I. On-Line Assessment

Here are instructions for using free, customizable on-line assessment either for your entire course, or just for the Protein Explorer component.

1. Go to the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALGains) website, click on Register to create a new account, and Login.
   This excellent resource is provided by the Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) project of the National Institute for Science Education/College Level One.

2. Click on Add a new course. Fill in the information requested and click the button to add the course. (Don't worry, you can change any of this later by clicking on the link to the Course Name.)

3. Select the new course with the radio button in the left column, and click on the button "Look at ..." below the table.

4. Under Step 1, click the link to "Replace your SALG instrument with a version Created by someone else".

5. Use the radio button in the left column to select one of the following two templates, then press the "Submit" button at the very bottom of the page.
   1. For assessment of your ENTIRE COURSE (including the Protein Explorer segment), select the template for Department=Biology, Name: Template for entire course that includes a component with Protein Explorer. Or,
   2. For assessment of ONLY the Protein Explorer segment of your course, select the template for Department=Biology, Name: Template for only the Protein Explorer component of a course.

6. After pressing the "Submit" button, click the button "Replace my course instrument with this one". Then click Go to course page.

7. Under Step 1, click on "View the current version of your SALG instrument and any additional questions".
   1. If you wish to evaluate your ENTIRE course, there should be Q1-Q6 with many subquestions (the standard instrument), plus at the end a block of "Additional Questions" about Protein Explorer.
   2. If you wish to evaluate ONLY the PE portion of your course, you should see only a block of questions about Protein Explorer.

8. At the top of the page, click Go to your Course Options. If you are evaluating your entire course, you will want to customize the questions to match your course. Under Step 1, click on "Edit the current version of the SALG instrument" to do so. Expect to spend some time in order to do a good job here (but you can come back and do this later if you wish).

9. When you are ready to have your students do the survey, complete the items under Step 2: Make preparations for your students to complete the instrument.

10. After the deadline you set for your students, use "Step 3: View and analyze the data" as you wish.
    Please print the page "View frequencies of student responses to Additional Question Data". Please add a brief description of how you used Protein Explorer in your course. In lecture only? In labs? In required assignments? How much time (if any) were students expected to spend in hands-on use of Protein Explorer? What kind of results did you ask students to hand in, if any? Please snail mail the assessment summary and the information about your course to:

    Eric Martz
    Department of Microbiology
    University of Massachusetts
    Amherst MA 01003 USA

II. Paper handout for assessment.

Using a paper handout for assessment is an alternative to using the on-line method above. If you prefer the paper method, please print this form for Student Assessment of Learning Gains from Protein Explorer, have your students answer the questions, and send the completed sheets to the address on the form, along with a brief description of your course and how you employed Protein Explorer in it.