Our first annual Assessment Day took place on Tuesday, April 21. Our Assessment Fellows each presented on an assessment-related topic of interest, including reflections on faculty relationships with assessment, workshops on how to calibrate rubrics or close the loop, and discussions on how to integrate soft skills and information literacy into your exploration of student learning.

During and following the discussions, the Fellows and attendees - including some assessment folks visiting from other CUNY schools - discussed a wide range of topics centered on assessment as it relates to our pedagogical practice:

How can we get more faculty excited about assessment as good pedagogy?

How can good pedagogy include faculty collaborating across disciplines, and students collaborating with each other?

How do different types of courses lead to different outcomes for students? Particularly students' abilities to communicate and collaborate?

How does our sense of these outcomes change when we look at indirect assessment using grades versus direct assessment using student work?

As one attendee summed up: "it was helpful to see that we all struggle with similar issues. And we were all open to share possible solutions." All those who answered our follow-up survey felt the conference helped them to compare their assessment experiences to the experiences of others, apply fundamental tools to their practice of assessment and discuss the rewards and challenges of assessment with colleagues.