It’s October (already!), which brings to mind scary movies, suspense, ghosts, and goblins for Halloween. Let’s be honest, I think about the candy, but that’s a different story. I’m not a fan of scary movies or suspense, but I bet that some of you would rather watch a horror movie than work on assessment. Do you think something is going to jump out at you (the deadline is when?) or trip you up (like that log in the woods) or chase you down (is that a chainsaw I hear in the background)? Assessment doesn’t have to be scary or suspenseful. It can be as sweet as candy with the right planning. You might even think of assessment as fun if you have a creative approach.
Picking a Costume
Figure out who or what you want to be. That’s kind of like determining your outcomes and methods. How extravagant do you want to be (what is your assessment target)? Some assessment is really complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. You might wrap a towel around your neck and call yourself a superhero (i.e., have participants respond to a one-question prompt for 60 seconds), or you might need to recruit several friends to make and wear rotating paper maché planets to be a solar system (i.e., a longitudinal study with interviews and surveys over several years following the same group of students). It depends on what you need when.
Do you have a costume theme? Hopefully, you have reflected on what is important about what you do and what you want to know. Is it about student learning, customer service, being efficient, something else? You could look at Pinterest or browse the aisle of the Halloween shop (what assessment methods already exist?) or look around your house (what can I make from scratch with what I already have?). All of those things can point you in a direction to help you know how you want to design your best costume and what resources you might need.
How much time do you have to make your costume? If you are trying to assess something with a short duration (a one-hour program) you may have to keep your assessment fairly simple. If you are advising student leaders for a year, you have the opportunity for more depth and detail. If you have a lot of time and passion, you might actually spend months preparing your costume. Either way, I recommend you spend some time preparing, so you are not trying to throw something together at the last minute. That just causes more stress and fear (and people wondering what your costume is supposed to be).
Decorating
This is about setting the environment and the experience that others will have. Do you have one rotting pumpkin sitting on your front porch or do you have motion-activated props that make people laugh or scream? You might have even turned out all your lights so as to discourage anyone from knocking on your front door. Think about what your outcomes are (what do you want people to walk away with?) because that will impact the delivery of your program or service and how you want to get feedback. Plus, if you are not excited about assessment (or student learning or customer service or leadership…), other people will not get excited about it either. You have to set the stage. That’s not to say that you have to be way over the top (are you THAT neighbor?), but figure out what is meaningful and manageable for you and the work you do.
Asking the Right Questions
Trick or Treat? There are points in the assessment process where you have to ask questions. It could be asking colleagues from the beginning to be involved because they have a stake in the data. Most of the time, you are also asking people to give you feedback about something. Just like you would not go door to door in June asking for treats, you wouldn’t want to do assessment at a time that doesn’t make any sense. It also would not make sense on Halloween to say “Would you like fries or onion rings with your burger?” when someone answers the door because that is out of context. People get frustrated trying to answer questions they don’t understand or don’t have the answer for.
Whose house do you go to? You have to figure out who has the information that you need. It could be your current participants, clients, or customers. But, it could also be people you do not currently serve. It could be people you served last year. It depends on what you need to know from whom at a given time. Most trick or treaters know the house without any lights on is not going to result in candy, so they skip it.
What do you do with all the treats you get? When you were kids, did you pool your candy or trade with your friends (“If you give me your Snickers, you can have my Sweet Tarts”)? After you have collected your data, you again have the opportunity to ask people to be involved in the analysis and interpretation of your results. Spread the wealth of knowledge, so colleagues can also use the results for positive change. Do you really need all of those calories for yourself or can you share with others?
Final Thoughts
Don’t let assessment scare you. Make it fun and entertaining. Invite your friends. Be creative. And remember to be kind to your favorite student affairs professional by feeding them chocolate on occasion.