PREPARING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING IN THEIR ACADEMIC

PROGRAMS

Sponsored by 

Office of the PresidentOffice of the Provost

Office of Strategic PlanningTeaching, Learning, and Technology Center

OUTCOMES ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING

Two boys are walking down the street. The first boy says, “I’ve been really busy this summer. I’ve been teaching my dog to talk.”

His friend responds, “Wow! I can’t wait to have a conversation with your dog.”

The first boy shakes his head. “I said I’ve been teaching him. I didn’t say he learned anything.”

M.J. Allen

Assessing Academic Programs in

Higher Education

OUTCOMES ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING

PURPOSES• To develop program specific

assessment plans for academic programs.

• To integrate program assessment into the ongoing, annual planning and assessment reporting process.

PROVOST WILLIAM MARCY

Significance of Academic Program Assessment

Presentation Overview

• Program-level outcomes and assessment

• Key concepts related to outcomes and assessment

• Course-level outcomes and assessment (reflected in a syllabus)

• Questions and Discussion

Learning Outcomes and Assessment

• Texas Tech University is striving to incorporate expected learning outcomes and methods for assessing those learning outcomes into the courses and degree programs offered at the institution

Program-Level Learning Outcomes and Assessment

• The term “program-level” refers to learning outcomes and assessment methods related to a degree program

• Program-level assessment investigates what the students are learning in their degree programs

• Program-level learning outcomes and assessment are reflected in the Strategic Plan

Program Purpose

• The first step in writing and assessing program-level learning outcomes is determining the purpose of the degree program

• It is important to engage faculty in this (and all subsequent) steps in the process

Program Purpose

Questions to ask to help determine the course purpose include:

• What role does this program play in the department or college?

• What is unique or special about this academic area/degree program?

• What will the students “do” with their degrees?

Expected Learning Outcomes

Once the program’s purpose has been established, specific learning outcomes can be developed

A program-level expected learning outcome is a formal statement of what the program’s faculty expects students to learn in a particular degree program

Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected learning outcomes define:

• What faculty expect students to know at the end of the degree program

AND• What faculty expect students to be able to

do at the end of the degree program

Possible Example for aHistory Degree Program

Recipients of degrees in this program will be able to:

• Identify and describe the significant people, events, ideas and developments in history

Program-level Assessment

• Once the learning outcomes for a degree have been established, a variety of methods are used to assess if the students’ learning matches those expected outcomes.

Assessing Expected Learning Outcomes

Assessment of Expected Learning Outcomes can be defined as the process of investigating:

1. what students are learning and

2. how well they’re learning it.

Assessment Plans

• Departments should develop assessment plans that outline how and when they will be investigating how well both the current students and students who have graduated have learned/mastered the program-level learning outcomes

How to Assess Program-Level Learning Outcomes

Methods to Assess Current Students’ Learning

• Capstone courses• Review of senior projects• Focus groups• Students’ performance on

comprehensive exams

How to Assess Program-level Learning Outcomes

Methods to Assess Graduated Students’ Learning

• Graduate follow-up surveys

• Performance on licensure exams

• Job placement data

• Exit interview/surveys

Course-Level Learning Outcomes and Assessment

• The term “course-level” refers to outcomes and assessments methods related to courses that are offered at Texas Tech

• Course-level learning outcomes and assessment methods are reflected in the course syllabus

Course-Level Learning Outcomes and Assessment

• The Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center (TLTC) has developed some resources to assist faculty with creating expected learning outcomes statements and assessment methods

Questions and Discussion

What issues do you expect to encounter as you work to develop

program assessment plans?

One question to anticipate:Who uses the program assessment

reports?

Two questions to answer the above:

• Who is responsible for the quality of the department’s academic programs?

• Who receives the reports when they are submitted?

This morning’s task:

• To examine selected drafts of assessment plans

• To develop program purpose statements

• To identify expected outcomes

TEAM (table) WORK

• Focus first on the purpose statement for the degree program

• Then develop statements of expected outcomes• Work with others at your tables• Reeve, McCourt, and Paton are facilitators (if

needed)

Morning SessionWrap-up

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

LUNCH!

TEAM WORK CONTINUES

Afternoon tasks:

• Assessment Audit Worksheet (brainstorming)

• Identifying methods of assessment for each learning outcome

Late afternoon wrap-up

Strategies for developing assessment plans:• Engage the faculty• Begin with discussions at first faculty

meetings of the year• Use committees to draft materials and share

with all faculty• Use available resources (TLTC and Office of

Strategic Planning – see websites)• Create a timeline to meet the December 15

deadline

Late afternoon wrap-up

Strategic Planning and Program Assessment• Two related but different processes

– SP – usually long term goals with benchmarks, objectives and strategies – addresses all aspects of department

– PA – continuous (incremental) program improvement based on performance against expected outcomes

• Integration of the planning and reporting – one common reporting process and one cycle

Late afternoon wrap-up

FUTURE WORKSHOPS

September 21-22 – Dr. Doug Eder, Director of Undergraduate Assessment

and Program Review, SIU-E.

November 11 – Assessment Workshop – Preparing for submission of Assessment

Plans

THANK YOU!