Developing and Mapping Learning Objectives and Assessments to Deliver Quality Student Programming

Assessment of student learning is critical to ensure students are prepared to enter the workforce with the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to engage in continued learning beyond graduation (Boud & Falchikov, 2007). Faculty are subject-matter experts rather than pedagogical experts; therefore, they often lack the knowledge and skills necessary to utilize student and program data in ways that optimize student learning (Boyer, 1990; Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004). This knowledge gap between content and pedagogy in the classroom hinders faculty efficacy in the assessment of student learning and in the development and implementation of strategies to improve student learning. For this reason, higher education institutions need to support faculty not only in their research and service appointments, but also in their pedagogical development (Hott & Tietjen-Smith, 2018), which encompasses assessment of student learning for the purpose of continuous academic improvement. This presentation delves into a case study conducted within the Graduate Certificate in Molecular and Biomedical Sciences program at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University. The case study explores the application of leadership strategies to actively involve faculty members in leveraging data analytics for enhancing student learning assessment tools. Additionally, it highlights the implementation of a backwards design approach to establish a meaningful assessment process. The results of applying these innovative approaches employed to foster faculty-driven assessment practices will be discussed, including utilizing item analysis for the development of assessment instruments, and facilitating data dissemination to guide subsequent strategies for teaching, instrument development, and assessment.