Academic Programs Outcome Assessment

Steps to Create Outcomes-Based Assessment

1. Define or review outcomes for the program/major/credential/certificate/minor
2. Align outcomes with curriculum
3. Develop a plan for assessing outcomes
4. Assess one or more outcomes per year, engage in faculty dialog regarding results and implement program improvement.
5. Using the PREP software, prepare an annual assessment report of the department findings from the previous academic year plus program improvement actions. Submit a plan of the outcome(s) to be assessed in the current academic year.

Definition

Student learning outcomes describe the expected knowledge, skills, attitudes, competencies, and habits of mind students are expected to acquire and how they can demonstrate their learning. Program student learning outcomes also:

• take into consideration HSU institutional level outcomes and discipline specific accreditation standards;
• have been crafted to align with the curriculum with increasing levels of proficiency;
• are understandable by multiple audiences;
• are reviewed regularly and revised to reflect current growth in the discipline;
• are shared with students who, with guidance from the faculty, become skilled at self-assessing in relation to the outcomes and expected levels of performance;
• are included in course syllabi and prominently posted in other program documents.

Learning assessment results:

• allow us to be reflective of our work by asking questions such as: What have our students learned as a result of participating in our classes or completing one of our programs? Are we satisfied with what they’ve learned? If not, what are we doing about it?;
• allow us to make curricular/program changes with the power to fundamentally shift students' academic experiences;
• affirm a broader definition of scholarship to include research-based efforts related to pedagogy;
• affirm our impact as educators and show a clear connection with learning;
• fulfill an element of WASC accreditation of HSU which will be partially based on our meaningful research into student learning and implementation of change when we’re not satisfied with what our data tell us.

Your map will serve as your guide as you

• Define your program/major student learning outcomes;
• Identify where HSU learning outcomes align with program/major outcomes;
• Develop a matrix of courses and identify when students acquire learning based on outcomes;
• Use the curriculum map to identify gaps. Once gaps are addressed create a plan for assessing each outcome (generally one or two per year) prior to the next department 5-year program review.

Curriculum Map Template. (.doc)