AALHE 2026 Keynote
We are excited to announce that Dr. Kate McConnell will be our 2026 Keynote Speaker!
Her presentation topic will be posted soon.
 Dr. Kate Drezek McConnel
Dr. McConnell serves as Vice President for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation and Executive Director of VALUE, bringing nationally recognized expertise in assessment, teaching, and learning. An educational psychologist by training, Dr. McConnell has written extensively on the reliability and validity of the VALUE approach and consults with campuses across the country on improving teaching and learning while meeting accountability and accreditation expectations. Her work focuses on aligning pedagogy and assessment, reimagining general education curricula, faculty development, and applying the learning sciences to higher education practice. Before joining AAC&U, Dr. McConnell spent a decade at Virginia Tech in assessment and evaluation and served as affiliate faculty in educational psychology. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia, an MA from Providence College, and a PhD in educational psychology from Virginia Tech.
Past Keynote Speakers
Wednesday, May 28th, 2025
Reflections on Assessment Evolution: Taking Stock, Collecting Impact and Tracking Emerging Practice
Dr. Jillian Kinzie
Thursday, June 6th, 2024
Thinking with A.I. and the Future of Assessment
José Antonio Bowen, Ph.D., F.R.S.A.
José Bowen teaches techniques to transform assignments and assessments to motivate and engage students by placing greater emphasis on the process and experience of learning.
Wednesday, June 6th, 2023
The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories That Inform, Influence, and Inspire
Karen Eber
Karen Eber demonstrates how to scientifically hack the art of storytelling by leveraging the Five Factory Settings of the Brain and showing how to tell stories that inform, influence, and inspire.
Monday, June 6th, 2022
Strengthening Communities of Assessment by Centering Equity and Racial Justice
Dr. Tia Brown McNair, American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Tia Brown McNair will draw from multiple AAC&U-sponsored projects to highlight efforts that build institutional capacity to achieve shared goals for making excellence inclusive.
Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
Assessing Nuance: Including Voices of Student Populations that are Challenging to Quantify
Dr. Sonja Ardoin, Appalachian State University
Sonja Ardoin will discuss the nuances and complications of assessing the learning of the full campus community, centering on first-generation college students and students from poor and working-class background.
Monday, June 7th, 2021
Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education
Dr. Jane Marie Souza, University of Rochester and Dr. Tara Rose, Louisiana State University
Jane Marie Souza and Tara Rose will discuss their edited compendium, Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education: Diverse Approaches to Addressing Accreditation Standards
Tuesday, June 8th, 2021
People-Centered Intelligences
Dr. John Mayer, University of New Hampshire
A discussion with Dr. John D. Mayer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire on key measures and their relations to school and workplace behavior.
Wednesday, June 9th, 2021
Clear, Simple, and Wrong
Dr. David Eubanks, Furman University and Dr. Kate Drezek McConnell, Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U)
This session weaves together three recent studies of student learning to show how common assumptions about data summaries can lead us astray, and how to avoid that fate.
Monday, June 16th, 2020
Looking Back to Move Forward: Building Towards Equitable Assessment
Dr. Natasha Jankowski
This keynote takes time to project forward while looking back, building upon the growth of diverse approaches to assess student learning which have unfolded over the past ten years of AALHE supporting assessment professionals.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Diversity Makes All the Difference: Assessing Student Learning and Educational Outcomes in Higher Education Institutions
Dr. Keena Arbuthnot
In this keynote address, Dr. Arbuthnot will encourage the audience to think more broadly about how higher education institutions can ensure that they develop and utilize culturally responsive assessments.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Aligning Assessment Efforts for Impact and Success
Dr. Adrianna Kezar
Dr. Kezar will describe her research on how, and under what conditions, assessment can improve teaching and learning.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Weaving Assessment into the Institutional Fabric: The Benefits of Cross-functional Teams
Dr. Amelia Parnell
The session will provide examples of collaborative work at campuses across the United States and will conclude with considerations regarding the intersections of communication and leadership and how to sustain a culture of assessment in the years ahead.
|
