ED 795A Seminar: Investigating and Reporting Issues in Education

Course Reflection and Summary of Learning

Danny Oliveira
San Diego State University

COURSE REFLECTION: ED 795A

My learning in ED 795A has been best reflected in the Assessment Plan

for Arts Alive SDSU (PLO 1, PLO 5, PLO 6, PLO 7, PLO 9, PLO 10). The
development of this Assessment Plan has been a collaborative effort to
engage in a meaningful outcomes-based assessment of an SDSU Strategic
Plan Initiative to enhance creative arts on campus (PLO 7). The long term
goal of this initiative is to support faculty efforts to build art events into a
university curriculum framework by integrating the arts such as plays, art,
and/or music into course content across disciplines. The immediate goals of
Arts Alive SDSU include broadening awareness of arts events and
opportunities at SDSU while increasing attendance at SDSU arts events. The
primary focus of promoting the arts and increasing awareness of the arts
among the student population has posed a challenge in developing
meaningful cognitive student learning outcomes among the campus
community (PLO 6). The outcomes that my group collaboratively developed
include an increased sense of connectedness with the campus community
for students who are affected by or participate in Arts Alive SDSU events on
campus. In addition, the awareness of the arts on campus will be assessed
as a measurement of the effectiveness of the Arts Alive SDSU initiative.
These outcomes are reflective of affective learning outcomes rather than
cognitive learning outcomes and are difficult to accurately measure. I have
some reservations about the validity and reliability of our data collected
through our assessment instruments.
The collaborative aspect of this project has, at times, presented

COURSE REFLECTION: ED 795A

challenges for our group. These challenges have influenced me to evaluate

and reflect upon my leadership role in this collaboration (PLO 5). There is a
degree of passivity among each of our group members that I believe could
potentially hinder our effectiveness as a collaborative assessment team. I
have realized that there is an opportunity for me to exercise my leadership
skills to enhance our effectiveness. I am aware of some potential
incompatibilities between some of our group members that may present an
opportunity for mediation and team building. There have been some micro
aggressions expressed between some of our group members that I believe
need to be addressed and mitigated in order to maintain our cohesiveness.
These group dynamics are connected to my personal goal of establishing
solid working relationships with my classmates in order to ensure my success in the program
while contributing to our collective intellectual growth. I realize that taking an active leadership
role in this group will contribute to our collective growth and effectiveness. I understand that I
have developed varying degrees of working relationships with my peers in this group and will
need to be more intentional to enhance each of these relationships in order to achieve this goal.
The dynamics of this collaboration are also connected to my professional goal of expanding my
professional network with my classmates in this cohort as well as other professionals that I
interact with. The relationships established with my peers will be ongoing and will continue to
serve each of us in expanding our networks. The relationships that we are developing with the
Arts Alive SDSU faculty coordinators have also served to expand my professional network on
this campus. Relationships with academic affairs constituents are important for my career in

COURSE REFLECTION: ED 795A

student affairs and present an opportunity that will potentially become an ongoing collaboration
on the SDSU campus.
The assessment skills that I am developing through this project are directly connected to
my professional goal of developing my skills and strengths in order to become a highly
competitive candidate for any professional position that I apply for. Assessment has become
increasingly important in student affairs and the ability to conduct an effective outcomesbased assessment is an invaluable skill that is likely to be sought after in
most any position that I will pursue in my job search. The interpersonal
leadership skills that I will continue to develop in my role as a collaborator on
this project are also directly connected to this goal.
Taking a more intentional leadership role in my collaborative group would enhance my
engagement in the learning and development in this course. This will be foremost in my
approach to the 795B course in Spring semester. Becoming more intentional in my interactions
with my peers and my role in the group will enhance my learning and development in the next
half of this seminar.
I believe my engagement in this course could have been enhanced by an alteration in the
course design. The instructors approach to providing instruction in this course has differed from
the approach that I am accustomed to in other courses in our program. I would have appreciated
more intentional and directed instruction in the class meetings that would result in more
meaningful discussion among my classmates which in turn would enhance my learning and
development. The instructors reliance on students to present questions about assigned readings
to spark discussion has not had the desired effect. The material presented in the assigned
readings is often difficult to digest without meaningful discussion and explanations to provide

COURSE REFLECTION: ED 795A

context. I believe that there have been important aspects the assessment process that I did not
effectively learn because many of us did not present questions for discussion. The lack of
questions may have indicated to the instructor that students clearly understood the intended
concepts. This likely was not an accurate assumption as many of my peers have expressed
confusion and lack of understanding of some of the concepts from the readings.