Changes to KAM Evaluations and Submissions
On July 25 the university will be transitioning to a new faculty portal system. This is an opportune time for us to upgrade the KAM evaluation and submission processes. All KAM faculty members will participate in a KAM Mentoring module as part of their professional development over the next several quarters to further acquaint them with the new procedures and assessment tools.
Here are the changes coming July 25th.
Learning Agreements
Students will submit their LA via the form at: http://inside.waldenu.edu/c/Student_Faculty/OnlineForm_KAMForm.aspx
Once an LA is submitted, assessors will receive an automated email directing them to evaluate the learning agreement through a new online form on the Faculty Portal. The Learning Agreement approval has been replaced with an expanded rubric which you will access through your Personal Start Page (PSP). Click on the KAM tab and look for LA evaluation.
You will have the option of either saving and sending the student a draft evaluation which you will edit later as your student sends iterations of the LA or submitting a final evaluation to yourself, the student, the student's mentor, and the registrar which will become a part of the student's official record.
KAMs
The former Faculty KAM Evaluation Form will be discontinued. It will be replaced by a KAM rubric also available through your PSP under the KAM tab. Similar to Learning Agreements, students will submit their final KAM demonstrations via an online form on the student PSP. Once submitted, assessors will receive an automated email directing them to evaluate the KAM demonstration through an online form on the faculty PSP. As with the Learning Agreement rubric, assessors can also use the form to provide feedback on a draft (sent only to the assessor and student) or submit a final assessment of the KAM demonstration (sent to the assessor, student, faculty mentor, and registrar). If you make comments on the KAM itself, you will need to send these to your student as an email attachment. Faculty will also be able to access KAM demonstrations and assessor evaluations completed from July 25 on through links on the PSP.
Student Evaluations
Students will no longer complete the self-evaluation form after completing each KAM. This form will be replaced with a new KAM student evaluation form, located on the student PSP, which asks questions about their experiences with the KAM including their learning and satisfaction with the KAM assessor. Information from this form will be summarized by the Office of Research and Assessment and regularly reported to program administrators for purposes of faculty development and program improvement. Faculty will not be able to review individual student responses to this form.
How Changes Will Occur
On July 25, 2007 the changes described above will be implemented on the student and faculty PSP websites. Online links to old forms will no longer appear. All students and faculty will be required to use the new links and forms from that date. Faculty work in providing feedback on KAMs (draft or final form) that took place before July 25, 2007 will not be accessible.
The new processes align the assessment of LAs and KAMs with each other and bring them closer to the dissertation process. The faculty PSP will be the one place to go for all forms and procedures previously scattered in various places around the web site, and will provide new tools to support student learning while removing old tools that have become increasingly ineffective.