By Jackson Conner, Gaylord College Class of 2023
With each graduating class, Gaylord College takes the unique opportunity to holistically assess students on their academic success during their time in the college and receive first-hand feedback on strong suits and weaknesses of the curriculum and programming Gaylord has to offer.
Known as the Gaylord Assessment, students are directed to three distinct variables during the semester of the senior capstone course: an e-portfolio, a learning assessment and an exit survey.
Professor David Craig, one of the key facilitators of the program, says that the Gaylord Assessment has been going on for years but received an extensive overhaul in 2019 to add the portfolio component. The goal is to help display their work in a practical place while also encouraging them to use the portfolio as a tool when entering the workforce.
Acting as a way for department chairs and leadership to see the true impact of their programming on students, Craig says the assessment is also a way to do “double duty,” helping prepare students for the workforce while also tracking the effectiveness of a Gaylord education.
While many seniors see the assessment as just another box to check before ending their time at OU, faculty and leadership see the assessment as an opportunity to see what is being done well, what can be better and potentially, things that can be offered to future students that are not currently offered.
“Something I want to really emphasize to students is that we truly use this stuff and want to learn from it,” Craig says. “We pull together results and share them with faculty and Gaylord administration, later using this information to talk about ways that we can improve things, particularly with curriculum and courses.”
Craig says there are changes throughout the college that directly stem from student feedback collected during the assessment, naming recent changes in the advertising program as a prime example.
After hearing that students felt behind when looking for jobs and internships, or receiving feedback from students who had gained first-hand experience through internships, Gaylord leadership took this feedback to make new faculty hires in the advertising department while also expanding the curriculum to allow for more design courses and training.
While the assessment is used across all Gaylord majors, this serves as one example of how important the feedback is to continued improvement of programs for future generations of students.
“Assessment is important in any organization but it’s particularly true in higher education,” said Ed Kelley, Gaylord College’s dean. “We at Gaylord College and OU must be able to measure goals and outcomes, for the sake of our students. Gaylord’s faculty put a lot of effort into issues related to assessment, and I’d like to think it makes us more responsive to everyone involved."
Students can expect to complete the Gaylord Assessment during the semester of their senior capstone course. If you have any questions about the assessment, please contact Dr. David Craig or your department head.
