Assessment is important in that it is the process
by which the IPRO Program can systematically evaluate itself to determine
its strengths and areas for improvement. By assessing the achievement
of the goals of the IPRO Program, we can help the program to capitalize
on its strengths and to improve on its weaknesses. Only in doing this
can the IPRO Program grow to become the leader in interprofessional
education. Over the Spring 2004 semester, the Assessment sub-team has
worked on several projects:
Analysis of Fall 2004 Survey and Debriefing Data.
Data that was collected from the student and faculty learning objectives
surveys and the team debriefing sessions were analyzed. Results from
the analyses were used to propose new changes to the IPRO Program. One
such change was a recommendation to all IPRO teams to use Yahoo! Groups
to help facilitate team communication and project management. The results
were also compared with the Fall 2003 IPRO Projects Day Conference results
to suggest changes to the award scheme.
Feedback to IPRO Teams. The team used the results
gathered from the surveys, debriefing sessions, and IPRO Day to create
an individualized feedback report for each IPRO team. The feedback reports
provided the teams with information on how they did compared to the
other IPRO teams. It also provided information about the most common
processes used by each team to help with the achievement of the learning
objectives. Aside from providing each team with a feedback report, the
team also coordinated a feedback session where the results were presented
to faculty members. Faculty members had an opportunity to hear the results,
ask questions, and also share more of their insights.
Revision of Learning Objectives Surveys. The student
and faculty learning objectives surveys were revised to incorporate
the new EnPRO learning objective as well as satisfaction questions that
measure students' and faculty members' satisfaction with their project
and with the IPRO Program as a whole.
Creation of Alumni, Sponsor, and Administration
Surveys. The team worked on creating new surveys to evaluate the opinions
of other groups that are influential to the IPRO Program. The surveys
measure things such as the benefits of having interprofessional experience
in a real world work environment, sponsor needs, and IIT's needs, goals,
and commitment to the IPRO Program. The surveys will be administered
for the first time during the Summer of 2004.
Faculty Best Practices Interviews. The team interviewed
some of the IPRO faculty who led IPROs during the Fall 2003 semester
to ask them questions about the processes they used to help them facilitate
the achievement of learning objectives within their teams. The information
provided was used in conjunction with the debriefing data to help determine
a set of faculty best practices. This information is useful because
it allows us to propose changes that will help to improve the quality
of the IPRO Program for students and faculty.
Debriefing Sessions. The team coordinated debriefing
sessions for each of the IPRO teams. This was the second round of debriefing
sessions. Each debriefing session consisted of an explanation of the
IPRO learning objectives, a brief learning objectives survey, and a
discussion about the students' IPRO experience, the strengths and weaknesses
of their team, and their suggestions for improving the IPRO Program.
In coordinating and conducting the debriefing sessions, we are not only
able to collect data, but we also provide students an opportunity to
reflect on their experiences and their accomplishments within the team.
