TUTORIAL:
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE IS 2002 ASSESSMENT EXAM CAPABILITES OFFERED BY THE CENTER FOR COMPUTING EDUCATION RESEARCH

John H. Reynolds
john.reynolds@cis.gvsu.edu
School of CIS, Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI  49401  USA

Jeffrey P. Landry
jlandry@usouthal.edu
Herbert E. Longenecker, Jr.
hlongenecker@usouthal.edu
J. Harold Pardue
hpardue@jaguar1.usouthal.edu
School of CIS, University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL  36688  USA

During the past year the Center for Computing Education Research (CCER), a Division of the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals Education Foundation (ICCP EF), developed an assessment examination with the participation of faculty from over 40 universities.  The exam is based simultaneously on the exit skills of the IS 2002 information systems model curriculum, and on its learning units (http://www.is2002.org). On the exam, at least four questions were asked for each higher-level learning unit, and for each sub-skill of the curriculum.

Each university defined their course architecture and mapped their learning units to the model curriculum.  In the process of doing this, university faculty reflected on their course objectives, and then showed how their objectives related to the national model.  Since the CCER exam questions test the learning units, they also indirectly test the students on the course performance of each learning unit.  This gave university faculty the opportunity to measure how their students performed, relative to the national sample, as well as to other students at the university.

This session will present the detailed mechanics of each step of the process from getting involved with the CCER, question writing and reviewing, student involvement and registration, exam scheduling and proctoring, and use of the results.  The assessment information will give individual faculty the ability to focus on weaknesses, and it will give the university the ability to make course additions, or improvement, in addition to meeting regional or program accreditation goals.  Use of CCER reports will be explained both for assessment and for accreditation preparation.

Participants will be provided with a set of slides from the session and sample reports to take back to their Institutional Assessment Office. Participants will also be given an opportunity to ask questions throughout the tutorial and at the end of the session.