ELI Grant Builds on Self-Assessment Project

Thanks to a new Experiments in Learning Innovation (ELI) grant from the Provost's Office and the Center for Educational Innovation, language students will be able to chart their developing proficiency through the language curriculum, using self-assessment with other evidence of their language competence as progress markers. Two major, overlapping self-assessment initiatives are already in progress: the Basic Outcomes Student Self-Assessment (BOSSA), and the PACE Project, which funds BOSSA development and integrates it with traditional assessment.

Anna Olivero-Agney, who also serves as the PACE Assistant Developer, will take the lead in this project, collaborating with instructors and students to expand the utility of the self-assessment protocol and integration within the curriculum using identified students' strengths and challenges to inform classroom practice. The project will also explore the option of developing an online portfolio for students, a virtual space to archive artifacts that demonstrate progress in acquiring the language: self-assessment results, video or audio recordings, written samples, goals vis-à-vis course outcomes, and a personalized proficiency road map, among others.

The project has three phases:

• Phase 1, Spring 2015: Beginning with instructors in German and Italian, explore what is useful, meaningful, sustainable, and manageable in the existing self-assessment protocol (currently in use by nearly 1500 CLA students in 8 languages). Collect feedback on how the BOSSA experience works in support of second language proficiency in their classrooms.


• Phase 2, Fall 2015: Work with student focus groups to further explore what additional options would strengthen the protocol and empower students in their language learning. The BOSSA team will continue to shape the instrument, responding to student input, and will look at the connection between self-assessment and performance in the second language. Explore digital options for collecting, archiving, organizing, and presenting student work.


• Phase 3, Spring 2016: Operationalize the student- and instructor-driven BOSSA revisions. Based on these data, the team will develop a strategic plan according to stakeholder needs, circumstances, and response to the project. Pilot options for electronically storing and maintaining evidence of student work.

ELI team members will regularly meet with other ELI grant recipients over the course of the year for collaborative feedback and discussion of next steps.

The ELI grant project will be supported by the following members of the BOSSA and PACE teams:

• Anna Olivero-Agney, ELI Coordinator & PACE Assistant Developer, Language Center


• Gabriela Sweet, PACE Sustainability Coordinator, Language Center


• Sara Mack, Spanish 1004 Level Coordinator, Spanish and Portuguese


• Joanne Peltonen, Testing Coordinator, Language Center


• Diane Rackowski, Technical Coordinator, Language Center

ELI grants are funded by the Provost's Office and the Center for Educational Innovation. These awards are intended to support innovative undergraduate teaching and learning at the course or curricular level. They provide substantial financial and staff support to design, deliver, and measure the impact of novel approaches by University of Minnesota faculty, P&A instructors, and academic leaders.

The PACE Project is funded by a grant from The Language Flagship.