/organization. This is somewhat of an "idealized" statement, since many bright people are not able to align objectives with assessments. As I stated in class, we have asked questions about constructivism in the Day 1 comprehensive exams, and we really don't teach about constructivism directly anywhere other than ET500, which students must take even though it isn't on the formal list of classes. If a student's advisor isn't paying attention, that student could easily get through the program without taking ET500.

So, how does assessment play a role in our case studies? In the end, students will need to be able to articulate how they assess mastery of case study content. How will they do that? What can they write about it? I will be very curious to see this evolve.

Sam put a lot of thought into his presentation and shared experiences that will help students in the class. I really liked hearing his presentation because it showed me his perspective. I was there with him throughout the experience and yet I learned things last night that will help me be a better chair. I was totally charmed that he shared tips about getting a good night's rest the night before the defense, and even described the type of tea to drink. I hope the message came out loud and clear ... trust your adviser. They care, they want to see students succeed. They have to be critical to make that happen. they have learned a great deal about what it takes to get students through the committee. Even when students have treated us poorly (and I don't advocate for that) we still have their best interests at heart. We want to see students achieve and go out and do good ID!
 * Sam's presentation** (see handout)

I mostly want people to do their best with what they find in front of them during the ID experience. This means, try to do the steps the way the book explains, but be willing to take lots of shortcuts. The "pure" ID models make us think we shouldn't do anything until we can do it "right". Sometimes just doing something, anything, will provide the momentum needed to get the process started. Most discoveries are made by accident anyway.
 * The ID process**