Writing Program Assessment Committee (WPAC) is a faculty-led inquiry group that studies student learning related to writing.
Recent projects have included assessment of learning goals related to source use and reflection. Other projects have included developing program learning goals and revision of the program course evaluation. The WPAC current project focuses on learning outcomes for multilingual writers.
Publications
Poe, M. & Zhang-Wu. (forthcoming). Super-diversity as a framework to promote social justice: Designing program assessment for multilingual writing outcomes. composition forum special issue on social justice and multilingualism
WPAC Grants
- “Super-Diversity in Context: A Corpus-based Study of Multilingual Writing Outcomes with Attention to Disparate Impact,” CCCC Research Initiative grant, 2020. $5,920. PIs: Mya Poe, Cherice Escobar Jones, Cara Marta Messina, Northeastern University.
- “Assessing Multilingual Writing: A Design for Outcomes and Opportunity.” College of Social Science and Humanities, Multi-generational Research Teams Pilot Program, PI: Mya Poe, 2019-2020.
WPAC Ongoing Assessment Research
| Method | Form | Purpose | People Responsible | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student surveys/WC evaluations | Indirect | Gather and evaluate student perceptions | WPAC/WC administrators | Once/year |
| Student interviews | Indirect | Gather and evaluate student perceptions | WPAC | Once/year |
| Instructor/tutor surveys and concepts maps | Indirect | Gather and evaluate teacher perceptions | WPAC | Once /year |
| Guided self-placement process | Both | Placement | Instructors/program administrators | Beginning of FA and SP semesters |
| Course documents review | Indirect | Evaluate opportunities to learning/curriculum/ pedagogical practices | WPAC/program administrators | Each semester |
| End-of-term portfolio review | Direct | Training/grading consistency | Instructors/program administrators | End of FA and SP semesters |
| Assessment of student artifacts | Direct | Evaluate student learning across program | Paid raters (instructors) | Collection and tool development throughout the year; scoring each summer |
WPAC = Writing Program Assessment Committee (currently 15 volunteer members appointed by Director); WC=Writing Center