Assessment Plan

‘HOW’ do program faculty know (what is the evidence) that students are learning what they expect them to? While both  direct measures (  examination of student work to ascertain learning) and  indirect measures (  gathering students’ and sometimes others’ perspectives about student learning through surveys and interviews) may be used, there should be  at least one direct measure for each program learning outcome.

Examples of  Direct Assessment:

1. Embedded tests/activities can be applied in many contexts and are often ideal to assess skill acquisition. The assessment may be embedded within a course test or final exam. The embedded test is given to all students enrolled in the course and the results are reviewed at the end of the year (or on a two- or three-year cycle).
2. Capstone experiences. Faculty collect examples of student work from the capstone course and evaluate the work using explicit criteria (with rubrics and scoring sheets), review the evaluation against program standards to identify areas of program strength or weakness.
3. Standardized tests given to all program students near graduation. A benchmark for performance may be set and if the standard is not met or exceeded, the program can review details of testing to identify areas for improvement.

Examples of  Indirect Assessments:

1. Course evaluations can align course objectives to program learning goals if questions about student learning are included and if the courses have been mapped to the learning outcomes.
2. Graduating student or alumni surveys aimed at gaining information about their perceptions of learning.