Dear Mark, Gerd and all

I think it's understandable in the current economic climate that we are all seeking for similar holy grail-like things in respect of evidence that supports and demonstrates the value of our work. This takes the form of looking for measures of 'impact', performance and achievement in terms of student retention and success. We are all under pressure to provide such evidence, both for our own purposes in arguing our corner, and for our managers who may be seeking to develop our work, or in some cases to re-evaluate how resources are allocated... and not always in our favour ...

You'll see that I asked a similar question on this list recently. One could be cynical and say that the obsession with smart objectives, measurable outcomes, skills etc. is a feature of a commodified approach to education, and of neoliberal economic ideas more generally. In this regard the emphasis on performance can be seen as part of a managerial approach to control and discipline both University staff and students. It may also be true that no matter how much we attempt to comply with requests to measure and report on outcomes of learning development activity, there will always be pressure to provide yet more, and more detailed performance data - and that the provision of such data will not necessarily result in a 'fairer' allocation of resources. Given that we have to live (at least for the time being) with the current system as it is (a marketised, fee-driven approach to HE in the UK, for example), we still need to respond and provide data that is as rich as possible to support our work, despite the criticisms we may have of the outcomes approach.

I am still looking for ways to do this and thinking about how we can demonstrate the impact and value of our work. I agree we need to be smart in terms of analytics and in terms of gaining student evaluations of all our activities - and we need to get smarter to about how we report to our masters; making the economic case as it relates to retention and success - how much money we can save our institutions, and how much value we can add.

I also feel it important to continue the critical study of this approach and to research and report on the corrosive impact of this obsession with outcomes and its potentially negative impact on the effectiveness of what we do. These (potentially negative effects) can result from the inordinate amount of time and effort required to make attempts to develop systems to identify and measure outcomes. It can also corrode personal relationships in our teaching and learning situations where our interest and attention may be seen by students as being more about measurement and the achievement of positive outcomes, assessments and evaluations rather than about authentic learning or critical thinking.

I'm only scratching the surface here ...

Please may I repeat the request for suggestions from others about literature or reports on learning outcomes and on measuring impact of learning development activity - the requirement to do it is not going away ... My preference would be to develop impact measures that students themselves devise and respond to, both collectively and as individuals ....

John


-----Original Message-----
From: learning development in higher education network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Stevenson
Sent: 02 June 2014 13:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: looking for literature on assessment of study skill centres

Hi Gerd,

I would be very interested in the same assessment literature so as to address the same question in Australia. I would be very surprised if there wasn't any at all, so I hope our colleagues can share their knowledge in this area. Perhaps it is because your post arrived on a Friday?

Best regards,

Mark

Dr Mark Stevenson
Senior Lecturer, Asian Studies
College of Arts
Victoria University
Phone 61 3 9919 4652
Fax 61 3 9919 4164
________________________________________
From: learning development in higher education network [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Gerd Bräuer [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 4:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: looking for literature on assessment of study skill centres

Hi,
finally, Germany's higher education is starting to show some interest in supporting students with regard to academic study skills.
Nevertheless, when it comes to financial commitment in order to develop necessary structures and resources, most universities are still very reluctant. They often ask for concrete findings about the assessment of academic study skills centres. Could you please point me toward assessment literature that shows concrete effects of study skills support on the students' academic competences? Thanks so much!

Best regards,
Gerd Bräuer
--
Dr. Gerd Bräuer
Schreibzentrum / The Writing Center
PH Freiburg / University of Education
Kunzenweg 21
79117 Freiburg/Germany
0049-761-488-2111 / 0049-761-682-191
http://international-literacy-management.org/

Neuerscheinung / newly published
Gerd Bräuer (2014). Das Portfolio als Reflexionsmedium für Lehrende und Studierende. UTB.
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