For the research and assessment competence learning outcome for the program,

I chose an artifact from Dr. Blanca Torress Evaluation in Higher Education course. I
believe that this artifact demonstrates each of the competencies that are a part of this
larger learning outcome in a very clear and concise manner. Through this project I
developed a deeper understanding of research, assessment and program assessment
development.
Through this research project I gained a thorough understanding of different
paradigmatic assumptions and how they influence the research process by reading
literature that takes a critical perspective of various paradigm assumptions and their
relation to the research that our group was proposing. With my group, I was able to
apply these paradigmatic assumptions and use them to create a semester long
assessment proposal. Through creating this assessment proposal I also gained an
understanding of a variety of research and assessment methodologies. In order to
make our proposal effective for the department that we were creating it for we needed
to use our understanding of these various methods and create a proposal based off of
the needs of the department. While creating the research proposal I also gained an
understanding and appreciation for the ethical dimensions of research and assessment
by engaging with literature that provided ethical guidelines to follow when working with
students and staff of the office and creating meaningful assessment tools that related
to our research. Through the development of this assessment proposal I also gained
the ability to read and critically review various types of research studies to find the

strengths and weaknesses that would make our proposal the most effective. I also
gained the ability to design and implement assessments initiatives by integrating
relevant research and benchmarking current department models at a variety of
institutions. Finally, I strengthened my ability to use technological tools to conduct
research by developing a system of Google surveys and excel spreadsheets that
collected our data.