Purpose
ODU’s QEP is PURSUE TRUTH: Read Responsibly. Think Critically., which will enhance student learning as faculty teaching 100- and 200-level courses engage in workshops to design assignments that help students read and think more critically. Enhanced reading and thinking will help students improve information fluency, which is the ability to process and apply information in various contexts. As a result of the workshops, students will practice each student learning outcome (SLO):
- Analyze information being presented.
- Identify and summarize the main points.
- Apply and transfer knowledge to a different situation.
- Reflect on or evaluate what was learned.
Impact
For each group of 24 faculty participants in a workshop, we anticipated reaching a total of 1,440 students. As of September 2026, the QEP has engaged 163 faculty members who have impacted 11,965 students in their post-workshop courses, surpassing our goal by over 2000.
Assessment Process
The each year a Summit is held to assess artifacts sourced from participating faculty before (pre-) and after (post-) they attended a workshop. The randomly selected, stratified sample of artifacts meets the 95% confidence and 5% margin of error thresholds for generalizability and is proportional to the enrollment of the participating courses within 1% difference. All artifacts are read and scored twice. To bolster inter-rater reliability, if an artifact that is read twice differs by two or more points on two or more outcomes, then the artifact is then read by a third rater.
| Group | Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Workshop | Artifacts (N) | 253 | 252 | 137 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
| Pre-Workshop | Raters (N) | 8 | 8 | 8 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
| Pre-Workshop | Total Reads (N) | 342 | 285 | 274 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
| Post-Workshop | Artifacts (N) | 253 | 253 | 138 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
| Post-Workshop | Raters (N) | 8 | 8 | 8 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
| Post-Workshop | Total Reads (N) | 354 | 287 | 276 | Coming soon! | Coming soon! |
The results indicated improvements in student learning outcomes. In each instance, the Post-Workshop scores for each SLO surpassed each of the Pre-Workshop scores. Notably, SLO 1 and SLO 3 showed over 30% growth after faculty participated in the workshops. However, SLO 2 was scored higher than other skills in the Pre-Workshop group and only showed minimal growth in the Post-Workshop group (6%). Overall, we’re doing very well and hope to progress towards our goal of 70% of all Post-Workshop students artifacts at or above standard in each SLO by 2028.
The Fall 2025 results reflect meaningful progress in student learning and position the program well on its path toward the 2028 benchmark of 70% of all Post-Workshop student artifacts at or above standard in each SLO. Overall achievement was strong across all four outcomes, with 51% of artifacts at or above standard for SLO 1, 49% for SLO 2, 49% for SLO 3, and 53% for SLO 4. SLO 4 demonstrated the most encouraging Pre- to Post-Workshop growth, rising from 47% to 53% at or above standard, a 6-percentage-point gain that signals the positive impact of faculty participation in the workshops. SLO 1 also showed improvement, with Post-Workshop artifacts climbing from 49% to 51% at or above standard. Average ratings remained consistently solid across all SLOs and both groups, ranging from 2.73 to 3.39, reflecting strong rater alignment and overall student performance. While SLO 3 continues to present the greatest opportunity for growth — with the lowest average ratings across both groups — the program's overall standing is encouraging. With SLOs 1, 2, and 4 all performing at or above the 70% threshold in overall achievement, the program is in a strong position heading into the next workshop cycle, and continued focus on SLO 3 will be a key priority as we work toward our 2028 goals.
The Fall 2026 results yet again reflect meaningful progress in student learning and, quite significantly, the first year we met our 2028 benchmark of 70% of all Post-Workshop student artifacts at or above standard in each SLO. We appear to be ahead of schedule in terms of our impact on student learning outcomes pertaining to critical reading! Overall achievement was very strong and markedly improved from 2025 across all four outcomes, with 90.6% of artifacts at or above standard for SLO 1, 89.1% for SLO 2, 80.1% for SLO 3, and 75.7% for SLO 4. SLO 4, which focuses on reflection, yet again demonstrated the most encouraging Pre- to Post-Workshop growth, rising from 54% to 75.7% at or above standard, a 21-percentage-point increase.
The results indicated improvements in student learning outcomes. In each instance, the Post-Workshop scores for each SLO surpassed each of the Pre-Workshop scores. Notably, SLO 1 and SLO 3 showed over 30% growth after faculty participated in the workshops. However, SLO 2 was scored higher than other skills in the Pre-Workshop group and only showed minimal growth in the Post-Workshop group (6%). Overall, we’re doing very well and hope to progress towards our goal of 70% of all Post-Workshop students artifacts at or above standard in each SLO by 2028.
The Fall 2025 results reflect meaningful progress in student learning and position the program well on its path toward the 2028 benchmark of 70% of all Post-Workshop student artifacts at or above standard in each SLO. Overall achievement was strong across all four outcomes, with 51% of artifacts at or above standard for SLO 1, 49% for SLO 2, 49% for SLO 3, and 53% for SLO 4. SLO 4 demonstrated the most encouraging Pre- to Post-Workshop growth, rising from 47% to 53% at or above standard, a 6-percentage-point gain that signals the positive impact of faculty participation in the workshops. SLO 1 also showed improvement, with Post-Workshop artifacts climbing from 49% to 51% at or above standard. Average ratings remained consistently solid across all SLOs and both groups, ranging from 2.73 to 3.39, reflecting strong rater alignment and overall student performance. While SLO 3 continues to present the greatest opportunity for growth — with the lowest average ratings across both groups — the program's overall standing is encouraging. With SLOs 1, 2, and 4 all performing at or above the 70% threshold in overall achievement, the program is in a strong position heading into the next workshop cycle, and continued focus on SLO 3 will be a key priority as we work toward our 2028 goals.
The Fall 2026 results yet again reflect meaningful progress in student learning and, quite significantly, the first year we met our 2028 benchmark of 70% of all Post-Workshop student artifacts at or above standard in each SLO. We appear to be ahead of schedule in terms of our impact on student learning outcomes pertaining to critical reading! Overall achievement was very strong and markedly improved from 2025 across all four outcomes, with 90.6% of artifacts at or above standard for SLO 1, 89.1% for SLO 2, 80.1% for SLO 3, and 75.7% for SLO 4. SLO 4, which focuses on reflection, yet again demonstrated the most encouraging Pre- to Post-Workshop growth, rising from 54% to 75.7% at or above standard, a 21-percentage-point increase.
Best Practices Recommended by Raters
- Clarify differences between SLO 1 (Analyze) and SLO 2 (Identify and Summarize) for students to make these clearer in the assignments.
- Clarify for students and faculty what “evidence” means, as it varies greatly by discipline.
- Clarify for students and faculty what “application” means.
Planned Changes
- Revise workshop content to include clarification of language in rubric descriptors.
- Revise rubric to include language that clarifies that “in your own words” might mean without the use of AI technologies. We also plan to address the use of AI in our calibration sessions and assessment summit.
- Continue discussion about the ordering of SLO 1 and 2 in relationship to learning taxonomies.
- The highest variation in scoring is in SLO 4 Reflection. Helping faculty better grasp “reflection” in assignment design will lead to higher quality student artifacts.
- Liaise with Jenn Sloggie and the first-year (FY) seminar to explore how our programs can work together.
Participation Information
Workshops will be held each spring and summer term, offering a $2,100 stipend plus meals. Interested faculty can apply here or contact Dan Richards, Director of QEP Initiatives, at dprichar@odu.edu.