An Intentional Approach to Starting a Learning Improvement Project

Assessment practitioners are well aware that evidence of learning improvement in higher education is scarce. A Learning Improvement Community has been created to promote learning improvement. Recently, this group created a Readiness for Learning Improvement Tool. Given learning improvement projects are resource intensive, this tool was designed to help practitioners and faculty evaluate a program’s readiness prior to engaging in the work. The tool is quite flexible, which is an asset; however, the flexibility leaves practitioners with a number of methodological decisions to make. In this paper, a case study from James Madison University’s Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) B.S. program, one strategy for using the tool is demonstrated. In this particular case, all outward signs suggested that the program was ready for a learning improvement project. Use of the Tool revealed that the faculty did not have the capacity to take on a new project. Decision points and considerations on future use of the Tool is provided.