Two-year college programs are under increasing pressure to assess and document their progress toward programmatic and institutional goals. Moreover, programs that conduct such assessments are more likely to have successful student transitions to four-year programs and/or the workplace. The more efficient and effective an assessment tool is, the greater the likelihood it will be used. Because many two-year college chemistry faculty already have high teaching loads and departmental obligations, developing a useful assessment tool to provide this much-needed reflection can be daunting. In 2012, a task force comprised of two-year college chemistry faculty developed an assessment tool based on the ACS Guidelines for Chemistry in Two-Year College Programs. An optional review process was also developed to give users feedback from peers in areas like curriculum, research, development of students’ skills, lecture and laboratory infrastructure, etc. to further their development. Since then, 38 institutions have used the tool, along with feedback from ACS, to determine what areas they are excelling in and those that could use some focus and attention. In this presentation, we will address information on ACS assessment tool resources, feedback from users, and suggestions for assessing chemistry and chemistry-based technology education. In addition, we will share challenges and future direction of this resource.

Advancing chemistry education in two-year college programs through self-assessment

249th National Meeting (2015)

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