Assessment 101
About Assessment 101
In this nationally-acclaimed (NASPA Silver Award-winning) workshop, participants learn about each step of the assessment cycle with a special emphasis on learning improvement. Assessment 101 is a 5-day virtual, intensive workshop designed to combine synchronous and asynchronous time to reinforce the knowledge gained while also imparting tangible skills. Individuals and teams from across the country come to learn strategies regarding how to teach others about assessment.
Assessment 101 will explore topics such as:
• writing student learning outcomes
• mapping the curriculum
• creating instruments
• examining implementation fidelity
• analyzing data
• reporting results
• using results to make evidence-based decisions
Assessment 101 is ideal for those relatively new to assessment practices. Many seasoned assessment practitioners attend as well. A $1500 registration fee covers participation and materials provided during the 5-day workshop. There are a limited number of seats for each cohort. Faculty and staff at James Madison University can apply to have this fee waived through an assessment scholarship. Contact CARS at the email below for more information.
If you have further questions, please contact us at assessmentdevelopment@jmu.edu.
Workshops for 2024
- Summer Bootcamp - Monday, June 3 – Friday, June 7, 2024
- Online Workshop (five consecutive days): This is ideal for attendees who can focus intently for a week with little interruption. Each day has a mix of synchronous and asynchronous content delivered by seasoned JMU faculty and supported by CARS graduate assistants.
- Enroll here for the summer workshop. Online enrollment (for participants external to JMU) is due by May 20th (seating is limited).
- JMU faculty and staff were invited to apply for a scholarship to attend Assessment 101 alongside colleagues across the nation (a $1,500 value). All scholarship recipients internal to JMU will have this fee waived. The application should take only 5 minutes to complete. Applications were due by April 7, 2024. Use the email above for further inquiry.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Assessment 101 costs $1,500 per person to cover participation and materials provided in the 5-day workshop. All individuals external to JMU will need to enroll with a payment by the posted deadline.
Faculty and staff at James Madison University may apply to have this fee waived through an assessment scholarship.
You can register for as many people as will attend as long as payment is completed for each person by the enrollment deadline. The person sitting for the workshop does not have to be the one completing the registration.
You may cancel your registration up to two weeks prior to the program start date and receive a refund of course registration fees, less a $25 administrative fee. To withdrawal from this course you must send a request to pce@jmu.edu. Requests received beyond the deadline will receive no refund. For more information, please visit Policies & Notices.
As part of Assessment 101, each participant completes an individual or group project. These projects usually pertain to some aspect of the assessment cycle. For example, an individual may choose to focus on writing student learning outcomes for an academic degree program or identifying an appropriate instrument to measure such outcomes.
Here a few examples from previous projects:
While you can expect to receive an orientation email sent the week prior to the session, there is no formal pre-workshop preparation material. However, participants new to assessment may benefit from exploring the CARS Professional Development in Assessment webpage to learn more about the Assessment Skills Framework and other freely available resources.
