Prog eval workshop for the Middle Eastern Lang educators

This month, we are organizing a three-day program evaluation workshop event (July 29th--31st) at the University of Texas at Austin for the Western Consortium of University Centers of the Middle East. There will be over 40 educators from college Middle East language programs gathering for this event.

The event is a collaboration among the National Middle East Language Resource Center, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center.

We will be offering a variety of practical tools, examples, and evaluation principles at work in college foreign language education contexts. There will also be panel discussions and a breakout discussion session.

Here is a sneak peak of the event:

• A keynote speech "High-value evaluation strategies in foreign language education" by John Norris
  
• A survey development workshop by John Davis
• Four evaluation and outcomes assessment showcase presentations from diverse language program contexts
•  A round-table discussion sessions on (a) externally-mandated program review and (b) data gathering methods for various types of outcomes. 

For details (summaries and schedule), go to: http://www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/evaluation/R_MELP.htm

The presentations and workshops will be videotaped and be available via NMELRC's website.

Heiland & Rosenthal (Eds.). (2011). Literary Study, Measurement, and the Sublime: Disciplinary Assessment

The Teagle Foundation has announced a free online book on outcomes assessment in literary studies. This edited volume by Heiland and Rosenthal brings together literary scholars, foreign language and English department faculty, and assessment experts to provide disciplinary perspectives to outcomes assessment.

Those of you who are engaged in humanities and liberal arts programs will find the book enlightening and informative. The book, consisting of 19 chapters, responds to questions, such as:

• "How do we accurately depict and assess humanities outcomes that are often perceived as sublime and ineffable?" 
• "How can we localize assessment within the discipline?" 
• "How do we ensure ownership of assessment and make assessment a collaborative and useful process?"

You can access the book for free [here]

In concordance with the publication of the book, a "National Symposium on Assessment in the Humanities" was held at Miami University on February 23rd and 24th, 2011. The papers presented at the symposium is scheduled to be available online soon (according to the website). Stay tuned!