Dr. Tamara Collins-Parks, lecturer in the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education and Dr. Lisa Linder, assistant professor in the Department of Child and Family Development both received awards to better understand and improve student learning.
Collins-Parks indicated her $1,000 award will be useful to support “much needed assessment innovations.”
Collins-Parks said her plan is to use it to fund faculty training to try out the revised CalTPA (California Teacher Performance Assessment).
“CalTPA has a couple of advantages over the current teacher performance assessment we're using,” Collins-Parks said. “It includes feedback along the way and it is integrated with rather than layered on top of they are doing for student teaching.”
For her part, Linder got a $3,000 award for her and one of her students who are researching digital media use by children and their parents at restaurants and the impact that it has on their interactions.
“My student and I were so excited. This is a really interesting study and it was going to be hard for her to commit the time this summer due to financial concerns,” said Linder. “This really allowed her to be involved to the level she wanted without it being a financial burden.”
Linder added that the project is part of a larger agenda looking at the role of digital media—positive and negative—in the developmental trajectory of young children.
“This has important implications for not only parenting but for the hospitality industry as they make decisions regarding whether to put entertainment tablets on the tables in their restaurants or not,” Linder said.
The Student Learning Outcomes and Program Assessment Committee was established to provide oversight for student learning outcomes and evaluate student learning assessment plans for all degrees and programs.