Assessment

The following student learning outcomes guiding principles provide a useful framework for assessing student learning outcomes at UW-Parkside. They are:

1) Supportive of UW-Parkside's Strategic Goals and Academic Planning

For the assessment of student learning outcomes to be useful, the goals of assessment need to support the identified goals of the university through its Strategic Plan and Academic Plan. As departments consider their goals for student learning outcomes assessment, considering their goals within the context of the university's goals, as presented in its Strategic Plan, the General Education program, and Academic Plan, is a good place to begin.

2) Faculty-based, Department-led, Centrally Supported

The most important resource for assessing student learning outcomes is the faculty. Through the collaborative action of faculty members working together, the most appropriate goals for student learning outcomes can be achieved. We all share a common commitment to the quality of our programs which will be realized through our goals for student learning. At the same time, each department’s approach to the program's student learning outcomes assessment will reflect the unique characteristics of the department and the major/program.

The Institutional Research and Assessment (IRA) office provides support, training, and resources to assist faculty to meet their assessment goals. Through the synergy of the department's lead and IRA's support, UW-Parkside is able to successfully assess its programs in support of learning.

3) Clear, Reasonable, and Evidence-based

To be effective, the goals for each major need to be clearly presented and understandable by a wide, diverse audience. Further, our goals for student learning should effectively convey their purpose to our campus community. In addition, the process for assessing our goals needs to be reasonable in terms of effort expended for benefits realized. Our assessment results should be based on evidence that is similar to the level of scholarly rigor we bring to our research and provide tangible, meaningful results to use as the basis for program improvement.

4) Useful and Timely Information

Outcomes assessment activities should be designed to provide useful information to the department at a time when the department is prepared to act on the information gathered.  In any given year, a department may only focus on one goal. The intent is to assess every goal but to do so over a time frame of two to four years, depending on the unique needs of the department.

There is a naturally occurring cycle of teaching, learning, and assessment that occurs in the classroom. Faculty start out with their goals for the course and decide on the manner in which they will evaluate student performance toward achieving those goals. Faculty then engage in individual student assessment throughout the course of a semester to see how well those goals have been achieved.  When faculty members finish teaching a course, they reflect back on the semester or academic year, and ask themselves such questions as, "what worked well in the course?", "what goals did students struggle to achieve?", and "what should I do differently the next time?". 

Outcomes assessment is the process of faculty working together to examine and reflect on how students are learning within the curriculum.   Similar to the individual faculty member's reflection on his or her course, through outcomes assessment faculty reflect on the program or major and ask such questions as, "where may the curriculum be expanded or further developed", "where are there gaps in student learning?", and "how can we improve student learning in the major/program?"

In order to reflect collectively on the curriculum, the discussion of goals for the major or program should begin with the question,

"As a department, what do we need to know to examine the impact of our program on our students"?

The assessment cycle is the process of setting goals, measuring those goals, reflecting on what was learned, and applying that knowledge to make improvements in the curriculum. The assessment cycle is illustrated as follows:

 

Once faculty have completed a cycle, the cycle is repeated applying the knowledge gained in the previous cycle. Assessment is never "finished." Instead, it is continuous process designed to support improved teaching, learning, and student engagement.

Start here to find program learning goals by major.

To learn more about the AAAC and access materials, start here.