Designing Assessment for Postmodern Academia: Examining How a Move to a Postmodern Qualitative Assessment Changed a Department

Authors

  • Krystia Nora California University of Pennsylvania
  • Marjorie Stewart Art Institute of Pittsburgh
  • Jeffrey Condran Art Institute of Pittsburgh
  • Katie Talerico Art Institute of Pittsburgh
  • Karen Santelli Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Keywords:

writing, assessment, qualitative, quantitative, research

Abstract

It is our belief that the story of how the composition faculty convinced administration to move from a rubric-based assessment model to a more qualitative model is both interesting and beneficial for others facing similar challenges. In the following five articles, Katie discusses how the experience of such assessment affected the faculty, Jeff shows why we decided to try qualitative assessment and how we succeeded in convincing administration to let us try this alternative path, Krystia explains how and why we chose a postmodern methodology, Karen summarizes what we learned from the assessment, and Marjie poses some results and concluding thoughts.

Author Biographies

Krystia Nora, California University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Krystia Nora is an assistant professor of English at California University of Pennsylvania. Her interests include composition studies, qualitative studies of composition, writing and healing, literacy studies, retiree writing practices, writing groups, disability studies, rhetoric, philosophies of composition, and writing assessment. She has a passion for teaching composition courses, researching, and writing.

Jeffrey Condran, Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Jeffrey Condran earned his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Missouri Review, Pinyon, The Pittsburgh Writers Project, Red Rock Review, and Three Rivers. He teaches writing and literature at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Karen Santelli, Art Institute of Pittsburgh

Karen A. Santelli, M.Ed. is a full-time English faculty member at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where she teaches college composition, developmental English, and creative writing. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Journalism/Communications from the University of Dayton, and a Master’s Degree in Secondary English Education from Duquesne University.

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Issue

Vol. 39 No. 2 (2010): Summer/Fall 2010

Section

Roundtables

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