Transcript Web-Based Assesment System - LeMoyne

Web-Based Assessment
System
By Aaron Thomason
Where We Were a Year Ago
Had a web server and network shares
but weren’t utilizing either to their
potential
Had just a few databases, none of
which were properly designed, and
none which allowed shared access
No one in our unit was trained to assist
the college and it programs to design
databases and collect electronically
Find a Database for Us
Find one that could handle large
amounts of text
Find one that you can design more
user-friendly input forms
Find one that you can access from the
web
Determine if we can move our current
data over to this new system
Objectives for Electronic
Assessment
Database all faculty vitas
Database all admission data
Collect surveys via the web
Have NCATE/Unit reports on the web
Utilize all this data to improve our
programs
Collecting Faculty Vitas
Purpose:


Analyze faculty diversity and experiences
Show collaboration/growth in publications,
presentations, and public school
involvement
Associated Costs

Full-time data processor to collect, input,
and analyze data.
Time Involved in Collecting
Faculty Data
Month or more to announce the need for
updated vitas and receive the revised vitas
Two months or more for a data processor to
input all the data from those vitas, which is a
fair amount of time considering that the data
processor has to search the entire vita for
updates
Several days or more to compile that data
into reports.
Electronically
Collecting Faculty Vitas
Give faculty members the ability to
input this data directly.

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Data processor inputted all vitas for 2001
Data processor continues to input adjunct
faculty vitas
All full-time faculty use FacultyVita ©2001
to input their own vita
Time Involved in Electronically
Collecting Faculty Data
A few minutes per week by each faculty
member to add updates to their vita to
the database
Only a few days for the data processor
to enter the updates for adjunct faculty
Only a few seconds to run pre-compiled
faculty data reports
FacultyVita ©2001
Auditing the Vita Database
Ability to track all logins
Ability to track every insert, update and
delete
Can track the exact second the change
occurred
This gives you ability to monitor which
faculty are keeping their vita up-to-date
and who is not
Benefits of collecting vitas
electronically
Easier for the faculty members to
prepare their vita and keep it up to date
Data is validated as it is inputted
Faculty data is always current so reports
can be run at any time, not just once a
year
Vitas can be printed in APA format in
seconds
All changes (inserts, updates, deletes)
are audited, including login activity
Collecting Admission Data
Purpose:
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
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Analyze student numbers and diversity
across programs
Determine factors influencing admission
decisions
Analyze historical trends
Report statistics to NCATE
Associated Costs

Full-time admission secretary to collect
data, input data, and answer questions
Electronically
Collecting Admission Data
Have admission candidates create
accounts and apply, sending all
information directly to the database
Web-based recommendation forms
Give program coordinators access to
enter writing and interview scores
Post admission data to a secure web so
that programs have all data to make
admission decisions
College of Education
Candidate Accounts
Monitoring and Tracking
Teacher Candidates
Security and Access

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Office for Candidate Services has full
access
Program Coordinators have full read access
with ability to insert records for writing and
interview scores
All faculty have full read access to advise
students.
Benefits of Collecting
Admission Data Electronically
Communicate admission procedures
more clearly to candidates
Increase the involvement in admission
decisions
No one staff or faculty member is
burdened to enter tons of data
Easy to create historical views of
admission or pull up prior admission
data
What are the tools to make
this happen?
Windows 2000 Server ($300)
The server hardware ($3,000)
Internet Information Server with FTP, WWW
and SMTP services (built-in)
SQL 2000 Server ($1800 per processor)
ASP Mail 4.0 ($89.95)
Crystal Reports 8.5 Developer Edition ($400)
Visual Studio Enterprise Edition ($150)
Someone to manage this (could already be
on your staff)
How do you coordinate such
an effort?
You start by identifying what you want to
know
Ask the questions that answer those
questions
Work with your database expert to eliminate
questions for which you can already answer
from internal sources
Design your form or survey via the web or VB
Design a brochure for the user to help them
input that information
Analyze your data and look for ways to
improve your unit
SQL Server is the only way
Ease the burden on data processors
Enable data-entry through ELECTRONIC
forms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Validate your data electronically before
allowing users to submit it
Keep tabs on who, when, where and how
often users are entering and updating their
data
Actually do more with your data than report it
to NCATE or your Accrediting body
Work to build a system where your data is
always the most current
Is a Complete Accreditation
Visit Possible?
Requires inputting data by hundreds not
just a few
Takes powerful database system like
SQL Server 2000
Requires direct control over college web
server
Takes a database expert to administer
this system
Key Technologies Involved in
Electronic Assessment
ASP pages to collect surveys and other
web-based forms
On-demand and automated email
notifications
Internet or TCP/IP access by all
stakeholders
Powerful reporting software that can be
compiled and updated automatically
In-House developed applications that
mirror your assessment needs
Keys to Large Database
Security
Restrict most access to within your
university’s firewall (block port 1433)
Force encryption for all connections
Push confidential or private information
onto a secure web site that requires
authentication
Set permission on the database to
determine what users can see and do
The University of Central
Arkansas’ Bragging Rights
First-ever faculty vita collection system
Complete electronic admission system
In-House web hosting service available
to all program candidates
First automatic attendance tracking
system
What We Anticipate for the
Future
Collect all field experience diversity data
and reflective thoughts of candidates.
Web-base all course and instructor
evaluation forms
Web-base all evaluation forms during
student teaching
Using email to save on mailing costs
Distributing more surveys to our
candidates and faculty, collecting, and
reporting all this data electronically
Collecting Attendance Data
Purpose:
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Standard record keeping
Monitor candidate’s commitment to teacher
education
Another piece of data in correlating
grades/performance with other factors
Associated Cost

Practically impossible to have entered into
a database
Electronically
Collecting Attendance Data
Automatically track attendance in
classroom labs
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As candidates login, their login name is
captured and sent to the database, which
looks up their ID, the candidate’s class
schedule, and if the current time is
between the start and end times marks
them present
In non-lab classrooms Faculty track
attendance by checking who is present
Tracking Employee Times
Necessary for payroll
Inputting this into a database helps
monitor employee work hours
Electronically
Tracking Employee Times
Employees login the TimeCard program
Employees have one hour to clock in
Clocking out is validated not to exceed
10 hours