Support for units and programs
LEAP supports academic units (Departments, Schools, non-departmentalized Faculties) and programs housed across multiple units with gathering and analysing data for faculty-led unit-level projects. These include Educational Goals assessment, External Review self-studies and mid-cycle reporting, and other program-level assessment projects.
Our aim in this work is to provide data and analysis that your unit will find meaningful and helpful. If you are considering program-level changes, we can help to gather data that provides evidence to shape and support these changes. We can also help to evaluate the success of program-level initiatives, allowing your unit to tell a compelling narrative about where it has been, where it is, and where it plans to go. We also help with the reporting of this information in self-studies and Educational Goals assessment reports.
To accomplish this, our approach is collaborative. We listen carefully to identify a unit's specific information needs, and develop a strategy to gather and analyse relevant data. We are also mindful of units' limited time - and work with them in ways that are both effective and efficient.
As a centrally-supported service unit, LEAP's services are offered at no cost to the 丁香园AV community.
Work we Do
Educational Goals
We support units with all aspects of the Educational Goals cycle, including defining Educational Goals, mapping them to the curriculum, and helping units to assess student attainment of the Goals.
We also support necessary reporting to the University.
sample projects
Consultation on Assessment Plan and Mid-Cycle Report
A department approaches us to discuss an assessment plan to use as part of their mid-cycle report and action plan. We provide consultation and support to help complete their mid-cycle report.
Educational Goals curriculum mapping
A department's Educational Goals committee wants to map its curriculum to its Educational Goals. We collaborate to design a mapping survey, administer the survey to the department faculty, and send the data back to the committee.
External review self-studies
Producing the self-studies that form part of the External Review process can be challenging and time-consuming. Units often may want to supplement the standard sets of data provided by the Office of the Vice President, Academic and the Office of the Vice President, Research.
LEAP supports data-gathering and assessment activities for Self-Studies and Mid-cycle reporting.
sample project
Department Self-Study
A department wants to do a student survey of its undergraduate and graduate students for its self-study. We collaborate to design the survey, administer the survey on the department鈥檚 behalf, analyse data, and submit a report to the department.
other program-level assessment projects
Some important projects fall outside of Educational Goals and External Reviews. We support these too.
sample projects
Formative Evaluation of a New Program
A unit wants to do a formative evaluation of a new program. We collaborate to create a project plan. On behalf of the department, we interview students, staff, faculty and external stakeholders. We analyze the data, submit an initial report to the unit and participants, gather participant feedback on the analysis, and submit a revised final report to the unit.
Comparator Analysis of Similar Programs
As part of reviewing their program, a unit wants to understand how their field is taught at peer institutions. This helps to identify a program's competitive advantages and determine how the program aligns with the state of the art in the field. We work with the unit to identify peer institutions and conduct a comparative analysis of these institutions' programs.
What you can expect from us
Skills and Experience
The LEAP team is skilled in survey design, focus groups, interviews, data visualization, and statistical analysis, which allows us select and apply the appropriate research methods for each project. We are experienced in supporting the assessment needs of a wide range of campus stakeholders.
Arm's length data collection and analysis
As a third-party entity within the university, LEAP offers survey respondents and interview/focus group participants a neutral environment to openly share their perspectives.
3. Data Security, Confidentiality and Privacy
All data LEAP collects is securely stored on 丁香园AV servers. We strictly adhere to 丁香园AV鈥檚 privacy policies to maintain confidentiality and data integrity.
Program-level projects are often sensitive in nature. For this reason, we offer our client units confidentiality in their work with us.