Reviewers Workshop

The Center of Inquiry invited fourteen writers with experience and expertise in student affairs assessment to participate in a "Reviewers Workshop" that took place in March 2004.  This workshop served as a collective forum for discussing and reviewing various assessment instruments and research methodologies. Some instruments that we reviewed included The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), which is a national longitudinal study of the American higher education system, and provides normative data on each year's entering college students; Your First College Year (YFCY) which is a survey designed to provide higher education practitioners and researchers with comprehensive information on the academic and personal development of first-year college students; The College Student Survey (CSS), which provides valuable feedback on students' academic and campus life experiences; The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a 50-question paper and pencil inventory or assessment tool of statements expressing varied attitudes toward cultural difference; and The Measure of Moral Orientation (MMO) , which is an instrument that measures the ethics of care and justice as typically associated with the work of Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan.  In addition, we reviewed various qualitative methodologies that are also useful to practitioners, such as case studies, interviews, institutional documents and records, and written materials such as essays and journals.  These assessment instruments and research methodologies will be helpful to colleges and universities, and are scheduled to be posted for the public on our website Liberal Arts Online. 

At the Reviewer’s Workshop, each participant was asked to participate in the workshop, and was also given time to research a specific instrument or methodological approach thoroughly. After researching the instrument, they were asked to write up a 5-10 page review of the instrument or method. We believe that this Reviewer’s Workshop model is a practical model for higher education researchers and student affairs departments to replicate, and is suited to the busy schedule of the scholar/practitioner.  Setting aside a block of time produces a useful product at the end of time together, as opposed to time spent that is all process in nature, and also produces an original piece of literature that the scholar/practitioner might be able to publish in the future.  Finally, an institution could construct an assessment "toolkit" that is unique to their institution and needs of their student population. For more information on upcoming Reviewer’s Workshops at the Center of Inquiry, please contact Kimberly Kline, klinek@wabash.edu.

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