The Assessment Division supports the Directorate for
Education's overall mission by offering state-of-the-art services in
assessment. In short, our job is to help the members of Dean of
Faculty determine the extent to which they are being successful in
meeting their educational goals
Our efforts are framed by
a
simple model of assessment that includes data collection,
analysis, and interpretation as vital parts of evaluating
goal-directed behavior. Regardless of your precise role at the
United States Air Force Academy, you have goals that you are trying
to achieve. How do you know that you are successful in achieving
them? It is this question that the Assessment Division is committed
to helping you answer.
Of course, there are many different constituencies
here at the United States Air Force Academy, each of which has
their won specific goals. As a result, we offer assessment
services to several different “levels” of the Academy.
For Example:
- At the classroom level, we can help you
compile an in-depth understanding of cadet attitudes towards your
course. We do this through course critiques, focus groups, and
small group (in-class) activities. We also offer workshops and
classroom observations in order to help instructors hone their
teaching skills. Finally, we can help you with test and survey
construction and validation, or assist in any element of course or
program evaluation on a basis tailored to your specific needs.
- At the department level, we can assist
your department in creating or refining a systematic assessment
plan. Many of our departments’ assessment efforts have been
compiled in our the United States Air Force Academy Assessment
Catalog, which can help you get an idea of how other departments
approach assessing their courses and programs. In addition, the
Center for Educational Excellence is the point of contact for
administering standardized tests (e.g., the Major Field Achievement
Test) in your area of specialty or concentration. We also
administer the Dean’s Fund for Academic Excellence (ACE), which
funds projects relating to curriculum development, assessment,
faculty development, and cadet academic travel. Proposals for this
funding are accepted twice a year.
- At the Dean’s level, the Center for
Educational Excellence serves as the focal point in our ten year
North Central Association accreditation cycle and has developed an
assessment plan which outlines the Academy’s academic assessment
efforts over our ten-year accreditation cycle. We are the primary
point of contact for implementing the assessments within this plan,
as well as briefing summaries of assessment results to the Dean and
other interested parties.
- Finally, at the institutional level, we represent
the Dean of the Faculty on the Assessment Board of Directors. This
group, made up of assessment personnel from around the base,
provides centralized coordination of the Academy’s assessment
activities. The Board of Directors also maintains the Academy’s
assessment database and serves as a liaison to both Air Force and
external civilian agencies.
If you would like to learn more about the services we
offer in the Assessment Division, please click on any of the links
above. Alternatively, see our list of FAQ’s below to see if we’ve
anticipated what you need. If you cannot find what you need, or if
you require more information, please feel free to contact the
Director for Academic Assessment
with any requests for assistance.
1. How can I obtain Academic Excellence “ACE” funding
for an area I am interested in exploring?
2.
What
exactly is a focus group and how can this help me with improving my
course or program?
3. Is it possible to have someone come in to my class
for a portion of a period to help me with assessing my course?
4. What are others doing to assess their courses and
programs at the United States Air Force Academy?
5. What does the “big picture” look like at the
United States Air Force Academy for assessing the entire institution for
the purpose of accreditation by the North Central Association (NCA)?
6. Are any workshops being offered throughout the
semester that can help me with my assessment needs?
7. Do you have some simple and fast assessment tools
that I can use in my class today?
8. How do I make sense of my end-of-course critique
results?
Point of Contact:
Director of Assessment
If you have any questions or comments
concerning the contents of this web-site, please call 719-333-7990.
