GETTING STARTED WITH ASSESSMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT & WRITING GOOD QUESTIONS
1. GETTING STARTED WITH ASSESSMENT
PROJECT MANAGEMENT & WRITING GOOD QUESTIONS
Jennifer Rutner
Assessment & Marketing Librarian
Columbia University Libraries
3. What is assessment?
Data-
informed
decision
making
Quality,
actionable
Culture of
data
Assessment
Information
transparency
4. Culture of assessment
A Culture of Assessment is an organizational environment in
which decisions are based on facts, research and analysis,
and where services are planned and delivered in ways that
maximize positive outcomes and impacts for library clients.
A Culture of Assessment exists in organizations where staff care
to know what results they produce and how those results
relate to customer expectations.
Amos Lakos: www.usc.edu/.../locations/leavey/news/conference/presentations/presentations_9-
16/Assessment/UCLA_Lakos.ppt
6. What not to do.
Make the
Form a Get a really same
Write survey
representative low response decisions you
questions
committee rate would have
anyways
7. What will help!
1. Develop a project plan
2. Understand your team
3. Identify your information needs
4. Write good questions
5. Act on the results
8. Project scope
What is the purpose of this project?
What will this project produce (deliverables)?
What will not happen during this project?
9. Project objectives
Specific Measurable Aggressive
Time-
Realistic
sensitive
10. Identify decision makers
Who needs to use the information produced by this assessment
project to make decisions and produce results?
12. Understanding your team
Project
manager
Decider Client
Team
Worker Leader
Commun-
Expert
icator
13. Understanding your team
Team Role Skills Interests Authority Responsibility
Member (What you get (What you
to decide) have to do)
Jennifer Project manager, Writing good Space planning Methodology Assign work to
Expert questions team members
IRB process Tool development and sub-teams
Facilitation
Implementation Set meeting
agendas
Ensure that
milestones are
met
Michael Worker, Expert Programming, Usability Website layout Build/manage
Usability studies survey tool
Kimberly Client, Decider Managing, Quantitative data Approve project Attend meetings,
Content expertise analysis plan general oversight
18. Assessment process
Available Information
Environmental Establish
information needs
scan priorities
(knowns) (unknowns)
Assign
IRB Test the tools Develop tools
methodology
Conduct Decision
Analysis Reporting
assessment making!
21. Good questions…
• are clear
• are easy to answer
• are not biased
• are not leading
• allow the participant to express their
perspective
22. Test the test!
• Is there anything that doesn’t make sense?
• Are any of the questions too personal?
• Is there terminology that you don’t know?
• Are you able to answer each question?
• Are you able to give the answers you want to give?