Week 5 Discussion

Banta’s Planning, Evaluation, and Improvement Cycle

Supporting Lecture:

Review the following lecture:

• Linking Assessment and Planning

Before beginning work on this discussion forum, please review the link Doing Discussion Questions Right, the expanded grading rubric for the forum, and any specific instructions for this topic.

Banta presents a cycle of activities to promote institutional effectiveness including evaluation, improvement, planning and budgeting, and implementation. But this cycle reflects the efforts of one university with respect to higher education assessment. What strategies do you think are employed by other universities and how do those activities compare with Banta’s ideas? Are they different, better, or less comprehensive?

From the bullet point list below, select one topic for which you will lead the discussion in the forum this week. Early in the week, reserve your selected topic by posting your response (reservation post) to the Discussion Area, identifying your topic in the subject line. Be specific about your topic so that someone else could select the same bullet point but focus their post differently. By the due date assigned, research your topic and start a scholarly conversation as you respond with your initial or primary post to your own reservation post in the Discussion Area. Make sure your response does not duplicate your colleagues’ responses.

• Compare and contrast the Assessment Cycle from The George Washington University with the cycle proposed by Banta, highlighting specific advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
• Compare and contrast the Outcomes and Assessment Cycle from Southern University with the cycle proposed by Banta, highlighting specific advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
• Compare and contrast the Assessment Cycle from James Madison University with the cycle proposed by Banta, highlighting specific advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Additionally, provide a brief paragraph describing which assessment model you personally prefer and why.

As the beginning of a scholarly conversation, your initial post should be:

• Succinct—no more than 500 words.
• Provocative—use concepts and combinations of concepts from the readings to propose relationships, causes, and/or consequences that inspire others to engage (inquire, learn). In other words, take a scholarly stand.
• Supported—scholarly conversations are more than opinions. Ideas, statements, and conclusions are supported by clear research and citations from course materials as well as other credible, peer-reviewed resources.