Performance Task Academy Formats

Faculty/instructors/teachers, academic resource professionals and other interested parties are invited to attend a training workshop of the Performance Task Academy.  These are opportunities to work with people from your own institution as well as those from other colleges, universities, community colleges and high schools.  

The basic workshop is called Academy 101 (see below for more detail).

Individual institutions can also request sponsoring their own Academy. This can either take the form of the basic Academy 101, or can be customized to include, for example:

• A half-day or one-day overview of the CLA (not part of the standard Academy 101).
• Advanced task development, such as a special four-week program, in which initial in-person training will be provided on creating performance tasks, then faculty will work for four weeks (with web-based workshops to support task development), and then another in-person workshop will be held to share and get feedback on the finished performance tasks. 
• Course development, in which faculty learn how to create an entire course centered on the use of performance tasks.

The two-day Academy 101 is the standard workshop we offer and it focuses on curricular and pedagogical work that complements institution-wide assessment practices.  This Academy is designed for those with little to no background in the use of rubrics, authentic assessment and performance tasks.  In particular, participants will:

• Learn about the CLA in the Classroom Performance Tasks and use rubrics

• Participate in a hands-on workshop to develop performance tasks where course content or concepts can be embedded

• Learn more about rubric-based assessment as it applies to the CLA in the Classroom Performance Tasks

• Brainstorm strategies for using these approaches in courses or across their institution

The Academy will include a mixture of mini-lectures, small group activities, large group discussion, and independent work. The Academy is designed to be an introduction for those who have little to no experience creating performance tasks, and chance for task development for those who already have some practice.

A limited number of participants are allowed to register for each Academy in order to keep the activities highly interactive and hands-on.

It is recommended that each institution sends a team of at least two people to the workshop so they can collaborate when returning to campus.

The standard workshop will run two days.  Copies of materials will be provided, and breakfasts and lunches are included. 

The format for the standard two-day Academy 101 is as follows:

DAY 1 (9:00 am - 5:00 pm):

• Welcome and introductions
• An overview of authentic assessment practices
• Using rubrics
• Exploring CLA in the Classroom Performance Tasks
• Reading actual student responses
• Interpreting the Student Diagnostic Report
• Using a template to create a performance task
  
• (Enjoy dinner on your own)

DAY 2 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm):

• Planning how to create a performance task (in groups)
• Feedback on tasks
• Working on creating performance tasks
• Discussion of pedagogy and curricular strategies
  
• Departures

The Performance Task Academy was designed for educators who have an interest in and commitment to:

• Designing their curricula and pedagogy to include the explicit teaching and learning of higher order thinking skills (like those assessed through the CLA or CWRA).  Although we might think these skills transcend a particular course or discipline, they are typically considered part of an institution’s collective goals of a general education.

• Incorporating into their courses new opportunities for students to practice complex problem solving that resembles the range of ways they will in the future likely apply or transfer what they have learned to real-life situations.

Next Academy Preview Webinar:

Tuesday, August 17 at 2:00 pm (Eastern)

E-mail classroom@cae.org to attend.

Participation is free and open to all.

Upcoming Academy 101:

Past Academies

(1) March 15-16, 2008 at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pennsylvania

(2) May 1-2, 2008 at the California State University System Office in Long Beach, California

 (3) May 29-30, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas

(4) August 2-3, 2008 in Washington, DC

(5) October 18-19, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan

(6) October 23-24, 2008 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina

(7) October 31-November 1, 2008 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota

(8) November 6-7, 2008 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona 

(9) November 14-15, 2008 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota

(10) December 4-5, 2008 at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia

(11) January 5, 2009 at the Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire

(12) January 7-8, 2009 in Greenville, North Carolina

(13) January 16, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse, Wisconsin

(14) January 30, 2009 in Spartanburg, South Carolina

(15) February 6-7, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin in Stout, Wisconsin

(16) February 21-22, 2009 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California

(17) March 6-7, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wisconsin

(18) March 10-11, 2009 at the University of North Carolina in Fayetteville, North Carolina

(19) April 3-4, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin

(20) April 27-28, 2009 in New York, New York

(21) May 1, 2009 at USC in Los Angeles, California

(22) May 12-13, 2009 at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio

(23) May 14-15, 2009 at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota

(24) May 19-20, 2009 at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio

(25) May 28-29, 2009 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky

(26) August 4-5, 2009 in Jersey City, New Jersey

(27) August 13-14, 2009 at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York

(28) August 19-20, 2009 at Seton Hill in Greensburg, Pennsylvania

(29) October 15-16, 2009 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington

(30) January 4-5, 2010 at University of Texas, El Paso in El Paso, Texas

(31) January 7-8, 2010 at CUNY in New York, New York

(32) January 11-12, 2010 at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN