Assessment | Publications | Presentations | Support
Assessment Tools and Techniques
Assessment and evaluation of STAR Leadership Program is done in four ways:
- Data tracking – The Assessment team examines trends in demographic information and academic records to analyze the benefits of participation in the STAR Leadership Program.
- Satisfaction surveys – Student satisfaction with our enhanced curriculum is measured through survey administered annually and through interviews with a random selection of students. Alumni who participated in the program are surveyed at one and five years post-graduation.
- Evaluations of Student Behaviors – Individual students are evaluated based on the leadership behavior rubrics. Faculty members evaluate their students when they include instructional materials with leadership theory in their educational setting (classroom, lab, research,etc.)
- Situational Leadership Instrument – The instrument is administered three times during a student’s career at Austin College: first near the beginning of their freshman year, at the end of the sophomore year, and, finally, approaching graduation. Each situation for the survey is constructed around typical circumstances that undergraduate students experience both within their science courses, laboratories, or research labs, and throughout their lives. Evaluation of answers is done with the leadership behavior rubrics.
Leadership Behavior Rubrics
Assessment of the STAR Leadership Program is based evaluation of our student’s leadership behaviors. Common rubrics, linked below, are used for all evaluations of student’s behavior. It is useful to look at the rubrics before developing instructional material.
Rubrics were developed by minimally modifying the American Association of Colleges and Universities’s VALUE Rubrics (Finley and Rhodes 2013, Rhodes 2010, Sullivan 2015)
Publications
Reed, K. E.; Aiello, D. P.; Barton, L. F.; Gould, S. L.; McCain, K.; & Richardson, J. M. (2016). Integrating Leadership Development Throughout the Undergraduate Science Curriculum. Journal of College Science Teaching, 45(5), 51-59.
Reed, K. E. & Richardson, J. M. (2013) Using Microbial Genome Annotation as a Foundation for Collaborative Student Research. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 41(1), 34-43.
Presentations
Aiello, D.P.; Barton, L.F.; Gould, S.L.; McCain, K.S.; Reed, K.E.; & Richardson, J.M. “Promoting Leadership Development Within Undergraduate STEM Curricula” The Allied Genetics Conference, Orlando, FL, July 13-17, 2016.
Aiello D. P.; Barton L.F.; Gould, S. L.; McCain, K. S.;Reed, K. E.; & Richardson J. M. “Promoting Leadership Development Within Undergraduate STEM Curricula” American Society for Cell Biology, 55th Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, December 12-16, 2015.
Aiello D. P.; Barton L.F.; Gould, S. L.; McCain, K. S.;Reed, K. E.; & Richardson J. M. “Promoting Leadership Development Within Undergraduate STEM Curricula” AAC&U’s Network for Academic Renewal’s Crossing Boundaries: Transforming STEM Education, Seattle, WA, November 12-14, 2015.
Gould, S.L. “The STAR Leadership Program: enhancing undergraduate education through leadership training integrated directly into chemistry courses and research laboratories.” Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Ft. Worth, Texas, November 18-20, 2014.
Gould, S.L.; Barton, L. “Undergraduate Research as a Platform to Develop Scientific Leaders.” Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) National Meeting, Washington, D.C., June 28-30, 2014.
Gould, S.L., Richardson, J.M., “Training Chemists for Responsible Leadership through the STAR Leadership Program at Austin College.” American Chemical Society 247th National Meeting, Dallas, Texas, March 16-20, 2014.
Support
W.M. Keck Foundation – Undergraduate Education Grant, $250,000, June 2014 to May 2017.