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Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes: What will students be able to know, do, and think when they graduate? Presented by Horace D. (“H.D.”) Stearman, Ph.D. Director of Institutional Effectiveness Assessment Is Not Optional In response to increasing public demands for accountability in higher education, regional accreditors have set out explicit expectations for institutions to measure student achievement (assessment) and to use that information for improvement (institutional effectiveness) The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities prescribes in Standard 1.B of its Accreditation Handbook that “[t]he institution engages in ongoing planning to achieve its goals. It also evaluates how well, and in what ways, it is accomplishing its mission and goals and uses the results for broad-based, continuous planning and evaluation. Through its planning process, the institution asks questions, seeks answers, analyzes itself, and revises its goals, policies, procedures, and resource allocation.” Assessment Is Continuous Quality Improvement It is a formative evaluation process It is continuous It is focused on improvement of student learning Levels of Assessment Classroom Assessment Assessment of individual students’ performance at the course level Course Assessment Assessment of how well a course is contributing to student learning outcomes for the program Program Assessment Assessment of how well an academic program is meeting its student learning outcomes Institutional Assessment Assessment of campus-wide issues or programs Effective Program Assessment Should Answer These Questions What are you trying to accomplish? How well are you doing it? Using the answers to the first two questions, how can you improve what you’re doing? How can student learning be improved? Seven Steps to Successful Assessment 1) Define student learning outcomes 2) Create curriculum map 3) Develop relevant measures of learning 4) Conduct measures of learning 5) Analyze results 6) Determine actions for improvement 7) Follow-up to see if improvement occurs Design Assessment to “Close the Loop” Develop assessment plan and measures for future period (Plan) Collect data in current period and analyze to produce findings (Do) Use findings to determine what needs to be improved (Study) Make changes and measure the effects in a future period (Act) Cardinal Rules of Student Learning Outcomes A student learning outcome must contain a verb that describes an observable or identifiable action A student learning outcome must focus on the student as a performer: What is the student expected to be able to know, do, or think? A student learning outcome does not use words like know, understand, value, appreciate, or learn because they don’t lend themselves to objective measurement Concrete Outcome Verbs analyze, compute, classify, compare, contrast, define, direct, derive, designate, discuss, display, evaluate, identify, infer, integrate, interpret justify, list, organize, report, respond, solicit, state, synthesize, name Verbs from Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Remembering define, describe, list, reproduce, enumerate Understanding classify, explain, discuss, give example, summarize Applying determine, develop, compute, chart, utilize Analyzing correlate, diagram, distinguish, outline, infer Evaluating compare & contrast, critique, justify, conclude Creating adapt, combine, compare, contrast, design, generate Creating Program Learning Outcomes Top-down Approach Start with phrases related to expectations: communication, problem-solving, critical thinking/inquiry guided, entrepreneurship, ethics… Construct program learning outcomes that depict your expectations related to these ideas. Bottom-up Approach Start with course objectives. Group related course objectives together. For each group of related course objectives, construct one or more program learning outcomes that depict your expectations related to this group. Our Charge from NWCCU On-Site Team October 3, 2008 The Committee recommends that Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) thoughtfully execute its newly developed strategic plan and assessment system with ongoing attention to provision of adequate resources to maintain and develop quality programs. (Standards 1.B.2, 1.B.4, 1.B.5, 1.B.6, 1.B.7, 1.B.8, 1.B.9)