Presentation given at Course Technology's 2010 Conference: Connecting Today. Shaping Tomorrow. March 11, 2010

1. Computer Literacy Placement Exam Design and Assessment Amber M. Epps The Art Institute of Pittsburgh

2. What is Computer Literacy? Computer-related terminology Hardware and software basics Basic operating system functionality File management Using the internet and understanding related issues Productivity applications

3. Why Do We Care?

4. Facts May or may not be a required course Students complain! Faculty complain!

5. Myths Students already know “this stuff” Should be removed from curriculum without a backup plan

6. Survey Says... Students don’t always know as much as they think they do Students need to meet minimum proficiency requirements School-defined Industry-defined Every school is different Need to continue research

7. So Now What??

8. Assessment! According to the Higher Learning Commission: “Assessment of student learning is a participatory, iterative process that: Provides data/information you need on your students’ learning Engages you and others in analyzing and using this data/information to confirm and improve teaching and learning Produces evidence that students are learning the outcomes you intended Guides you in making educational and institutional improvements Evaluates whether changes made improve/impact student learning, and documents the learning and your efforts.”

9. Assessment! (cont) Accreditation often requires computer literacy standards Not always fun...but important Evolving work in progress Don’t expect perfection right away

10. Where to Begin? Know your school’s policies Who else is involved? Consider the scope How many students will be affected? Online students? Staffing requirements Get faculty involved! Use tools that are available to you

11. Next... Platform issues: PC vs Mac Plan... What’s important? What do you want to know? Start with your competencies What should students know? Find balance between theory and application Ask faculty what matters most

12. Suggestions! Use a question pool Check text book instructor resources Separate competencies by section Automate as much as possible Clear rubrics when manual grading required What is a passing score? Pilot test with a focus group Be flexible and aware of changes Remote testing?

13. So I’ve Created My Exam...Now What? What to assess: Pass/fail rate overall Pass/fail rate per major Pre/post test differences Anything that’s important to YOU and YOUR school

14. What Does Assessment Tell Us? Achievement of learning outcomes Competency proficiencies Competency deficiencies Changes to degree requirements?

15. Let’s Look At Some Real Examples

16. Pre-Test: Theory*Based on 80% as Passing Score

17. Test-Out Results*Based on 80% as Passing Score

18. Questions!! Why is the pre-test passing rate so low? Why is the test-out passing rate so high?

19. Time to share! Feel free to contact me: Amber M. Epps The Art Institute of Pittsburgh 412.291.7398 amepps@aii.edu